Michael Jackson mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing." Gordy said of the performance: "From the first beat of 'Billie Jean', I was mesmerized, and when he did his iconic moonwalk, I was shocked, it was magic, Michael Jackson went into orbit, and never came down." In November 1983, Jackson and his brothers partnered with PepsiCo in a $5 million promotional deal that broke records for a celebrity endorsement. The first Pepsi Cola campaign, which ran in the United States from 1983 to 1984 and launched its
Dangerous (Michael Jackson album) However, after Jackson wrote half an album's worth of material deemed strong enough for release, he and managements at Epic Records decided to produce a full studio album. In March 1991, days after his sister Janet Jackson signed a $32 million deal with Virgin Records, the 32-year-old Jackson secured a $65 million deal with Sony Music. Sony had inherited Jackson following its takeover of Epic Records. The deal granted Jackson an advance of $5 million per album with a 25 per cent ownership of royalties based on retail sales. It remains the most lucrative recording contract in music history. Jackson's