The Essential Michael Jackson The Essential Michael Jackson The Essential Michael Jackson is a greatest hits compilation album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on July 19, 2005, by Sony Music's catalog division Legacy Recordings as part of "The Essential" series. The two-disc compilation features thirty-eight hit songs by Michael Jackson, from his days at Motown Records with The Jackson 5 in the late 1960s and early 1970s to his 2001 hit "You Rock My World". On August 26, 2008, "The Essential Michael Jackson 3.0" was released in the US as a limited edition containing an additional disc of seven songs performed
The Jackson 5 his sons to perform at several respected music venues of the chitlin' circuit, including Chicago's Regal Theater and Harlem's Apollo Theater, winning the talent competitions on both shows in 1967. They won the Apollo contest on August 13, 1967, and Gladys Knight sent a tape of the boys' demo to Motown Records, hoping to get them to sign, but their tape was rejected and sent back. In November 1967, Joe Jackson signed the group's first contract with Gordon Keith, an owner and producer of Steeltown Records, and the Jackson Five recorded and released the singles "Big Boy", sung by Michael,