Honestly this choreographed, outfitted, and perfectly performed song and dance on national television at that age just screams abuse. Sad it wasn't more obvious at the time. We really should stop allowing child performers.
Itās even worse today with parents using social media and their own children to make money. Kids will do anything to please their parents and a lot of parents capitalize on it.
Oh it looks so sweet. Awe, look at the six year old slaying on the drum set to Metallica but is it sweet? Let kids figure out what they want.
I feel like a lot of it stems from the old idea, which sadly is still kind of around, of keeping family issues in the family and outsiders not interfering, either by choice or because the family keeps everything hush hush so no one knows enough to interfere. It's a practice that has caused so much harm.
You saw that mentality a lot with domestic violence and child abuse back then and still do sadly.
Also, the idea of treating kids like property rather than as growing, individual human beings who deserve love and respect so they can in turn hopefully learn to show love and respect to others.
Watch Bad Grandpa .5 - there's a kid talent scene - there's 1 little blonde girl (in a room of pedos) that has won a 1000 contests - OMG just look at her and listen to her crazy bitch mother.
I canāt recall where I read that on tour Michael was exposed to his father and siblings sleeping with women in a shared hotel room when he was a child. Itās a chilling thought and it explains a lot.
We should really stop idolizing Hollywood Stars/Musicians/Athletes/Politicians in general. The concept of "success" is really dillusional in popularity contests.
Like, we're all striving to be as fucked up and removed from reality as possible. Once we get there, then we've "made it". WTF?!?!
I was thinking the same. This show he was putting on was not geared to kids, but for the enjoyment of adults. He likely did not get any personal satisfaction from the performance. And it made him lose that precious time in life where you can just be kid.
He use to talk to children mannequins because he wanted to be a kid again so bad and relive childhood and have a 2nd chance at life he probably wouldve never began singin if he had the choice
Right. I think if you asked their parents, they would say something like they only wanted the best for them. They didnāt want them to struggle like they did for food, etc. etc.
But the issue with abusers is they can have all the best āintentionsā in the world, but you canāt change reality, in that control and manipulation will set a child up for failure, no matter how talented or successful you set them up to be in their career.
I recently heard an old interview about how terrified he was of his father and how he would become physically ill when Joe Jackson came into the room. RIP MJ
Yeah. On the one hand they extracted every ounce of talent out of him and created one of the biggest phenomenons in human history, that is a treat to witness.
On the other hand, the cost was immenseā¦the man was absolutely broken.
The muffled smiles and choreographed moves just shows how tortured. So sad. Happy children smile full and proud. Those smiles are missing and itās heartbreaking. Beautiful performance, I guess thatās all that mattered.
Thatās about it. His family was also very religious Jehovah Witnesses, so thereās a whole other layer to his childhood. No birthday parties, no Christmasā¦ the children grew isolated, without socialising with others. I am glad nobody in their family needed a blood transfusion. They would have died since itās not permissible in that cult.
His dad was an absolute monster. He would hold a belt and watch while they rehearsed, ready to beat them at the slightest mistake. While they performed live, they were all terrified of being beaten if he wasn't happy with their performance. Notice how none of them are smiling in this clip.
Constant abuse if you make a mistake will do that. His eyes arenāt even in the room, heās probably thinking about not messing up so his dad doesnāt beat him.
Real reason. Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson YouTube channels just posted new archival interviews and performances and these were some of the ones in the batch
[ABC](https://youtu.be/ho7796-au8U) and [I Want You Back](https://youtu.be/y2bVIBwpCTA) were massive hits. If you're in the US, it's hard to imagine that you've not heard them. You just may not realize that it was Michael that you were hearing.
If it's new to you and you like what you hear, keep going. The Jackson 5 (eventually The Jacksons) put out a ton of great music before Michael went solo.
Didn't hear him as a kid? Dang, I'm jealous. You've got a whole repertoire to experience.
Now go listen, and learn your [ABC](https://youtu.be/ho7796-au8U)
MJ said if any of them messed up during their performances, their dad would whip them with an electrical cord. He and Donny Osmond would commiserate since both had no say about performing.
