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“She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene…” The eighth of 10 children growing up in Gary, Indiana in a family that would later be known as the First Family of Soul, Michael Jackson took the music world by storm in the 1960s when he made his debut alongside his older brothers with the Jackson 5. Eventually launching his solo career and becoming an international sensation in the 1970s, Jackson built a reputation for his incredible artistry and talent seen and heard in hits like “Thriller,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Bad” that dominated the charts for decades.

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As the famed King of Pop, Jackson frequently found himself in the spotlight despite placing a high value on his privacy. Of course, many argue that the late Jackson brought the attention on himself after becoming the King of Cosmetic Surgery with decades of appearance-altering procedures that set the pop sensation back over $1 million. In the meantime, the world watched in awe as the charming young Michael who debuted singing “ABC” with the Jackson 5 transformed into an unrecognizable tabloid sensation starting in the 1980s up until his death in 2009.

After years of abuse from his father and taunts that he had a “fat nose,” Jackson opted for his first surgery in the 1970s long before he was 20 years old. In a later interview, he told his fans why he needed to make a change; “I had pimples so badly it used to make me so shy. I cried every day.” In addition to removing his acne scars, he also had his first rhinoplasty to reduce the size of his nose, a decision many believe was heavily influenced by his father despite Jackson’s persistent denials. As we already know, Jackson’s time under the knife and in the tabloids for his drastic transformation didn’t stop there.

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First seen as a child with very dark skin like the rest of his family, Jackson’s complexion gradually lightened over the years and caused many people to question if the King of Pop was lightening his skin on purpose. Before long, Jackson’s publicity team came forward and confirmed he had vitiligo, which is a skin disorder that caused his skin to lighten in patches. A known perfectionist from his performances to his appearance, Jackson supposedly turned to lightening creams and treatments to reduce the signs of blotchiness.

With his skin lightening, critics argued that Jackson was doing everything possible to remove any resemblance to his father especially when it came to his obsession with his nose, which he said was broken during an accident on the dance floor. Several rhinoplasties later, no one believed the “accident” as the surgeries resulted in breathing issues for the singer that only ignited a slew of additional procedures that left his nose nearly nonexistent. He then wore a prosthetic nose to cover the botched surgeries as fans became more and more critical of his obviously dangerous addiction.

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Throughout the course of his 45-year-career, surgeons estimate that Jackson had over 100 procedures and spent over $1 million on everything from regular Botox injections and lip fillers to cheek implants, eyelid surgery and even adding a dimple to his chin to appear more masculine. Dr. Wallace Goodstein, who worked alongside Jackson’s personal plastic surgeon, admits that Jackson went too far. “He had so many [surgeries] that were inappropriate.”

Although Goodstein disagreed with Jackson’s choices, he understood the King of Pop’s dilemma since skin discoloration is exceptionally hard to treat. At first, Jackson turned to makeup to match the areas with the rest of his skin but soon that wasn’t enough. “He would have to wear heavy, heavy makeup on stage, which would be ridiculous,” Dr. Goldstein said. “And he couldn’t really go out in public without looking terribly peculiar.”

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While Jackson was desperate to keep his surgeries secret, he wasn’t fooling anyone as fans worried he suffered from a tragic self-image problem despite his incredible success. They might have been right. Regardless, Jackson’s popularity continued to rise throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s until one too many surgeries made him nearly unrecognizable compared to the young star the world had come to know and love. By then, it was far too late to fight Jackson’s devastating addiction or make up for years of abuse from his father that made him forever child-like, exceptionally shy and tragically self-conscious.

Sadly, the King of Pop battled his low self-image up until his death on June 25, 2009 when he was given a lethal dose of antidepressants and painkillers mixed with a long list of medications to treat his vitiligo, anxiety and pain. Ultimately, many believe that plastic surgery is exactly what led to his death as his ongoing pursuit of perfection was tragically out of reach for the 50-year-old star who, ironically enough, was already perfect in the eyes of his fans.