HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I - Background and Production

Background and Production

HIStory is primarily directed at the tabloid press. Starting in the late 1980s, Jackson and the press had a difficult relationship. In 1986, the tabloids ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, which Jackson claimed was not true. It was reported that Jackson had offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick (the "elephant man"). Jackson described the story "a complete lie". These stories inspired the pejorative nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson despised. He stopped leaking untruths to the press, so the media began making up their own stories. In 1989, Jackson released the song and music video "Leave Me Alone", a song about his perceived victimization at the hands of the press. The video shows Jackson poking fun not only at the press but also the situation he was in.

In 1993, the relationship between Jackson and the press soured entirely when he was accused of child sexual abuse. Although he was not charged with a crime, Jackson was subject to intense media scrutiny while the criminal investigation took place. Complaints about the coverage and media included: using sensational headlines to draw in readers and viewers when the content itself did not support the headline; accepting stories of Jackson's alleged criminal activity in return for money; accepting confidential, leaked material from the police investigation in return for money paid; deliberately using pictures of Jackson's appearance at its worst; a lack of objectivity; and using headlines that strongly implied Jackson's guilt. In 1994, Jackson said of the media coverage, "I will say I am particularly upset by the handling of the matter by the incredible, terrible mass media. At every opportunity, the media has dissected and manipulated these allegations to reach their own conclusions."

Jackson began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations. A few months after the allegations became news, Jackson had stopped eating. Soon after, Jackson's health had deteriorated to the extent that he cancelled the remainder of his tour and went into rehabilitation. Jackson booked the whole fourth floor of a clinic and was put on Valium IV to wean him from painkillers. When Jackson left the United States to go into rehabilitation, the media showed Jackson little sympathy. In 1993, The Daily Mirror held a "Spot the Jacko" contest, offering readers a trip to Disney World if they could correctly predict where Jackson would appear next. The same year, a Daily Express headline read, "Drug Treatment Star Faces Life on the Run", while a News of the World headline accused Jackson of being a fugitive; these tabloids also falsely alleged that Jackson had travelled to Europe to have cosmetic surgery that would make him unrecognisable on his return. In early November 1993, Geraldo Rivera set up a mock trial, with a jury made up of audience members, even though Jackson had not been charged with a crime.

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I was recorded from September 1994 to March 1995. Jackson co-wrote and co-produced a majority of the songs featured on the album. Aside from Jackson, other writers include Dallas Austin, The Notorious B.I.G., Bruce Swedien, R. Kelly and Rene Moore and other producers include David Foster and Bill Bottrell. HIStory was Jackson's first studio album since his 1991 album Dangerous four years prior, and his first new material to be released since being accused of child sexual abuse in 1994. HIStory was released as a two-disc album; disc one (HIStory Begins) contains already released material from Jackson, and the second disc (HIStory Continues) comprises new material. HIStorys first disc had fifteen songs from Jackson's four previous studio albums, Off the Wall in 1979, Thriller in 1982, Bad in 1987 and Dangerous in 1991. Physically, the album was available on double gold CD, double cassette, and, due to the format's running time limitations, triple vinyl. Musically, HIStory's themes are credited as, R&B, pop, rock, dance, urban, new jack swing, funk, and hip-hop. HIStory was released on June 16, 1995 by Sony Music's Epic Records.