Legend has it that Michael Jackson gave himself the nickname, "The King Of Pop". Was he really?

In the modern era, yes.

I guess one could argue that Elvis was once the king of pop in the 50's/60's.

Yes.

This discussion is over.

I consider him horribly over-rated. Man In the Mirror is the only MJ song I ever liked; even the Jackson 5 were the first major Motown act I didn't like. I've also always felt that the Beat It video had a huge impact on making it "cool" to be a gang member.

I acknowledge that MJ was important to a large percentage of the earth's population, but not to me.

Whether you like him or not, he was the king of pop.

Like, I can't even seeing this being up for debate, he released an album where 7 of the 9 songs all hit top 10, he by a considerable margin has the best selling album of all time, I could go on, but honestly that should be more than enough. If you consider the genre pop in its most general and literal definition (as an abbreviation of "popular") then there is no debating this, if you have some other definition of pop then you're one of those people who goes horribly out of their way to create obtuse definitions for rather simple concepts, which bothers me and I find your opinion on everything questionable.

Music is a subjective and personal thing, Jacob. The poll is valid, Andrew was asking if each person considers Jackson to be "The King Of Pop" for his or her own tastes. I voted no because I never cared for his music so he was never the king of anything to me.

And, strange as it sounds today, Pat Boone wasn't far behind.

Like many people on this forum, Michael Jackson didn't move me, even enough to buy "Thriller," but I was often amazed at how many times I could sit through another playing of "Billie Jean" on MTV. He had something. Maybe I didn't understand it, maybe it didn't reach me, but it didn't make me puke and run away screaming either. That in itself is a feat, especially for an old deejay like me who couldn't escape the latest, hottest hits. I would trade one "We Built This City" for a hundred Michael Jacksons. Plus — Vincent Price!

King of Pop? Sure. Why not? It's hard to name another world-wide phenomenon like him, whether he suited my own personal tastes or not.

I understand subjectivity in general liking, I just honestly can't see how someone could dismiss him as not the king of pop, I mean like him or not, which I kinda do, he's alright.

But this man changed the very concept of what it meant to be in pop, he changed it from being just popular music to being pop, he made pop a genre, he was one of the first people to really turn the music video into a promotional tool, the very flow of popular music as well as pop was irrevocably altered by him.

Sure without him someone else would have just come along and done it anyways at some point, but he is the one who did it, he is the one responsible, and history should treat him with dignity and respect as such.

At the VERY least you have to acknowledge him as the Grand Duke of Pop.

PS - I'm probably giving him more credit than he deserves here or there, but come on, this man released Thriller, we watched that in music class in like 4th grade, it's THAT important.

The "King of Pop" was a title Michael Jackson bestowed upon himself, so I'm less inclined to see it as being valid. I really liked his Off The Wall album, and that was about it. He sold lots of records, but I don't see him as having been particularly influential or original.

The whole "music video" trend already existed, and Jackson was one of many who made the most of it. Music Video would've been a big deal with or without him. Also, Pop Music was a genre long before his arrival - witness the long-running UK TV show "Top of the Pops", etc.

Again, the reason I'm asking this question is because legend has it that he gave himself the nickname. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble either confirming or debunking that right now; Google is giving me search results like this: "Results 1 - 10 of about 6,210,000 for "michael jackson" "king of pop". (0.33 seconds)".

Above all else, I don't see anything wrong with debating the merits of Jackson's (or anybody's) music. We could argue his personal life till we're all blue in the face and get absolutely nowhere, but these boards are always up for a good debate about music.

Didn't Elizabeth Taylor bestow the "King of Pop" title?

I wasn't really into his stuff- but he was the biggest and most successful pop star of all time. Of course he was the King.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s92BVuQbuyg[/youtube]

I voted yes. It was always my understanding that Michael originally asked that he be called the "King of Pop", and I've never seen anything to the contrary.
Even so, for a time, there was no one more popular or influential. Yes, pop music and videos existed before he arrived, but I don't know of anyone else who cut across the lines of race, gender, culture and age as he did, before or since. His influence on MTV was enormous, and although MTV has sucked for a long time it changed a lot of things about the music business.
His influence ranged far beyond music to include fashion(one stupid glove) and dance.
He hasn't done anything of value musically for a long time, but he still loomed large.
I think, at least for a while, he was a King.

Besides, as everyone knows(or should know), the real KING of POP is
Paul McCartney.

I watched West Side Story in music class. Leonard Bernstein was the king of pop.

As I recall, MTV was debuting one of his videos with a big special, and in order to have an exclusive they were contractually obligated to refer to him as the "King of Pop" several times during the broadcast. I remember watching it and thinking how awkward it was that they kept throwing in a nickname that I had never heard before that night. Whether he gave himself the name or someone else bestowed it on him I don't know.

Yes, he's the King of modern pop.

Look at all the pop performers we have today-- they're all trying to be Michael Jackson in the 80's. Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, etc. have all listed him as one of their top influences.

Now, King of Pop for all time? As in King of Popular Music?

Elvis, natch.

Take this with however many grains of salt you wish, because my source is the Wikipedia, but it was Elizabeth Taylor who gave him the title: Jackson's success resulted in his being dubbed the "King of Pop", a nickname conceived by actress and friend Elizabeth Taylor when she presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul".

Elvis was not and is not the King of Pop.

Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll.

I am thinking of "pop" meaning "popular music".

Oh. In that case, Frank Sinatra.

That's a valid suggestion.