Michael - King of pop title. ? =)

MJ4

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Hi There =)

Why was Michael called the King Of Pop ? :wub:

Thank's (y)

From MJ4.
 
According to John Branca, Michael wasn't too happy during the mid-80s with his "Gloved One" moniker, while Elvis was referred to as "The King" and Bruce Springsteen was "The Boss." He felt that it was a belittling term rather than an endearing one. Around the time he was working on Dangerous, I guess they both came up with the idea of him being referred to as the 'King of Pop' as in the king of pop music. In 1989, Elizabeth Taylor introduced him during an award ceremony as the 'King of Pop, Rock, and Soul,' and during the promotion of Dangerous around that time, Michael's management insisted that networks refer to him as the 'King of Pop' when playing his new short films. This lead to some folks in the media suggesting that he was the 'self-proclaimed King of Pop.' But of course, history has proven that the name stuck because he fully deserved it and not because it was some publicity stunt.

Although some may question why Michael went out of his way to suggest that title in the first place, personally I think it was a masterful move because if it were left up to the media, they would have stripped him of any honorable title. Michael wanted to make sure that he would go down in history the way he deserved to and that his work and career were on par with the legends that came before him. That's why career retrospective programs that came out every few years since the Bad era, where in my opinion, a very wise strategic move because it reaffirmed to the public what his achievements were, something that would otherwise have been lost because of the media's insistence on pushing him aside and belittling what he had become.
 
Additionally, the first time he was called 'King of Pop' was in a newspaper headline back in 1984. Can't remember the newspaper though.
 
HIStoric;4193875 said:
Additionally, the first time he was called 'King of Pop' was in a newspaper headline back in 1984. Can't remember the newspaper though.

Yes, HIStoric, there was a newspaper headline from that year (as I remember, it was posted on a Web site — maybe, even on this board or another one similar to it, I’m not sure, exactly), that referred to Michael as, “The King of Pop.” There were other references to him in various different newspapers, magazines, etc., around the world, at that time. He was known by many different names and nicknames in the media, over the course of his career — his best known ones having been used to refer to him, especially, since the success of “Thriller,” and during every one of his eras, thereafter. He didn’t mention whether or not he either liked or disliked those other nicknames, really, except for the one especially derogatory name he absolutely hated to be called, with a passion.

That a headline from a newspaper would designate Michael Jackson as “The King of Pop” years before he ever knew of such a term just proves that he didn’t refer to himself as such, all of a sudden, in the Late-1980’s to Early-1990’s. This was also long before his good friend, Elizabeth Taylor, very publicly called him “The King of Pop, Rock AND Soul” (with special emphasis on the word, “and”), when introducing him to the audience during an award show. He has since credited her with having been the first one to call him that, while never, ever, at any time insisting on his own that any of the media do so. That story is false, in its assumption about him designating himself.
 
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Additionally, the first time he was called 'King of Pop' was in a newspaper headline back in 1984. Can't remember the newspaper though.

This it?
king-of-pop.jpg
 
I though he said in the OW interview that the fans stared to say King Of Pop is that how it stared?
 
Hi There =)

Why was Michael called the King Of Pop ? :wub:

Thank's (y)

From MJ4.

In the 80s, after the Thriller mega success, a few mags titled him as King of Music, King of Albums... and so on, but NYPost in 1984 nailed it FIRST! Long before Liz Taylor names MJ as the King of Pop, Rock and Soul in 1989 at AMA

0eb02ed41a184d79b22e2e8c0a6ad74f.jpg
 
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My personal belief is that the paper posted it first... Mike saw that and helped it stick!! may or may have not asked Liz to say the words on the award show.. from there takes that, uses imagery in footage etc.. next thing you know the label sticks..
 
MoeJack;4193874 said:
According to John Branca, Michael wasn't too happy during the mid-80s with his "Gloved One" moniker, while Elvis was referred to as "The King" and Bruce Springsteen was "The Boss." He felt that it was a belittling term rather than an endearing one. Around the time he was working on Dangerous, I guess they both came up with the idea of him being referred to as the 'King of Pop' as in the king of pop music. In 1989, Elizabeth Taylor introduced him during an award ceremony as the 'King of Pop, Rock, and Soul,' and during the promotion of Dangerous around that time, Michael's management insisted that networks refer to him as the 'King of Pop' when playing his new short films.