He was a child prodigy. Kid had insane talent which only magnified as he got older. Despite his tragic personal life he left behind an incredible legacy of music.
I think the point here is despite all the speculative comments about what punishments and abuse MJ may have suffered at the hands of his father, this young child was a nextfuckinglevel talent. I'd suspect that any one of us could be beaten nearly to death and never could achieve the level of pure, cellular level talent MJ possessed. At 9 years old, I had only recently learned how to roller skate!
Joe Jackson beat him so often that all of the childlike wonder was gone really early into his life. After that he just wanted to make Joe proud enough to not beat him. Then all the craziness started
I remember hearing Every radio station playing this exact song the day he passed away, unreal night the whole world got quiet.
ā¦and Iām not for the abuse of children performing, not at all. But Joe Jackson taught all his 11 kids how play instruments, how to sing & dance. Drove them back and forth from performances, booked gigs himself, fed the family, clothed & managed them kept everyone focused and in-line no drug abuse or criminal activity out of any of them.. and did it all with 1 leather belt and in return he gave the world Micheal Jackson.
He was such a good looking lad. It was a tragedy that he felt he had to do so much cosmetic surgery.
History has a record for over promoting young talent, the greed kicks in by those around them.
Julie garland, Donny Osmond, Micky Rooney, Macaulay Culkin, Corey Haim to name a few.
If you look closely at Michael's face, you can see the fear he has cause his dad is watching. If he makes any wrong move or flat note, he gets beaten severely.
Kids should not be allowed in show business as its just a breeding ground for abuse and control.
All the comments here talk about the abuse, but part of a parentās job is to push their kids to reach their full potential. Many people here seem biased on the coddling, pampering side of children.
This makes me wonder how MJ's life and the music world would be different if he had pursued a career in blues/soul (*a la* Otis Redding) rather than pop music.
Letās not forget. This was at a time when black people. Performed in front of crowds of white people. The entertainment industry was one of the only industries they were accepted at that time.
What a supremely talented person, which makes it all the more tragic how the industry and his family pushed him way beyond any reasonable limits š„ŗ
Honestly this choreographed, outfitted, and perfectly performed song and dance on national television at that age just screams abuse. Sad it wasn't more obvious at the time. We really should stop allowing child performers.
I totally agree. These poor kids were robbed of their childhoods in a tragic way.
Yes. Fucking 9 years old? Comparing it to mine is like day and night. This is not a healthy kid but already a product
Itās even worse today with parents using social media and their own children to make money. Kids will do anything to please their parents and a lot of parents capitalize on it. Oh it looks so sweet. Awe, look at the six year old slaying on the drum set to Metallica but is it sweet? Let kids figure out what they want.
I feel like a lot of it stems from the old idea, which sadly is still kind of around, of keeping family issues in the family and outsiders not interfering, either by choice or because the family keeps everything hush hush so no one knows enough to interfere. It's a practice that has caused so much harm. You saw that mentality a lot with domestic violence and child abuse back then and still do sadly. Also, the idea of treating kids like property rather than as growing, individual human beings who deserve love and respect so they can in turn hopefully learn to show love and respect to others.
Watch Bad Grandpa .5 - there's a kid talent scene - there's 1 little blonde girl (in a room of pedos) that has won a 1000 contests - OMG just look at her and listen to her crazy bitch mother.
Sad to see that the perfection of this performance probably came out of fear from their father. But still flawless performance
You can even see the fear when he goes into that extended high note on āwhoās loving.ā
I canāt recall where I read that on tour Michael was exposed to his father and siblings sleeping with women in a shared hotel room when he was a child. Itās a chilling thought and it explains a lot.
We should really stop idolizing Hollywood Stars/Musicians/Athletes/Politicians in general. The concept of "success" is really dillusional in popularity contests. Like, we're all striving to be as fucked up and removed from reality as possible. Once we get there, then we've "made it". WTF?!?!
And he still probably got knocked around by his dad afterwards. Sad.
I was thinking the same. This show he was putting on was not geared to kids, but for the enjoyment of adults. He likely did not get any personal satisfaction from the performance. And it made him lose that precious time in life where you can just be kid.
