Why Did Michael Jackson Go So Far to Alter His Appearance?

Then and now: Michael Jackson changed his appearance radically over the decades. The how and why of his transformation remain open questions.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)
More Photos

Jackson's Changing Face: 'Staying Timeless'

It was after the unprecedented success of 1983's "Thriller" that Jackson's metamorphosis became far more than an artistic statement. In the video for the mega-hit, Jackson transforms from man to werewolf to man to zombie and back to man. It was as if he was using the story to preview the real-life drama of metamorphosis to come.

"I think he was obsessed with staying timeless, is what I think," Jefferson told ABC News' Cynthia McFadden in a recent interview. "It's as if he wanted to look like some, you know, being who has gone into some eternal realm of fame ... beyond life and death."

After the release of his fifth solo album, "Off the Wall" (1979), Jackson had an accident that would change him forever. He fell while dancing and broke his nose. It is believed that that's when he had his first plastic surgery.

In a 2002 interview with ABC News' Martin Bashir, Jackson denied that he had had plastic surgery beyond the nose job.

Related

Who Will Cash In on Michael Jackson's Death?

Nanny: 'I Never Pumped Jackson's Stomach'

PHOTOS: Michael Jackson Through the Years

"I've had no plastic surgery on my face," Jackson said. "Just my nose. It helped me breathe better so I can hit higher notes."

Bashir was skeptical, asking if Jackson honestly was saying he'd only ever had one operation.

"Two," Jackson said. "As I can remember. ... Yeah. Just two."

Dr. Pamela Lipkin, a surgeon specializing in rhinoplasty, said it was unlikely the reshaped nose was better for singing.

"Which nose do you think would breathe better?" Lipkin said. "A normal nose ... that has normal structures, all of which are designed to help breathe? Or something ... that's totally devoid of any natural structure?"

As the makeovers became more extreme, the public seemed to become ever more fascinated. Jackson even seemed to tease his fans about the color of his skin in the music video "Black or White." But the lyrics were no confirmation he was changing his skin color, according to Jackson, who told Oprah Winfrey in 1993 that the changing color of his skin was the result of a disease called vitiligo.

"I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin," Jackson told Winfrey. "It's something that I cannot help, OK? But when people make up stories that I don't want to be who I am, it hurts me."

Lipkin characterized the explanation as dubious.