Once upon a time Michael Jackson was untouchable.

People who have followed his career from his childhood remember his innocence then. This was the boy who crooned love songs even before he was a teenager. Now he has just been cleared of all charges of sexual abuse. Now it seems he is game for taking on anyone who want to bring him down.

The 46-year-old singer's career trajectory has shot through as many image makeovers and permutations as the controversial singer Madonna. He began as the young fresh voiced star of a clean and safe Motown (black soul music from the 1960's in Detroit that was intended to appeal to a white audience) outfit called Jackson Five.

Jackson then went on to forge his solo career that blew the world and all other pop stars away. He and his production team managed to ingeniously blend rock guitar riffs (Slash of Guns 'N Roses played along for one his songs), funky Motown grooves and infectious dance beats. His album "Thriller" is as of today the highest selling album of all time.

The video for "Thriller" was groundbreaking and was more like a mini movie. He tasted success through his monstrous album sales and the sold out concerts, which undoubtedly made him one of the greatest performers of all time. This continued till the early 1990s.

Then things started deteriorating for the man and his career. There were stories of his weirdness, stories of cosmetic surgeries and an eccentric lifestyle on his ranch called "Neverland".

But it hit boiling point when in 1993 Jackson was charged with sexually abusing 11-year-old Jordy Chandler. This ended in an out of court settlement for $18 million but adversely affected his image and forever changed the people's perspective of him.

Though unsure of his guilt, the allegations merely added to more weirdness that fans would have to wade through to stay loyal. He was making it difficult for his fans to love him.

His musical career in the later stages wasn't much to brag about either. The slew of albums released in the 1990s fared poorly by his standards. People started declaring his career dead while others preferred to listen to his earlier albums.

"I like his earlier stuff as the songs were better. Albums like 'Thriller' and 'Bad' were good but after 'Dangerous', there's nothing worth buying or raving about," says Sujaya Jacob, a 15-year-old class 10 student.

Jackson also had a much-publicised but brief marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of the 1960's music icon Elvis Presley in 1994.

A second marriage to Debbie Rowe in 1996 resulted in two children - son Prince Michael, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine.

Jackson's name was muddied when he was accused of sexually molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo in November 2003 followed by a police inquiry and a four-month trial.

Though the star performer was cleared by the jury of all 10 charges that were levelled against him, including giving Arvizo alcohol and attempting to kidnap him and his family, it remains uncertain whether the "King of Pop" will ever be able to again scale the dizzy heights that he once occupied.

"His career is over even if he has been cleared of all charges. There is no reason to look forward to a come back. His career was not peaking as such at the time of the trial. So he is basically over," says Chitrabhanu, an avid music fan who has followed Jackson's career.

Irrespective of the "not guilty" verdict, music's most misunderstood superstar still faces a challenge of getting his life back on track after the ordeal of the past 18 months.