Chapter 5
Scarred and Burned
After Thriller, Michael Jackson was the most famous pop star in the world.
Still, there was a deep sadness in him. It was probably left over from his unhappy childhood. He felt lonely. It seemed as if no one could understand him.
To the outside world, Michael looked like the huge star he was. He wore fabulous clothes and costumes onstage. Fans everywhere tried to copy him. One of his most famous costumes was a military jacket. It was covered in gold braids, sparkly rhinestones, and jewels. His hair was long and wavy. He often wore sunglasses.
On the inside, though, he was still shy and didn’t feel good about his looks. Michael had a skin disorder and wore a lot of makeup to conceal it. He also used a skin-bleaching cream.
He had already had two nose jobs. Nose jobs are surgeries to make someone’s nose smaller.
Then, in January 1984, Michael had a terrible accident. He was shooting an ad for Pepsi, in a big auditorium in LA. Crowds of fans were in the audience, watching. Michael was supposed to walk down some steps on the stage. Sparks and fireworks were going off beside him. All at once, his hair caught on fire!
At first, Michael didn’t even realize what had happened. He kept dancing and spinning. Then his hands suddenly flew up to his head.
Michael was rushed to the hospital. He had very bad burns. He had to have surgery. His scalp would never really be the same. Afterward, the doctors gave him drugs for the pain.
Up till then, Michael Jackson had never used drugs. But he took the pain pills that his doctors gave him. Over time, he got addicted to those drugs and didn’t want to stop.
Two good things came out of the Pepsi accident, though. Pepsi gave Michael $1.5 million to donate to the burn center at the hospital where he had been treated.
Pepsi also gave Michael a deal of just over $5.2 million to make more Pepsi ads. John Branca helped Michael make the deal. Michael was already famous and loved by millions. But now he was about to become one of the richest men in the music world.