The Evolution of Michael Jackson's Hair

While the rest of the world was obsessed with Michael Jackson's changing appearance, something else on him was changing that went relatively unnoticed......his hair. Michael wore a variety of hairstyles during his life. Being the son of a hairdresser, I can look at a person's hair for a split second and know how it was styled. Growing up around hair products and beauticians, I couldn't help but observe everything (even though I didn't really want to). My mother does hair and was a singer. In fact she was on CBS Records with Michael Jackson during the 1980s. You can read about it here.

As a huge Michael Jackson fan growing up, I realized that Michael Jackson put as much thought into his hair as he did his songwriting and dance routines. There was more to Michael's hair than meets the eye, and that's what I'm about to explore.

                               Mini- Afro

This picture was obviously taken during the late 1960s, probably a little after the Jackson 5 were signed to Motown Records. This picture of Michael, (who might be 11 years old) shows the beginnings of an afro. African hair naturally grows this way, which is why we call it our natural hair. In this pic, his hair looks combed and packed in neat. 

                               The Afro

Mike looks 14 here. (I think the picture was taken in 1972). This is an afro, similar to the one worn by Ronald McDonald (only not dyed with the color of ketchup.) Michael's hair looks thick and healthy; not at all what it would look like 30 years later but I'll get to that in a minute. This was the early 1970s and the Black Power Movement was in. The Jacksons were not militant but any black person wearing their natural afro hair back then was supporting social change as well as the "Black is Beautiful" phrase. It was all about embracing your culture and being happy with yourself. The following is a picture of Michael from 1976 or 1977, sporting what he called his "crown" afro.

                               Crown Afro

Michael looks unhappy here, and it's no mystery why. His life was hectic during this time--a changing voice, a growth spurt, leaving Motown (and big brother Jermaine) and a traumatizing case of acne. Worst of all, he hated his nose. I wish I were born back then to tell him, "Look on the bright side, Mike. You won the afro contest!!" Sure enough, Michael's crown afro was the king and would have swallowed the smaller afros worn by his brothers.

                      Natural Hair? Beat It!!

Notice the small, tight curls in Michael's newly relaxed hair.

In the 1980s, the afro was replaced by an emerging style....the Jheri Curl. To get a Jheri Curl, a person straightens their hair with a chemical called a relaxer. Spraying an expensive bottle of hair spray called "activator" into the hair will provide a glossy sheen and bring the curly texture to life. The curl is often called a "wash and wear" hairstyle, meaning the wetter it is, the better it looks.

Michael kept up with the urban trends. He knew all the latest break-dance moves, fashion statements, and was no different when it came to popular hairstyles. In 1979 he trimmed his "crown afro" and opted for a new look. The beginnings of Michael's Jheri Curl journey began in the music videos for the Off The Wall album and the Triumph tour with his brothers. (pictured above)

                          "Thriller Curls"

Michael sporting a healthy Jheri Curl in 1982. Notice the wavy texture on top.

In 1982, Michael released his Thriller album and dominated the music scene. By this point, his Jheri Curl had grown longer. To distinguish himself, Michael wore a part in his hair. He also allowed a few curls to hang over his eye, something that became a trademark. Here is a video of him getting his hair styled for the photo cover of the Thriller album. The relaxer had already been applied; he and his crew were combing and styling to get the desired look. 

One of the things that made Michael unique was that he never wore his hair the same way. For example, take a good look at Michael's hair during the iconic Thriller video. In the video's opening scene, Michael's hair looked wavy and relaxed--the result of careful combing and sculpting.

Michael's hair was delicately combed during this portion of the short film.

Later in the video, his hair looked more curly and wild, the result of picking out the curls with a comb. He probably preferred it this way because of the dancing. After all, even Superman's trademark curl would be a mess after executing a superhuman dance routine with the walking dead.

Michael plucked out the curls to get a loose, bouncy look for this scene.

Remember, he's wearing the same hairstyle, just alternating the look of it. Michael's co-star, Ola Ray, also had a jheri curl in the video. How cute!!

                           A "Stringy" Curl

Michael is wearing a combination of water and activator in his hair. Water results in a stringy look for Jheri Curls.

