FACTBOX: Highlights of Michael Jackson's career
(Reuters) - Michael Jackson, 50, who died on June 25, was being celebrated in a public memorial in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Following are some highlights of Jackson's 40-year career in the music industry.
* 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 walked off with 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 TV 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.
(Editing by David Storey)
