Meanings
- informalA nickname for the American singer-songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist Michael Jackson (1958–2009).
When he billed himself as the King of Pop, no one contested the title.
1995 June 18, Jon Pareles, “POP VIEW; Michael Jackson Is Furious, Understand?”, in The New York Times2 more examples
The King of Pop.” That’s how Fox, Black Entertainment Television (BET) and MTV, the American TV outlets that got the rights to première Jackson’s “Black or White” video, now refer to him. That was the deal. You want to get “Black or White” first, you dub Jackson “the King of Pop.”
1992 January 9, Michael Goldberg, “Michael Jackson: The Making of ‘The King of Pop’”, in Rolling StoneHe was given the nickname the "King of Pop" -- a spin on Elvis Presley's status as "the King of Rock 'n' Roll" -- and few questioned the moniker.
2009 June 25, Todd Leopold, “Michael Jackson, pop music legend, dead at 50”, in CNN
Origin
The earliest known attestation of this term as a nickname for Michael Jackson is in a newspaper article in the New York Post of February 8, 1984.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
King of Pop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/King%20of%20Pop
“King of Pop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/King%20of%20Pop. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “King of Pop,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/King%20of%20Pop.
Source: King of Pop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.