One thing the King of Pop loved to do was wet his hair. When you wet a Jheri Curl, the curls become much looser and result in a wet, stringy look. Michael wet his hair a lot during the BAD and Victory tours (pictured above). He also had a wet head when he was burned in 1984.

                           A Fiery Setback

To this day, many blame the Jheri Curl for setting Michael's hair ablaze in 1984.

When Michael Jackson was burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in January 1984, it changed his life forever. Not only was this the start of a drug addiction, but the beginning of his fondness for wigs and hairpieces. I know the picture above is not pretty, but he suffered second and third degree burns on his scalp. Your hair is not coming back from that. If it does, it won't be in its original condition. Remember how thick Michael's afro looked in the earlier photos? If his hair returned at all, it would not be that thick. Not even close. Regardless, Michael carried on wearing a hairpiece that covered his bald spots. I honestly can't tell you how much of his hair grew back because he kept the burned areas covered for the rest of his life. But I suspect that his hair became thin around the burn areas.

Jheri Curls are notorious to this very day because of the flammable oils within the activator. Michael told several people that he didn't wear any activator that night; only water. Despite that, the activator he applied during the previous days was still present in his hair and ignited the sparks. If you ever pick up any bottle of activator, including Care Free Curl (the activator Michael used) the back of the bottle says, "Caution: HIGHLY FLAMMABLE. Keep away from open flames."

                             Who's BAD?

By 1987, Michael's Jheri Curl grew into a long shag that he constantly tossed as he danced. He maintained the part in his hair and combed out the curls, making them appear bigger and looser, as opposed to the small and tight curls he had earlier on. His hair looked awesome, but I'm not convinced it was all his. 

Michael's hair was short during the black and white scenes in the BAD video, but suddenly became long once the song kicked in? 

A screenshot of Michael in the BAD short film. Notice how short his hair is without weave.

Another screenshot of a confident Jackson in the BAD video. What a difference extensions make.

To give Michael the benefit of the doubt, the black or white scenes were filmed in January 1987 and the color scenes were shot that summer, but that still isn't enough time for Michael to grow his hair out that freakishly long.
His "hair" also looked healthy and full, even where he had been burned. He was obviously wearing extensions to make his hair appear fuller, thicker and longer.

A lot of people, (both black and white) were puzzled by Michael's sudden change in skin color. Today we know that he had a skin disorder that he kept under wraps. But back in 1987, some people thought he was trying to hide his ancestry. Due to the fact that Michael couldn't help his skin condition and millions of black people were wearing Jheri Curls at the time, I don't see how he could be labeled a "sell-out." But that's another topic for another blog.  Let's fast forward to 1991.

                              Dangerous

Michael started to wear the wave nouveau in 1991. In this picture, he wore it relatively straight.

Michael welcomed the '90s with a new sound and look. In addition to replacing Quincy Jones with Teddy Riley as his main collaborator, Michael traded in his trademark curls for a loose, stringy look. There's still a slight curl pattern in his hair, but this new hairstyle fit him as well as the New Jack Swing tracks on the Dangerous album. The name of this hairstyle is the wave nouveau. It looks similar to a Jheri Curl but highlights waves more than curls. 

This is personally my favorite hairstyle on Michael. I wore it briefly myself in college a few years before I started my dreads. He straightened his hair with a hot comb or a straightener, but I honestly can't tell you which method he used. Like the Jheri Curl, Michael wore the wave nouveau for years but constantly modified the appearance of his hair. The picture below is a rare shot of Michael from behind the scenes of his Dangerous video, Give In To Me. Unlike the previous pictures I posted, he decided to enhance the curls by using activator. He wore his hair this way on the Dangerous tour as well.

This is the basic look of the wave nouveau.

                         Curly or Straight? 

Michael did too much to his hair in 1993. For example, his hair looked loose and curly when he performed at the Superbowl on January 31, but was straight when he was interviewed by Oprah just a few weeks later on February 10. Take a look. 

