1. Michael Jackson's favourite animated character was Pinocchio
2. When he was a child his favourite books included Rip Van Winkle and The Old Man and the Sea
3. Michael Jackson was very ticklish
4. Saint Vincent, an island in the Caribbean, once issued Michael Jackson stamps
5. The singer once owned a boa constrictor called “Muscles”
6. As a youngster he used to put spiders in sister La Toyah’s bed
7. He played a scarecrow in The Wiz, a movie version of the Wizard of Oz
8. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one for himself and one as part of the Jackson Five)
9. Quincy Jones nicknamed him “smelly” – a slang term similar to “funky”
10. Jackson described his own voice on early Jackson 5 records as “like Minnie Mouse”
11. He was a big fan of The Three Stooges
12. He is an Exeter City fan
13. He had two llamas called Louis and Lola
14. Thriller spent 37 weeks at number one in the US Billboard chart.
15. In 1984 he won eight Grammy’s – the joint highest amount ever won by one person in a single year
16. He gave his first public performance at the age of 5 singing Climb Every Mountain
17. He had eight brothers and sisters
18. His marriage to Lisa-Marie Presley lasted only 19 months
19. Jackson paid $47 million for the publishing rights to the Beatles back catalogue in 1985 and sold a share of to Sony in 1995 for $95 million
20. His middle name was Joseph
21. He was born on Aug 29, 1958
22. At the Brit Awards in 1996 Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker took exception to his bombastic performance of Earth Song and ran on to the stage
23. Jackson was very fond of Mexican food
24. In 1993 Jackson’s dermatologist said he had a rare skin disease called vitiligo, which causes sufferers to lose pigmentation in their skin
25. Thriller is the world’s best-selling record of all time with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide
26. Two of his other albums – Bad and Dangerous – are also among the world’s best-selling records
27. He popularised dance moves including the robot and the moonwalk
28. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice
29. He won 13 Grammy Awards
30. Billie Jean was the first video by a black artist to air on MTV.
31. Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State Anthem, South Carolina on My Mind.
32. He has waxworks in five Madame Tussauds museums across the world. Only Elvis Presley and Madonna have more.
33. He has sold more than 300 million records worldwide
34. His favourite superhero is Morph from X-Men
35. He had a pet ram called Mr Tibbs
36. His total lifetime earnings from music are estimated at $500 million
37. Jackson regularly wore a black armband to remind people of children suffering around the world.
38. The moonwalk was picked up from street dancers
39. Little Richard wanted to be played by Jackson in a biopic
40. Jackson had a pet python called Crusher
41. In 1984 a French fan committed suicide because he couldn’t have surgery to look like Jackson
42. The video for Scream was the most expensive ever at £3.8 million.
43. A library once accused the singer of owing $1 million in overdue book fines
44. Jackson was a vegetarian
45. He won an MTV award for Best Movie Song in 1994. It was for Will You Be There from the movie Free Willy
46. HIStory was the biggest selling double album ever released in the United States
47. Jackson was given a royal title in the Ivory Coast in 1992
48. Before concerts he would drink Ricola candy dissolved in hot water
49. His birthplace Gary, Indiana, is planning a museum in his honour
50. The singer patented a shoe device that allowed dancers to lean forward at gravity defying angles
51. He was a best man at Liza Minnelli’s wedding to David Gest
52. The largest television audience in US history watched him perform at half time during the 1993 Super Bowl
53. Martin Scorcese once directed a Jackson video
54. A survey in 1997 declared him the Most Famous Person in the World
55. He paid $1.5 million in 1999 to buy for the 1939 Oscar for best film won by Gone With The Wind
56. Jackson once described Elizabeth Taylor as “a warm cuddly blanket that I love to snuggle up to”
57. He recorded a voice-over on The Simpsons
58. Macauley Culkin is godfather to two of Jackson’s children
59. Jackson co-wrote We Are The World with Lionel Richie
60. He is godfather to Nicole Richie
61. He is also godfather to Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb’s son Michael
62. Jackson shares a birthday with Sir Richard Attenborough and actress Rebecca DeMornay
63. At the time of his death Jackson was rehearsing for his greatest comeback, with 50 shows scheduled in London
64. He was four years old when he began singing with his brothers Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito in the Jackson 5
65. The Jackson 5’s number one hits included “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There”
66. In 2002 Jackson caused controversy when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin.