Michael

Steel worker Joseph Jackson assembles his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael into the musical band the Jackson 5 in 1966, with Michael on lead vocals. After months of grueling rehearsals, the Jackson 5 perform at gigs until Suzanne De Passe discovers them in Chicago in 1968, and they are signed with Motown a year later. The band becomes a huge success, allowing them to move out of their house in Gary, Indiana and into the Hayvenhurst mansion in Encino, California, in 1971. Motown founder Berry Gordy believes Michael has more potential as a solo artist.

In 1978, Michael signs with Epic Records for his first solo album as an adult, Off the Wall, with Quincy Jones producing. Despite its success, Joseph restricts Michael's solo career, believing he is solely responsible for his children's fortunes, and forces him to accompany his brothers on the Triumph Tour. Feeling insecure about his appearance and developing vitiligo, Michael undergoes a rhinoplasty to shrink his nose. Following an argument with Joseph, he is advised by his bodyguard and close friend, Bill Bray, to forge his own path. In 1981, he hires John Branca as his attorney, who helps him fire Joseph via fax.

Michael visits children's hospitals and experiments with ideas for his next album. After watching a news report on the Crips–Bloods gang war, he hires members of both gangs to appear in his music video for "Beat It". Thriller breaks worldwide sales records upon its release in late 1982 while Michael delivers a groundbreaking performance of "Billie Jean" at Motown 25. Michael and Branca head to New York to ask CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff to have MTV play Michael's music videos, despite the network not playing videos by black artists. MTV agrees to give him airtime after Yetnikoff threatens to pull the CBS Records catalog out of the network.

While Michael enjoys his success, Joseph meets with boxing promoter Don King and proposes the 1984 Victory Tour to reunite his sons. King offers Joseph a PepsiCo sponsorship deal, provided that Michael tours with the Jacksons. While the Jacksons film a Pepsi commercial, a spark from the pyrotechnics sets Michael's hair ablaze, resulting in third-degree burns and nerve damage. He and Branca sue PepsiCo for damages, with the settlement proceeds going to the burn center where he was treated. While hospitalized, Michael meets with the other patients as he considers whether to participate in the Victory Tour.

Upon recovery, he agrees to tour with his siblings. At the Victory Tour's final show at Dodger Stadium that December, they perform "Human Nature" and "Working Day and Night"; during the latter number, Michael announces it is the last time the Jacksons will perform together, thus severing his ties with an upset and horrified Joseph. In 1988, Michael performs to an ecstatic crowd at Wembley Stadium as part of his first solo tour, the Bad World Tour.