Bob Jones, MJ's longtime publicist from 1987 to 2004, claimed that he was him (rather than John Branca & MJ) who came up with the idea of him being referred to as the 'King of Pop' (in the late 80’s).

So, Bob Jones had also to make several strategic moves in order for MJ to be established with that title.

“I put the words in the speech for Quincy to refer to Michael as ‘the King of Pop’ – a title I had bestowed upon him because Michael had wanted a moniker like Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and Elvis. In fact, I was the one who got Liz Taylor to introduce him at the Soul Train Awards in 1989 as ‘the King of Pop, Rock and Soul’. Anyway, on this particular night, Quincy read my ghost-written speech, but left out the ‘King Of Pop’ part. Michael was furious” (Bob Jones)

Bob Jones also released press releases which stated that MJ had to be called ‘the King Of Pop’ (thic can be corroborated by various executives at that time, such as Larry Stessel from Epic Records).
 
mj_frenzy;4193984 said:
Bob Jones, MJ's longtime publicist from 1987 to 2004, claimed that he was him (rather than John Branca & MJ) who came up with the idea of him being referred to as the 'King of Pop' (in the late 80’s).

So, Bob Jones had also to make several strategic moves in order for MJ to be established with that title.

“I put the words in the speech for Quincy to refer to Michael as ‘the King of Pop’ – a title I had bestowed upon him because Michael had wanted a moniker like Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra and Elvis. In fact, I was the one who got Liz Taylor to introduce him at the Soul Train Awards in 1989 as ‘the King of Pop, Rock and Soul’. Anyway, on this particular night, Quincy read my ghost-written speech, but left out the ‘King Of Pop’ part. Michael was furious” (Bob Jones)

Bob Jones also released press releases which stated that MJ had to be called ‘the King Of Pop’ (thic can be corroborated by various executives at that time, such as Larry Stessel from Epic Records).

But still, there is the 1984 NYP article with the exact title - KING OF POP, so Bob Jones is almost irrelevant here, only if he read the article and adopted the idea.
 
It might have been in the newspaper first, but that's not what made it stick, it was when Liz Taylor said it on the award show. Then the fans started calling him king of pop after that, and that's how it spread, not because of the newspaper. The newspaper is more irrelevant than when Liz said it

In the 80s, after the Thriller mega success, a few mags titled him as King of Music, King of Albums... and so on, but NYPost in 1984 nailed it FIRST! Long before Liz Taylor names MJ as the King of Pop, Rock and Soul in 1989 at AMA
It wasn't at AMA, it was at the Soul Train Music Awards
 
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It might have been in the newspaper first, but that's not what made it stick, it was when Liz Taylor said it on the award show. Then the fans started calling him king of pop after that, not the newspaper. The newspaper is more irrelevant than when Liz called him king of pop

Its not about what made it stick, but when the title was used for the very very first time!
Liz made it popular, known and let people know about the title worldwide
 
where it came from, who pushed it... To me, all that matters is it was MORE than deserved!
 
I found another newspaper when Michael was deposed for "plagiarizing" The Girl Is Mine in 1984 . Self proclaimed, my ass!

The reigning King of Pop!
C-oKTYoUwAA_6Iv.jpg

C-oKVRuVwAQbRsL.jpg
 
Probably to differentiate himself from Prince, who in 1992 said "There are no kings, only Princes"

Although later on Prince became known as his Royal Badness, while Michael remained King of Pop
 
side bar - don't want to derail but could it be that pic in that article the earliest pic of Mike in a surgical mask? I'm not sure if i've ever seen a pic earlier than bad era with it..
 
It looks like a scarf rather than the mask, Michael said himself on Moonwalk he started to use it in the Bad years because a dentist gave it to him after a procedure and then he liked the mystery the mask created. Also the date of the newspaper said December 7, 1984 and even the writer recanted at some point in the deposition Michael asked for his jacket because he was feeling cold.
 
It even says "Behind shades and a scarf..." under the pic
 
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