The oddities and phobias of Michael Jackson: what the king of pop was afraid of

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

August 29 to the pop king Michael Jackson could have turned 58 years old. Much has been written about the mysterious circumstances of his death, as well as about his records for world circulation of released albums and for the number of people who attended his concerts. Michael Jackson was called the most popular and successful artist of all time, his fabulous wealth was written in all the newspapers, and he hid from people, even from his own family, hated his reflection in the mirror and was terrified of aging. He could set another record - for the most phobias one person.

The fact that Jackson developed phobias and complexes was largely to blame for his father and the circumstances in which he had to grow up. From the age of 5 he was a member of a musical group along with his brothers, and his life was subject to a strict schedule. Because of the constant rehearsals and concerts, there was no time left to communicate with peers. In addition, the father had a tough disposition and severely punished the children for all the faults: he beat them with a belt for unsuccessful performances at concerts. Therefore, Michael was afraid in childhood to be alone with his father and avoided communication with him when he grew up.

In his book Moonwalk, the artist admitted: “In the studio I sang until late at night, in fact, when it was long overdue for me to sleep. There was a park across the street from the studio, and I remember looking at the guys playing there. I looked at them and marveled - I simply could not imagine such freedom, such a carefree life - and more than anything else I wanted to be so free that I could go out and behave like them."

Due to the fact that he was deprived of his childhood, Jackson remained forever a big child. At 39, he bought his famous Neverland ranch, with an amusement park, zoo and railroad. The name is borrowed from the cartoon about Peter Pan - this was the name of the country in which childhood never ends. Both at 40 and at 50, Michael Jackson loved to buy toys and communicate with children, which led to a scandal with the artist's accusations of pedophilia. And although the court acquitted the singer, his friendship with children seemed strange and unnatural to many. Perhaps because of his infantilism, the artist was afraid of physical intimacy with women - according to him, before his marriage to Lisa Maria Presley at the age of 36, he did not have sex with any woman. Some of his acquaintances are convinced that he was asexual.

Former bodyguards of Michael Jackson admitted that none of his family members, except his mother, were not allowed into his house without an appointment. He was terrified that one of the brothers, especially Randy Jackson, would enter the house and kill him. The alleged reason was a $ 500 million contract for the reunion of the Jackson Five, which Michael refused to sign. On this basis, he developed paranoia - every night the singer checked whether all the windows and doors in the house were closed.

From his youthful years, Michael hated his appearance and looked for defects in himself, which is called dysmorphophobia. He constantly changed the shape of his nose and bleached the skin, no one knows about the exact number of plastic surgeries. He so disliked his reflection in the mirror that he even covered the mirrors in the hotel rooms with towels.

Michael Jackson had another phobia - a panic fear of aging, he admitted to his friends more than once that he would rather commit suicide than wrinkle. At 43, he told reporters: “I don’t want to grow up at all, become an old man, lose my memory. I want to always be young and full of energy to run and play hide and seek - my favorite game."

In addition, Michael Jackson suffered from a fear of traffic jams and misophobia - a fear of dirt, which is why he often wore an antimicrobial bandage and demanded to disinfect everything he touched.

In recent years, Jackson lived in a state of constant mental stress and was heavily dependent on pain relievers and sedatives. His psychiatrist claimed that he did not have the strength for a tour, but the artist was going to return to the stage, as he feared that he would be killed if he did not.

And after the death of the king of pop, his songs have not lost their popularity: "They don't give a damn about us" is one of the best songs by Michael Jackson