One doesn’t need an introduction to Michael Jackson. His unprecedented popularity owes to his innumerable achievements. Having won around 13 Grammys, five Billboard Music Awards, three Presidential Awards, and 24 American Music Awards, he is appropriately monikered the “King of Pop.”
Besides his breakthrough musical career, his personal life is shrouded in quite a lot of controversies be it the sexual assault allegations or his changing skin color. Even his personal life and failed marriages — including his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley — also attracted widespread tabloid and popular attention.
While everything about the pop legend is public knowledge, there are various aspects that have barely been touched upon and one of them is his educational background. Here’s what we all need to know about Jackson’s education, his childhood, and which schools he attended.
All about Michael Jackson: childhood and education
On August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, Jackson was born into a large family with eight siblings – five brothers and three sisters. He was exposed to show business in 1964 when he joined the band Jackson Brothers, aka Jackson 5, as a backup musician with his brothers.
The band went on to achieve an incredible amount of recognition with the passing years. MJ‘s musical prowess received quite a lot of attention. Later on, he sang vocals on the cover of the famous song by The Temptations, “Only Girl,” and by 1969, the family band received international acclaim, catapulting Jackson into stardom and endless fame thereafter.
Growing up, life wasn’t easy for the pop star and his brothers, who were reportedly abused by their father even for the smallest infractions. Michael describes his childhood as “lonely and isolated,” which impacted him deeply later in his life.
In addition to the numerous facets of his life, Jackson’s education and schooling have sparked curiosity among his fans. For someone who spent a significant time during his childhood performing and recording music, many assumed Michael to have been home-schooled.
However, this isn’t true. It is believed that he attended the public school in his hometown, Gary. He was enrolled in school until the age of 11, after which he and his brothers had to drop out because of their constant tours and regular performances – but this doesn’t mean that he discontinued his education.
Instead, a private tutor named Rose Fine was hired for him. Later, Michael credited his love of books to Fine. He owned a total of 10,000 books of every genre ranging from literature and novels to history and politics. The “Billie Jean” singer was also known to read and finish one book each day, which is reflective of years of knowledge that he accumulated over the years.
While we will always remember the “King of Pop” for his enormous contribution to music, his childhood and education also played a significant role in shaping his persona.
