By the time he released the multiple platinum-selling album 'Bad' in 1987, stories of his wacky lifestyle were prominent and had earned him the infamous moniker, 'Wacko Jacko'. Arguably Jackson's last great piece of work, the long awaited LP 'Dangerous' was released in 1991 and was met again with great success. In an attempt to show himself in a more 'human' light and dispel the myth that he was the fantasy figure that he had been portrayed as by the media, Michael appeared on the Oprah Winfrey chat show in the U.S. He succeeded too, albeit in a very carefully rehearsed interview, in which he spoke frankly for the first time on his domineering father. However not even the scoop-hungry media could have imagined what would happen next.
Allegations of sexual abuse were made against Jackson in 1993 by one of his young friend's aged 13. Jackson furiously denied the allegations and an out of court settlement reportedly worth $20m dollars brought the charges to a halt. The media were unsuprisingly all over this story however and the scandal severely damaged Jackson's reputation. Things didn't get any better for Jackson, while his Greatest Hits album ' HIStory: Past, Present And Future - Book 1' (which also included new material) was a success, his subsequent marriage to Lisa Marie Pressley (daughter of Elvis) wasn't. Lasting merely 19 months the marriage was billed by sceptics as a publicity stunt set up to improve his tarnished public image. After mainly shying away from the public, with the exception of his marriage with nurse Debbie Rowe which spawned 2 children, Jackson made a disappointing return to music world in 2001 with the album 'Invincible' which sold merely 2 million despite being said to have cost more than 30 million to make. And again he shot back into the headlines with the open and controversial ITV documentary with Martin Bashir in which the weird and flamboyant lifestyle of Jackson was unraveled for all to see.
