U.S. Army Captain Michael Kelvington, commander of the Battle company, 1-508 Parachute Infantry battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, bows next to remains of Gulam Dostager, a member of Afghan Local Police who was killed in the blast of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) during the joint Tor Janda (Black Flag in Pashtu) operation, in Zahri district of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan May 25, 2012.  REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov  (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: MILITARY CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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Members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan as part of the 25th annual Fleet Week celebration in New York, May 23, 2012.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY ANNIVERSARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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FACTBOX: Highlights of Michael Jackson's career

Fri Sep 4, 2009 4:36am EDT

(Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson was laid to rest at a private funeral on Thursday after dying of a drug overdose at age 50 on June 25.

Here are some facts about his career:

* Jackson and his four older brothers -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon -- first performed together at a talent show in their hometown of Gary, Indiana, when Michael was 6. They won first prize.

* After signing with Motown Records in 1968, The Jackson 5 topped the U.S. pop charts with their first five singles, including "ABC" and "I'll Be There."

* Jackson released his first solo single "Got To Be There," the title track from his debut album, in 1971.

* "Thriller" (1982) is the biggest-selling album of all time with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide. It yielded seven Top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "The Girl is Mine" and "Thriller."

* Jackson debuted his signature dance move -- the moonwalk -- on a 1983 Motown anniversary television special.

* Jackson bought most of the Beatles' copyrights for $47.5 million in 1985.

* He co-wrote with Lionel Richie the 1985 supergroup charity single "We Are The World," which helped raise more than $60 million for famine relief in Africa.

* Jackson died three weeks before he was to begin a sold-out series of 50 comeback concerts in London.

* Jackson won 13 Grammy Awards, was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his lifetime record sales tally is believed to be about 750 million.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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