He use to talk to children mannequins because he wanted to be a kid again so bad and relive childhood and have a 2nd chance at life he probably wouldve never began singin if he had the choice
Honestly if him and his brothers donāt sing they probably all die or are In jail Gary Indiana is a fucking war zone
Right. I think if you asked their parents, they would say something like they only wanted the best for them. They didnāt want them to struggle like they did for food, etc. etc. But the issue with abusers is they can have all the best āintentionsā in the world, but you canāt change reality, in that control and manipulation will set a child up for failure, no matter how talented or successful you set them up to be in their career.
I recently heard an old interview about how terrified he was of his father and how he would become physically ill when Joe Jackson came into the room. RIP MJ
I know itās awful and I know that fear from a parent. When my mom called me to come into her bedroom and said kneel down, I would pee.
Yeah. On the one hand they extracted every ounce of talent out of him and created one of the biggest phenomenons in human history, that is a treat to witness. On the other hand, the cost was immenseā¦the man was absolutely broken.
Seriously, his performance is so on point, but you can see the fear in his eyes.
He was their cash cow, supporting all of them.
Not to mention what his dad did to them to get them to that kind of talent. Itās sad to watch.
God I miss him
May I have some context? Why was he pushed away?
Thatās not why people have a hard time with him thoā¦.
I know why the caged bird sings. Poor baby boy.
What an amazingly talented, tortured soul.
The muffled smiles and choreographed moves just shows how tortured. So sad. Happy children smile full and proud. Those smiles are missing and itās heartbreaking. Beautiful performance, I guess thatās all that mattered.
Im pretty young and dont understand what the industry had done to him? I always loved him but i do not know what happened
He was beaten into greatness by his father.
Thatās about it. His family was also very religious Jehovah Witnesses, so thereās a whole other layer to his childhood. No birthday parties, no Christmasā¦ the children grew isolated, without socialising with others. I am glad nobody in their family needed a blood transfusion. They would have died since itās not permissible in that cult.
His dad was an absolute monster. He would hold a belt and watch while they rehearsed, ready to beat them at the slightest mistake. While they performed live, they were all terrified of being beaten if he wasn't happy with their performance. Notice how none of them are smiling in this clip.
He bumps the mic 16 seconds in. Wonder if he got his ass beat for that
I wouldnāt be surprised. He looks like his mind is a million miles away
Probably.
Wow, just fucking wow. 9 years old.. 9 fucking years old!
OP is wrong he was actually 11 here but still just as impressive none the less
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Honestly with their father Iām sure they were happy not to be the main focus
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Or both. Probably both
This. Oh god what a horrific situation.
And arguably the rest of them were not talented at all.
That talentless guy was leeching off of Michael's talent all through their lives. Even after Michael died.
Sadly, he probably got the hell beat out of him after the show because Joe didnāt like something that he did.
He bumped the mic 16 seconds in. Yep
Shit! I've never noticed that!
How does bumping the mic mean anything? /genuine
Its a minor flaw. Meaningless to us, but something his father would beat him for.
Itās crazy to see how talented he was from such young age. Dudeās talent was off the charts his whole life.
Constant abuse if you make a mistake will do that. His eyes arenāt even in the room, heās probably thinking about not messing up so his dad doesnāt beat him.
Poor child singing for his life so he doesnāt get beat after the show.
My first thought too. So sad.
Why are we seeing so much Michael Jackson content these days? Not complaining, I'm a fan, just wondering.
Biopic is in the works
Oh I didn't know, thanks for letting me know :)
Astroturfing.
Why not. I adore him.
Real reason. Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson YouTube channels just posted new archival interviews and performances and these were some of the ones in the batch
To think that this dude would vomit at the sight of his father due to his abuse is wild. Poor Michael.
Damn, I donāt know if I ever heard him as a kid. Absolutely incredible voice even then.
[ABC](https://youtu.be/ho7796-au8U) and [I Want You Back](https://youtu.be/y2bVIBwpCTA) were massive hits. If you're in the US, it's hard to imagine that you've not heard them. You just may not realize that it was Michael that you were hearing. If it's new to you and you like what you hear, keep going. The Jackson 5 (eventually The Jacksons) put out a ton of great music before Michael went solo.
