Man In The Mirror

"Man in the Mirror" is a song recorded by Michael Jackson and written and composed by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett. It peaked at number one in the United States when released as the fourth single in January 1988 off his seventh solo album, Bad. It is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed songs and it was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. The song peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Charts in 1988, but in 2009, following the news of Jackson's death, the song peaked at number two, having re-entered the chart at 11 the previous week as his top song on the singles chart.[1] It also became the No. 1 single in iTunes downloads in the U.S. and the U.K.[2]

Music Video


One of the videos is a notable departure from Jackson's other videos mainly because Jackson himself does not appear in the video (aside from a brief clip toward the end of the video in which he can be seen donning a red jacket and standing in a large crowd). Instead, it featured a montage of footage from various major news events such as a nuclear explosion of Operation Crossroads, the Civil Rights March on Washington, John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy assassinations, the Vietnam War, the Kent State shootings, the Iranian hostage crisis, Solidarity's birth and growth, Ethiopian famine, increases in homelessness, Live Aid, first Farm Aid with Willie Nelson, Jessica McClure's rescue, Camp David Accords (with Anwar El Sadat, Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter), INF Treaty signing (with Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan), and other notable people including Martin Luther King, Lech Wałęsa, Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Pieter Willem Botha, Muammar al-Gaddafi, the Ku Klux Klan, and Adolf Hitler.[3] An alternate video was included at the beginning of his film Moonwalker with footage of several live performances of the song during the Bad World Tour.
The PCM Stereo music video version of this song was included on Number Ones and Michael Jackson's Vision.

Composition


The song was written and composed by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard. Jackson added background vocals from Garrett, The Winans and the Andrae Crouch Choir, which gave the song its distinctive sound. The song is said to be one of his favorite songs.[4] Arranged with a Gospel choir, a year after David Bowie used the same device for "Underground", from the fantasy film Labyrinth, other popular artists at the time who had tracks featuring Gospel choirs including Debbie Gibson and Guns N' Roses. Jackson would use a Gospel choir again several years later on his hit "Will You Be There". Siedah Garrett also sang Jackson's duet "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" in summer 1987. The song is played in the key of G Major at a tempo of 100bpm. The vocal range is Ab3-C6.[5]

Chart Performance


"Man In The Mirror" was the fourth consecutive number-one single for Jackson's Bad in the United States. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #48 on February 6, 1988, and reached #1 by its eighth week on the chart, on March 26, 1988, where it remained for two weeks. It originally peaked at #21 in the United Kingdom in 1988. However, following Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, "Man in the Mirror" re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11, and the following week the song peaked at #2, held off by Cascada's "Evacuate the Dancefloor". The chart had also contained over 12 Michael Jackson songs in the Top 40. This song had been at top 100 for 15 consecutive weeks in this chart. In Australia the song originally charted at 39. After the singer's death the song re-entered the chart and peaked at number 8, much higher than its original release. It was also the top single in iTunes downloads in the U.S. and the U.K.[2]
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 39
Austrian Singles Chart 10
Canadian Singles Chart 3
German Singles Chart 23
Netherlands Singles Chart 13
Irish Singles Chart 3
New Zealand Singles Chart 4[6]
UK Singles Chart 21
US Billboard Hot 100 1
Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 8
Austrian Singles Chart 17
Danish Singles Chart 12
European Hot 100 Singles[7] 7
Irish Singles Chart 3
Japan Singles Top 100 Chart[8] 65
New Zealand Singles Chart 9
Norwegian Singles Chart 15
Spanish Singles Chart 50
Swedish Singles Chart 19[9]
Swiss Singles Chart 22[10]
UK Singles Chart 2
UK R&B Chart 1
US Billboard Hot Digital Songs[11] 2

Notable Performances


Jackson performed a live, extended version of the song at the 1988 Grammy Awards. He also performed the song as the ending of the concert during the Bad World Tour's second leg, and regularly during the Dangerous World Tour. On July 16, 1996, Jackson also performed "Man in the Mirror" at the Royal Concert Brunei for the last time prior to the United We Stand benefit concert. The instrumental introduction to the song was played at the end of Jackson's memorial service, while his casket was being carried out; followed by the appearance of a spotlight shining on a microphone on an empty stage. After a closing prayer that incorporated themes from the song, the spotlight remained shining on the lone microphone.[12] The song is also featured as the final number in Michael Jackson's This Is It. The song was quoted by Jermaine Jackson during Celebrity Big Brother 2007, while confronting several housemates who had been bullying an Indian housemate, the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The song was played into the house the following morning as an alarm.

