Michael Jackson Ebony Interview Full Greek subtitles The Last Photoshoots

Dressed in black, a confident, mature Michael Jackson directs his staff’, guides his child and peers over the reading glasses perched on the edge of his finely chiseled nose.

Reading glasses? Yes, Michael Jackson, now a twice-divorced father of three, will be 50 next year, more than a quarter century after the boyish impresario moonwalked onto the world stage. And even though he still has the trim body and the dancer moves of the Michael Jackson of Thriller days, those glasses confirm the passage of time.

In his first U.S. magazine interview and cover story in a decade, the King of Pop sat down in a New York City hotel suite with EBONY magazine and offered a rare look into the life of an icon. The commander of a multimillion-dollar empire and arguably the single-most talented entertainer of a generation has not spoken publicly since his 2005 trial and acquittal. But today, he reflects on Thriller and the struggles that put him on the world stage, and wonders aloud, where did the time go?

On this unseasonably warm fall day, Jackson contemplated his past–this is his seventh solo EBONY cover; he also had five EBONY covers with his brothers as a member of the Jackson 5, the first one in 1970. He talked about what went into the creation of Thriller–the first demos were done in his home studio in early 1982 with his sister Janet and brother Randy singing background–and questioned the state of the music industry today.

When Thriller dropped in the U.S. on Nov. 30, 1982, America–and the world–were in transition. Ronald Reagan was president, E.T. was stunning movie crowds and Justin Timberlake was almost 2 years old. The United Kingdom and Argentina were sparring in the Falkland Islands, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high of 1,065.49, and Olivia Newton-John’s album Physical was No. 1 on the charts.

And Michael Joseph Jackson was quietly working in the studio with Quincy Jones, about to make history.

Michael Jackson has been an international star since he was 6 years old. While most kids were watching Scooby-Doo, Michael was choreographing the patented stage moves for himself and his brothers, the Jackson 5.

“In some ways, Michael was like a child. And in some ways, he was very sophisticated,” remembers Walter Yetnikoff, then head of CBS Records. “He was a very smart businessman, would read contracts as good as lawyers could. But in some ways, back then, he was like a baby.”

Today that whispery, high-pitched voice has more bass in it. Those soft features have become more defined. Traces of that “baby” in Michael Jackson appear to have faded. His musical genius and influence still dominate the music world, 25 years after Thriller came out and went on to become the best-selling album of all time–selling more than 104 million copies worldwide, 54 million copies in the U.S., and spawning no less than seven Top 10 hits and two No. 1 singles.

But that complicated transition from youth to adulthood has left the star with many life lessons, a few scars and even a bit of wisdom.

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