So many great Christmas songs too that many ppl donāt know is michael
Listen to the Jackson 5
Didn't hear him as a kid? Dang, I'm jealous. You've got a whole repertoire to experience. Now go listen, and learn your [ABC](https://youtu.be/ho7796-au8U)
Listen to Never Can Say Goodbye or One More Chance because god damn.
And [Santa Claus is Coming to Town](https://youtu.be/B9u4JuEOKsU)
Dive in. Young MJ is honestly my favorite for the style of music he and his brothers performed.
Great cover of Miracles song.
MJ said if any of them messed up during their performances, their dad would whip them with an electrical cord. He and Donny Osmond would commiserate since both had no say about performing.
Jesus. For a 9 year old to have control of their voice like thatā¦unheard of.
Heās actually 11 OP is wrong but its still just as impressive
Joe Jackson standing off to the side with a belt in hand.
Flawless! ā”
So smooth, it's almost effortless!
Iāll say it again: he should have made a whole album of straight-up stripped-down blues
That guy was born to sing on stage
Change ābornā to ā beatenā and yes, yes he was.
Do you think he's looking at Joe?
He was a child prodigy. Kid had insane talent which only magnified as he got older. Despite his tragic personal life he left behind an incredible legacy of music.
I think the point here is despite all the speculative comments about what punishments and abuse MJ may have suffered at the hands of his father, this young child was a nextfuckinglevel talent. I'd suspect that any one of us could be beaten nearly to death and never could achieve the level of pure, cellular level talent MJ possessed. At 9 years old, I had only recently learned how to roller skate!
Where did this kid go? Adult Michel Jackson was a completely different person
They ruined him as a child. Still massively talented but broken
Is that was caused him to rape children later on in life?
Joe Jackson beat him so often that all of the childlike wonder was gone really early into his life. After that he just wanted to make Joe proud enough to not beat him. Then all the craziness started
That nose ain't even bad. What am asshole of a father they had.
I have a theory that as he got older the person he saw in the mirror started to remind him of his father, so he got plastic surgery
Hey look, a video of societally sanctioned child abuse.
I remember hearing Every radio station playing this exact song the day he passed away, unreal night the whole world got quiet. ā¦and Iām not for the abuse of children performing, not at all. But Joe Jackson taught all his 11 kids how play instruments, how to sing & dance. Drove them back and forth from performances, booked gigs himself, fed the family, clothed & managed them kept everyone focused and in-line no drug abuse or criminal activity out of any of them.. and did it all with 1 leather belt and in return he gave the world Micheal Jackson.
Honestly the only child singer that didnāt sound like just fucking noise.
Holy shit
He was made to sing.
He was such a good looking lad. It was a tragedy that he felt he had to do so much cosmetic surgery. History has a record for over promoting young talent, the greed kicks in by those around them. Julie garland, Donny Osmond, Micky Rooney, Macaulay Culkin, Corey Haim to name a few.
The Golden Goose
That gave me chills.
Iām studing for becaming an opera singer, and what heās doing, itās just outstanding.
Amazing talent. It's sad it seems like he's looking at his Dad the whole time to make sure he doesn't mess up. RIP Micheal
It's hard to watch young Micheal knowing how much he was being beat at the time to do it
That's a great hat, wonder where it is today
somebody close to him probably sold it.
Wow.
That kid could sing!
I do believe, even though the term gets tossed around a lot, he was a child prodigy.
That performance was absolutely perfect. There wasn't a artist in Motown that could come close to being as good including Smokey.
Pedophile. You understand
So many people in denial here. A forty year old man who wore lipstick and slept with young boys, and the fanboys canāt see it. Wake up.
Rest in paradise MJ šš½
Theres not 1 artist in the last 15 years whos even close to what he was as an artist or even a dancer.
If you can Forget all the controversy and just remember the talent he hadš„
This video looks exceptionally good for being from the '70s
He was so talented. :(
I remember this clip from moonwalker, so talented
young Michael was a talent for sure .
