Moonwalking – The moonwalk has become synonymous with
Michael Jackson and is widely acknowledged as the best-known dance-move in the world. It gained popularity after being performed by Jackson on the 1983 television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The technique, which was first recorded in 1943, presents the illusion that the dancer is stepping forward whilst actually moving backward.
Glove – The single white glove, often covered in sequins, became a signature part of Jackson's stage costumes.
Ow! – Many of Jackson's most celebrated songs are peppered with his famous high-pitched screech.
Crotch-grabbing – Jackson had the habit of grabbing his crotch on numerous occasions during his dance routines. When Oprah Winfrey, the US talk-show queen, asked him why, he replied: "... you become the emotion of what that sound is, OK, so if I'm doing a move and I go bam, and I grab myself, it's the music that compels me to do it, it's not I'm saying 'get ready grab down there' you don't think about it, it just happens, sometimes I look back at the footage and think 'did I do that?'"
Dress sense – Jackson adopted a very distinct style which he followed through much of his life. He was frequently seen dressed in black loafers, white socks, black slim-fit trousers and white v-neck T-shirt with a monogrammed military-style jacket, often with epaulettes.
Bubbles the chimp – Jackson adopted the three-year-old chimp from a cancer research clinic in Texas. Bubbles sat in for the recording sessions of the Bad album and escorted Jackson for the filming of the music video. During the Bad World Tour, he and the singer shared a two-bedroom hotel suite in Tokyo.
Bubbles initially resided at the Jackson family's Encino home, but moved to Neverland Ranch in 1988, where he slept in a crib at the corner of Jackson's bedroom.
The chimp was allowed to use Jackson's private lavatory, although he sometimes wore a diaper.
In a 2003 documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, the singer revealed to journalist Martin Bashir that Bubbles had become overly aggressive. He was removed to an animal sanctuary over fears he may attack Jackson's newborn son, Prince Michael II.
Peter Pan – Jackson styled himself as the real-life Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. He turned his home, Neverland Ranch, into a children's paradise complete with fairground rides and collected art work, rumoured to be worth millions, which depicted the J M Barrie character.
Plastic surgery – The singer's changing appearance has been well documented in the press. By the 1980s it was noted that Jackson's skin tone was gradually lightening while the shape of his nose and chin had changed.
He had always been reluctant to discuss the extent of his surgery but admitted to some rhinoplasty and having a cleft put in his chin. Cosmetic surgeons have also speculated that Jackson had undergone multiple nasal surgeries which left him with a strikingly thin nose, a forehead lift, thinned lips and a cheekbone surgery.
Jackson's lightened skin tone was due to the diseases vitiligo and lupus – which he was diagnosed with in 1986 – and he chose to cover up the blotches with make-up.
Surgical mask – In the final years of his life Jackson was rarely seen in public without a surgical mask covering his mouth and nose. The habit prompted many rumours about his declining health.
