He became famous at what 5 years old ? He continued to be very famous up until his death at 50 years old. Thus he was famous for 45/50 years alive, 90% of his lifetime.
Who else can claim such a title ?
No.
His career declined in the 90's. Even before the child molestation stuff if you go back and read a little bit about it. By the 2000's he was irrelevant. I only discovered him at 12 because he dangled a baby out of the window. I had never heard of him before and he was never mentioned.
He did a documentary and had a criminal trial and people talked about that. After the trial wrapped up he was forgotten about until his death. In this case he became popular for a few years after death. Then he faded away again. His legacy is mostly forgotten.
I think he became redundant after singing the 'Threatened' track. His next album was the marginalizing 'Michael' album defining him as what he truly was - a sick black that broke the rules. I think he was good for the World in the 90's. It was his peak. I bought his albums in the mid 90's and he was a cleaner pop star with his white complexion doing the excitement world tours etc.
shareHey, to holly61 - you just confirmed pretty much verbatim exactly the argument I was making in this thread.
I had even mentioned, to the younger generation, he was irrelevant, in fact, many may not even know who he is.
ANd that by the 2000s, rather than being noticed for something he did musically, it was instead always for something bizarre.
ANyway, just wanted to mention, you and I are 100% on the same page, and thank you for confirming what I was saying.