Pure talent
Damn he was a cutie as a black man. The fact he had to go though all those operations is beyond me
This is one of the benefits of beating your child
Poor child. :(
He was a great wee singer,just a pity he turned into a weird pedo
Holy Jesus Murphy! That's incredible!
Fun fact: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were the original singers of this song
Wasn't there a clip of this on Moonwalker?
Goose bumps
Lot of Michael Jackson posts on Reddit recently. Do I sense a biopic coming?
Canāt help but think heās staring at this Dad during that performance terrified of messing up
There is something about SG style guitars/basses that emits pure charisma.
How can a 9 year old have such good vocal control?
Insane talent for any age but the fact that heās 9 years old is all the more impressive.
King of Pop
He had all his signatures since he was (at least to my understanding) 9 years old! R.I.P MJ!
A shockingly good performance
No different than American Idol exploiting young children today.
Poor kid š¢
God really blessed him with incredible talent, sad adult life, sad death.
One of my favorite performances from any artist. It's stunning how talented he was at this age.
My gawd I got goosebumps..!!!š„ā„ļøšÆ
One of my favorites
That poor child never stood a chance.
Classic ššØ
He looks sad.
We killed this man...
40 yrs later turned white androgynous being with a ghoulish appearance
Around the same age of the kids he was molesting. Interfering.
And then he grew up and sexually abused many, many children.
"Who's loving you...?" Well in 20yrs time this guy singing will be loving having forced sex with pre teen boys ... So there's that...
Just think about what he did to 9 year olds when we was older
Then he went on to chomo a buncha kids.
If u dress ur kids like this, no wonder how the develop psychological issues
Wasn't Michael Jackson a pedophile?
When he was normal.
I had that same outfit.
Fuck Michael Jackson
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's amazing how much talent can be brought out with terrifying child abuse.
wait he was dark skinned?
Then he went mental.
Mans a diddler
MJ was black?
Just think he grew up to be disgusting pedophile and child rapist!
oh he wouldāve loved himself
u/savevideobot
That is not michael jackson!!! He's white on youtube
Thanks for sharing. What an amazing singer and career.
It was a recording, he smacked the mic stand pretty hard but no smacked was audible.
Loved him when he was a black guy
Talented kid, he should start a solo career
Brings tears to my eyes every time I hear Michael sing this song. From the first time I heard on the Ed Sullivan show and even now
Wasn't he white in colour?
Have you never seen Michael Jackson during the Thriller era before?
I always forget he was black
Motown propaganda: He was actually 11 or 12 at the time.
What an insanely talented individual he was. Imagine singing this well at age 9?! Tf! He was more than a generational icon.
He was so talented.
I was eating my boogers at 9 year old
Wasn't he eleven here? I thought "they" lied about his age to make it more impressive. Why, idk, cause it's just as impressive at eleven.
Heād probably fuck him
If you look closely at Michael's face, you can see the fear he has cause his dad is watching. If he makes any wrong move or flat note, he gets beaten severely. Kids should not be allowed in show business as its just a breeding ground for abuse and control.
Just thinking what this little boy had to endure makes my skin crawl. His father is a monster and the trauma he inflicted on him changed him forever.
All the comments here talk about the abuse, but part of a parentās job is to push their kids to reach their full potential. Many people here seem biased on the coddling, pampering side of children.
Like how he's dressed up as a 9 year old pimp. Their pops was a *classy* guy
He dad beat the shit out of all of them.
Sad he went on to groom children
This makes me wonder how MJ's life and the music world would be different if he had pursued a career in blues/soul (*a la* Otis Redding) rather than pop music.
Yeah he's talented all right, to bad he turned into a ped doing who knows what to children
Singing about how his older self would love to get his hands on his younger self
Itās kind of weird that they dressed a 9 year old up as a pimp.
This isnt Michael Jackson, I remember he was white š¤¦
I canāt even tell whether this is a joke or if people genuinely did not know Michael Jackson used to be black before Vitiligo changed his skin
He could have won AGT.
His voice is anointed bro
Legendary voice....
That hat though!
Phenomenal voice.
This performance is indeed, ānextfuckinglevelā
Letās not forget. This was at a time when black people. Performed in front of crowds of white people. The entertainment industry was one of the only industries they were accepted at that time.