Jacqueline du Pré vs Michael Jackson
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Jacqueline du Pré | Michael Jackson | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Classical | Pop |
| Born | 1945 | 1958 |
| Died | 1987 | 2009 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | United States |
| Star sign | Aquarius | Virgo |
Who they are
Jacqueline du Pré
There is a recording made in 1965, when Jacqueline du Pré was nineteen years old, that classical musicians still use as a reference point for what the cello can express. She was performing Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor — a late, elegiac work that Elgar wrote in 1919, after the destruction of the First World War, and which had been considered a minor piece of his output until du Pré played it. Her performance — large-scaled, deeply personal, technically sovereign — transformed the concerto's reputation overnight. It is now considered one of the great…
Full biography of Jacqueline du Pré →
Michael Jackson
On August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, a steel-mill town on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, Katherine and Joseph Jackson welcomed their seventh child into the world. None of them could have imagined that Michael Joseph Jackson would grow up to become the most famous entertainer the world had ever known — a figure whose name, four decades later, remains synonymous with pop music itself.
Full biography of Michael Jackson →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and United States.
- 13 years separate their births (1945 and 1958).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Jacqueline du Pré or Michael Jackson?
- Jacqueline du Pré. Jacqueline du Pré was born in 1945, Michael Jackson in 1958.
- What field is each of them in?
- Jacqueline du Pré is filed under Music (Classical). Michael Jackson is filed under Music (Pop).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.