1. Michael Jackson's favourite animated character was Pinocchio
2. When he was a child his favourite books included Rip Van Winkle and The Old Man and the Sea
3. Michael Jackson was very ticklish
4. Saint Vincent, an island in the Caribbean, once issued Michael Jackson stamps
5. The singer once owned a boa constrictor called “Muscles”
6. As a youngster he used to put spiders in sister La Toyah’s bed
7. He played a scarecrow in The Wiz, a movie version of the Wizard of Oz
8. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one for himself and one as part of the Jackson Five)
9. Quincy Jones nicknamed him “smelly” – a slang term similar to “funky”
10. Jackson described his own voice on early Jackson 5 records as “like Minnie Mouse”
11. He was a big fan of The Three Stooges
12. He is an Exeter City fan
13. He had two llamas called Louis and Lola
14. Thriller spent 37 weeks at number one in the US Billboard chart.
15. In 1984 he won eight Grammys – the joint highest amount ever won by one person in a single year
16. He gave his first public performance at the age of 5 singing Climb Every Mountain
17. He had eight brothers and sisters
18. His marriage to Lisa-Marie Presley lasted only 19 months
19. Jackson paid $47 million for the publishing rights to the Beatles back catalogue in 1985 and sold a share of to Sony in 1995 for $95 million
20. His middle name was Joseph
21. He was born on Aug 29, 1958
22. At the Brit Awards in 1996 Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker took exception to his bombastic performance of Earth Song and ran on to the stage
23. Jackson was very fond of Mexican food
24. In 1993 Jackson’s dermatologist said he had a rare skin disease called vitiligo, which causes sufferers to lose pigmentation in their skin
25. Thriller is the world’s best-selling record of all time with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide
26. Two of his other albums – Bad and Dangerous – are also among the world’s best-selling records
27. He popularised dance moves including the robot and the moonwalk
28. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice
29. He won 13 Grammy Awards
30. Billie Jean was the first video by a black artist to air on MTV.
31. Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State Anthem, South Carolina on My Mind.
32. He has waxworks in five Madame Tussauds museums across the world. Only Elvis Presley and Madonna have more.
33. He has sold more than 300 million records worldwide
34. His favourite superhero is Morph from X-Men
35. He had a pet ram called Mr Tibbs
36. His total lifetime earnings from music are estimated at $500 million
