Michael Jackson 2001: You Rock My World
Off the Wall, released in 1979, was a worldwide success story that made music history, becoming the first album ever to spawn four top-ten hits, including the number-one hits, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough and Rock with You. It reached #3 in the Billboard album charts, spending 48 consecutive weeks inside the Top 20. Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson jointly produced the album, with lyrics and music by Jackson, Heatwave's Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney, among others. The album signaled the arrival of a new Michael Jackson, one not reliant upon his brothers to further his career. Off the Wall, buoyed by its catchy dance rhythms and avoidance of the shallow excesses...of the period's disco, eventually sold some 20 million copies worldwide. Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt the album should have made a much bigger impact and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.
In January 1980, Jackson won his first awards for his solo efforts at the American Music Awards. He won Favorite Soul/R&B Album (for Off the Wall), Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Single (for Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough). Later that month, he also won two Billboard Awards (for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album). On February 27, 1980, Jackson won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male (for Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough).
More than twenty-five years after its release, Off the Wall remains one of the defining moments in Jackson's music career as it began his domination as one of pop music's leading artists. In 2003, the TV network VH1 named Off the Wall the thirty-sixth greatest album of all time. Rolling Stone ranked it #68 in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
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