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
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 thanked the "lovely Gladys Knight, (who) extended a helping hand to our family, by calling Motown Executives and talking their ear off to take time out of their schedule and meet with us. She believed in us before others. Always grateful to her."(Gladys Knight also said she brought the Jackson 5 to Motown's attention.) But Ross embraced her assigned role and helped promote the group, especially grooming young Michael Jackson as a star. Motown CEO Berry Gordy brought the group to Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio in Detroit, Michigan, and assigned them to work with Bobby Taylor as their producer. Taylor,