In the 1980s, two musicians were just above everybody else, those two was of course none other than Michael Jackson and Prince. They elevated music to new highs with albums like Thriller and Purple Rain by dominating the charts. With them both being two of the most iconic musicians and both now being deceased, let’s discuss the differences and similarities between the two artists. First, Michael Jackson has been in the spotlight longer than Prince, making his debut in 1964 at the tender age of 5, while Prince made his debut at the age of 20 years old. Another difference between the two is Prince was multi-talented instrumentalist, while Jackson played no instruments. Notably, both are some of the most decorated artists in music with many awards
How did Michael Jackson and Madonna make use of the visual dimension in their pop music?
For thousands of years, music has been influencing people in extraordinary ways. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band should not be mistaken as an ordinary album. Without a doubt, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an incredibly innovative album, stands as the most influential album of all time; it stands as a true masterpiece. People all around, especially artists, were influenced greatly by the innovations the album brought to the world of music. Many people have said that from the moment they heard the first track of the album, it was life changing. Like the first falling domino tile of a domino show, June 1, 1967, would mark the start of the influence of many generations of music to come. The album helped popularize concept albums, in which songs are connected to a theme, which would inspire many musicians to do the same. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a psychedelic rock album; a manifestation of life in the 1960’s. This genre of rock is home to the work of numerous artists who were influenced by the album’s use of this style of rock. The hours of work put into by the Beatles to create this album surpassed those of any of their albums. Not only that, it altered the way music was recorded by creating their own recording techniques. Surely, these recording techniques and tactics were used by future artists in their work which then led to the creation of legendary music. Sgt. Pepper’s opened the gate to innovation; an album whose impact on
When Michael Jackson creates his music he feels “like an instrument of nature”, this is a part of what he had said in his speech at the 35th Grammys back in 1993. He has a really good passion for music, which would
As a child, Prince was often bullied in school and became a recluse. As a result, he turned to music as a source of refuge and started writing some of his own music but he never considered music as a career until he saw James Brown live for the first time when he was 10-years old (GUINESS, 1989). Because of his parents’ separation in 1970, Prince moved away from his home with his mother and stepfather and went to live with his father before drifting off to live
Many artists created a new form of music through the influence of the black artists. The first signs of this influence appeared in the music of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. It carried on to artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and various other musicians.4 A new form of music emerged, rock and roll. This new style of music was fueled by emotion. One of the first stages in the development of rock and roll was sacrificing musical complexity for the sake of capturing an audience. The jazz and blues songs that were popular before rock and roll emerged, consisted of several chords and elaborate rhythms, while rock and roll songs are comprised of only three or four chords and very simple rhythms.5 More direct expressions of emotions were used, and lyrics of personal and political significance were brought into the mix. The relationship between artists and their audiences changed. Fans related to the musicians’ opinions rather than simply the style of the music. As a result of the bold lyrics, a general respect for musicians
to music critics Jackson’s album Thriller seemed to be inspired by “a mixture of several genres
Some of the biggest things that caught people's eyes were Jackson’s music videos and dancing. His music clearly started to take a huge impact on pop music. As a result, Jackson was in the top 10 for over a year and he created the 2nd best selling album of all time (Woog). Michael started to become known as the “King of Pop” around the world, and he still is considered that today. Michael had been a part of setting high standards for today's pop music. “During the 1980’s, artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna set the bar for the level of performance” (Marcovitz). Even after his death, people still loved and appreciated all of his work. In fact, his music video “Thriller” was inducted into the “National Film Registry of the Liberty of Congress” (Vincent). Michael Jackson is still considered a legend and an icon in the pop music industry and his work will never be
First I would like to explain that I truly believe that there slim to no reasons that the most recent story which is the princess and the frog relates anything to Grimm’s fairy tale The Frog Prince or Iron Henry. I believe this to be true due to the fact that there is only one similarity between the two stories and that is, that in both there is a princess that stumbles upon and frog and he turns into a prince.
Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston were two of the biggest music acts in the world, selling hundreds upon thousands of records between them. Both acts rose to fame at an early age eventually earning the titles ‘The King of Pop’ (The Guardian, 2009) and ‘The Voice’ (IMDB, 2012) as well as earning plentiful awards in their careers; It is claimed that Whitney Houston is the most awarded female artist of all time. As well as preforming at some of the biggest and most prestigious venues around the world we can only dream about visiting and gaining world-wide fame they ended up meeting an untimely death due to addiction.
. During the 1980s, the way Americans perceived homosexuality, race, and violence was challenged. In response, Prince’s eccentric and extravagant music style and attire dismantled conventional gender barriers of what it meant to be masculine and feminine in American society. Therefore, his musical creations set an example by pushing the limits of authenticity and self-expression. Prince’s fearless dedication to breaking down conventional expectations of style, music, gender norms, and conformity can be seen in his vocals, instrument choice, and lyrics. In the late 1980s, Prince was a music icon who blended funk, soul, pop, and hip-hop and presented his work in an androgyny atmosphere to advocate for racial and gender equality. His musical creations and appearance had disrupted the societal confines that fenced in the minority groups and pushed the limits of what it meant to be a black man. Prince’s distinct attire, extravagant performances, and persona helped contribute to a new music era of funk-rock and challenged the taboo concepts of the 1980’s. Prince’s musical work impacted society by encouraging wildly free and creative behavior during a time where it was not acceptable to be who you were. In this paper, I will analyze the auditory significance of two of Prince’s songs: “If I was your girlfriend” (1987) and “I Would Die 4 U” (1984). Analysis for both songs were based on music videos and a scene from Prince’s film, Purple Rain. In addition to these songs, Prince’s
As an adolescent Michael Jackson made appeared in a movie “The Whiz” and released his first solo album “Off The Wall”. His album swept the country topping the charts. He toured the country, show after show, promoting for his album. In addition to his album, at this age he wrote songs with legends like Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones. In Erik Erikson’s theory Jackson was in the Identity vs. Role Diffusion stage. Jackson was supposed to discovering himself and his interest. While touring the country and constantly performing how could Jackson identify interests? Erikson points out failure of this stage could result in being influenced by circumstances rather than from awareness. The failure of this stage appears later in Jackson’s life when he relies on others to help him make important life decisions.
throughout his life was going through an identity crisis. “In Erik Erikson 's stages of
From his very first album at 18 years old to his denial of digital music markets towards the end of his life, a prominent theme throughout Prince’s musical career was his insistence on power over his music. He famously believed that artists should not have managers: “You should be a grown man, be able to man-age yourself”.(Hiatt) His public war with record label Warner Bros. was the pinnacle of his battle for control. “When you stop a man from dreaming, he becomes a slave. That’s where I was. I don’t own Prince’s music. If you don’t own your masters, your master owns
Michael Jackson once said, “the greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work”. And that saying could be the same for Michael Jackson The King of Pop. And he was right. One of the best ways to learn was watching the master at work, as Michael Jackson had one of the largest impacts in the entertainment industry. Without the influence of Michael Jackson, the R&B and Hip-Hop industry would not have had the artists or music that it has today. He was known as one of the best entertainers of all time, Michael Jackson was the most decorated pop artist. He was a developer in the music industry, thanks to his ground-breaking music, choreography, and music videos. Michael Jackson transformed what it means and takes to be a pop
Popular artists in today’s culture have been greatly influenced by many great artists from the past’s popular culture such as Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley was one of the most popular artists in the 1950’s. He was a revolution in music, being given the title “king of rock and roll” and introducing a new style of music to make its place in popular culture. Throughout his career, he sold more than one billion records and without realizing it, became an influence to many recent artists and bands in popular culture today such as Justin Bieber and Reece Mastin. Jessica Reaves from Time.com states that “Presley’s name fairly droops under the weight of its acquired cultural significance. Briefly tagged a teen idol, the king of rock and roll swiftly transitioned into category defying superstar. Today, professors devote whole careers examining Elvis’s influence on cultural mores”. Elvis’s style and new ideas inspired many new artists and made rock and roll popular. The Beatles are a