MJ's Curly Hair At The Superbowl On 1/31/1993

MJ's hair looked somewhat wavy but straight on the live interview with Oprah on Feb. 10, 1993

The man certainly had the money to get a fresh relaxer put in his hair each week and evidently was doing just that. His hair looked great but getting too many perms will thin your hair out. I know of quite a few people who had their hair eaten and destroyed by those hair chemicals in relaxers. Another scary thought is that Michael had been wearing relaxers non-stop since 1979. He never once gave his hair a break. Little Richard and James Brown wore relaxers quite often but occasionally went natural to give their hair a break from all those chemicals. Michael never did that. The last time we saw his natural hair was his crown afro on the original cover of the Off The Wall album in 1979.  I think all those years of chemicals had caught up to him by late 1993, as evidenced by the picture below.

              Uh-Oh. Hair (and legal) troubles..

His hair doesn't look healthy here. It appears to be thinning and breaking off in places. Michael probably didn't care because he had bigger issues to worry about, including allegations of child abuse. But a change had to be made to save his ailing hair, and he made that change in 1995.

                       Make That Change....

From the looks of things, the 1995 MTV awards was the last time we saw Michael wear all of his own hair in public. He couldn't resist getting another relaxer to maintain those curls, but there's no weave or anything. If he is wearing a hairpiece, it's a small one towards the back of his head to conceal the burn spots. This look (and performance) got a positive reaction from his critics.

                       Wigs: Give In To Me

MJ wore wigs in music videos such as Scream, Ghosts, Childhood, You Are Not Alone and Stranger In Moscow.

Wait, how did Michael's hair grow so fast within a year? One year after his mesmerizing performance at the 1995 MTV awards, Michael's hair looked long again during the filming of the Scream video with little sister, Janet. This was one of the first times Michael wore a wig. The wig's texture is completely different from Michael's real hair. Not only that, but it's a different texture from Michael's relaxed hair, too. I think Michael was concealing his real hair to give it a rest from relaxers. During the entire HIStory era, Michael's hair would look short in one appearance and suddenly long in the next. Michael evidently didn't care if anyone knew he was wearing wigs.

                          "Invincible" Hair

No wonder Michael named his 2001 album Invincible. His hair certainly was, concealed by wigs for nearly the rest of the decade. In the above picture, one look at the hairline reveals a lace front wig. The 2000s were like a rerun of the late 90s for Michael's hair; it would appear short one day, then hang down his back the next. I didn't care for the wigs he wore during those years, although I'm partial to these two.

Wearing a lace front wig, Michael ponders a question from British Journalist, Martin Bashir. .

This long wig is referred to by some as a "wrap."

                                          But I was not a fan of wigs like this one.

The hairline reveals a front lace wig.

The wigs he wore from 2000 until April 2009 were usually bone straight. Some were curled under at the bottom. I suspect that he was wearing his natural hair underneath and giving it a much needed break from perms. Since he wasn't performing much during this period, I suppose it was the perfect time for a hair hiatus. 

In my opinion, there was no spice to these wigs and I found myself almost praying that he would do something new with his hair. I couldn't see him performing wearing those boring lace front wigs. Michael apparently agreed with me and surprised everyone by reuniting with the wave nouveau. You know what that means? Curls!!!

                                This Is It

It looks like Michael returned to the wave nouveau for the ill-fated This Is It concerts. I was really excited to see this. He resembled the Michael Jackson of my childhood. From looking at it, it appears that Michael is wearing his real hair for the first time for years, but there are extentions to make it appear fuller and longer than it really is. My immediate guess was that his real hair was attached to a wig and I was proven right when I read the autopsy report. This wig appeared a lot more natural than the recent ones he wore. And unlike the others, he actually wore his own hair with the wig in this case. 

Michael wore a variety of different styles throughout his career. He always changed with the times, transitioning from an afro to Jheri Curl, and then branching off in other styles. But regardless of what style he chose, he always modified it in a way to make his hair stand out. Michael Jackson was an innovator in many ways. Not just in music, but with his hair.

December 2013 Update: Wow is all I can say. I didn't know that so many people would read this blog and enjoy it the way they have. People are quick to forget that this man was the greatest entertainer ever and if you're gonna perform in sold-out stadiums to millions and millions of people all over the world, your hair better be looking good! That's another thing Michael Jackson taught us. Thanks for reading and share this with your friends.

"It's all for love. L.O.V.E."
-Michael Jackson, 2009