Track Listing


12" and CD
"Man In The Mirror" (Single Mix) – 5:02
"Man In The Mirror" (Album Mix) – 5:18
"Man In The Mirror" (Instrumental) – 5:02
7"
Man in the Mirror - 5:02
Man in the Mirror (Instrumental) - 5:02

Cover Versions


1990: Oklahoma guitarist Tuck Andress recorded an acoustic instrumental version for his album Reckless Precision.[13]
2003: American songwriter and singer Siedah Garrett recorded a more stripped down acoustic version of the song for her second album Siedah.[14]
2011: Garrett performed it as tribute to Michael Jackson at the 2011 Festival Mawazine in Morocco, Africa.[15]
2005: The song was covered by Rythme Fatal with Redd Angel on the album Man in the Mirror.[16]
2008: English musician James Morrison covers "Man in the Mirror" and is featured on the deluxe version of his second album Songs for You, Truths for Me.
2011: Patrick Stump covered the song in an a cappella mash-up tribute with other Jackson songs over pre-recorded backing vocals.[17]
2011: The cast of the FOX TV show Glee covered the song for the eighth episode of the third season, Hold on to Sixteen. It was sung by Cory Monteith, Mark Salling, Chord Overstreet, Kevin McHale, Darren Criss and Harry Shum, Jr. as Finn Hudson, Noah Puckerman, Sam Evans, Artie Abrams, Blaine Anderson and Mike Chang respectively.

Sampling/Remixes


2006: The song is sampled by Brooklyn hip hop artist Papoose during the summer of that year on his song "Gonna Make a Change" from mixtape The Boyz in the Hood.[18] The song describes his rough upbringing and his struggles.
2008: Chicago-based rapper Rhymefest freestyles over the instrumental version of "Man in the Mirror" with Michael Jackson singing the chorus and a part of the second verse. It released on his tribute mixtape Mark Ronson Presents: Man in the Mirror.[19][20]

Live Cover Performances


1980s
1989: American singer Dionne Warwick performed "Man in the Mirror" at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards.[21]
2000s
2007: Australian singer Natalie Gauci also known as the winner of fifth season of Australian Idol performed the song during the show.[22]
2008: "Man in the Mirror" has been performed on The X Factor by contestant Diana Vickers during the fifth series,[23] after which the song re-entered the UK singles charts the week after at 43
2009: Contestant Danyl Johnson performed the same song in the sixth serie.[24]
2009: American Idol season 8 winner Kris Allen sang the song during the semi-finals.[25] With this performance, he advanced to the finals.
2009: Following Jackson's death, Irish rock group U2 started adding a portion of "Man in the Mirror" at the end of their song "Angel of Harlem" during their 360 World tour.[26]
2009: American rock band The Fray performed the song's chorus at two live concerts, during their songs "Never Say Never" (on June 25, the day where Jackson died), and "Look After You" (exactly the month after).[27]
2009: The song was performed as Grand Finale by all the artists of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Performers including Wyclef Jean, Toby Keith and Westlife.[28]
2009: Swedish singer Eddie Razaz covers Jackson's song on the sixth season of Idol (Sweden)[29] and released on the Swedish Idol Compilation 2009.
2009: English singer and songwriter Amy Studt covered this song in her 2009 acoustic tour.[30]
2009: American born artist of Chinese descent Leehom Wang performed "Man in the Mirror" on his "Music-Man" Tour at Beijing Workers Stadium, in China on August 22 A CD single released on the same day to the audiences for free.[31]
2009: Italian singer Marco Mengoni performed this song during the first live show of the 3rd season of the Italian X Factor. The song was later recorded and included in his debut EP, titled Dove si vola.[32]
2009: The All-American Rejects, an American rock band sung the chorus of "Man in the Mirror" during an acoustic performance of "Gives You Hell" for the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning show.[33]
2010s
2010: American R&B singer Whitney Houston performed the song during her concert at the Olimpiyskiy on the I Look to You Tour.[34]
2010: Pop rock band The Liaison played their interpretation of the song at several shows on the anniversary of Jackson's death [35]
2010: American pop singer Chris Brown sung the song at the BET Awards 2010 as final for his Jackson stage performance.[36] However, Brown broke down crying during the song and was unable to finish it.
2010: Contestant Jermaine Sellers performed this song during Hollywood Week of the ninth season of American Idol.
2011: Canadian artist Celine Dion performed this song during a medley of Jackson's songs at her new show, "Celine" in Las Vegas.[37][38]
2011: American Idol season ten contestant Jacob Lusk performed the song during the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" week with original co-songwriter Siedah Garrett.[39]
2011: Adam Levine, front man and guitarist of band Maroon 5 and singer Javier Colon covered the song during the season finale performance show of The Voice.[40]
2011: The X Factor (U.S.) season one contestant Melanie Amaro performed the song during the "Songs from movies" week.
2012: Keke Palmer and The Cast of Joyful Noise The Movie & The Joyful Noise Soundtrack

Personnel


Written and composed by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard
Produced by Quincy Jones
Co-Produced by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson: Solo & background vocals
Featuring Siedah Garrett, The Winans and The Andrae Crouch Choir
Ollie E. Brown: Clap
Dann Huff: Guitar
Greg Phillinganes: Keyboards
Glen Ballard, Randy Kerber: Synthesizers
Siedah Garrett: Background vocals
The Winans: Carvin, Marvin, Michael and Ronald Winans
Andrae Crouch and his Choir: Sandra Crouch, Maxi Anderson, Rose Banks, Geary Faggett, Vonciele Faggett, Andrew Gouche, Linda Green, Francine Howard, Jean Johnson, Perry Morgan, Alfie Silas
Rhythm arrangement by Glen Ballard and Quincy Jones
Synthesizer arrangement by Glen Ballard, Quincy Jones and Jerry Hey
Vocal arrangement by Andrae Crouch