The eccentric singer gave an interview to US breakfast show Good Morning America in which he chatted about his birthday plans. He spent the day “having a wonderful time, just relaxing” with children Prince Michael, 11, Paris, 10, and six-year-old Prince Michael II, also known as Blanket.
After listening to some records by his idol, James Brown, he planned to “just have a little cake with my children and probably watch some cartoons”.
Despite his advancing years, he can still do the famous Jacko dance moves, he added, laughing when asked if he now qualified for a senior citizen card.
Jackson cuts a reclusive figure these days but the phone interview from his Californian
Since being cleared of child abuse charges in June 2005, Jackson has kept a low profile, dividing his time between the Gulf state of Bahrain and Las Vegas, where he was spotted last week dressed in a tuxedo jacket and pyjama bottoms.
He is now planning a world tour and possibly a money-spinning residency in Las Vegas, following in the footsteps of Cher and Celine Dion.
Financial worries are said to have prompted his return to the limelight.
Asked to reflect on the happiest time in his life, Jackson chose the release of solo albums Off The Wall in 1979 and Thriller in 1982, the two albums which propelled him into the realms of superstardom.
“That meant very much to me and they seemed to be received so beautifully by the public and the world,” he said. “I enjoyed it very much.”
Asked to pick a single song as his greatest achievement, Jackson went back to the same period, nominating Billie Jean, Thriller and We Are The World.
He was keen to stress that he is working on new music and “still looking forward to doing a lot of great things”.
Jackson said: “I am writing all the time. I love composing and the whole thing. But I am also raising my children and enjoying it and teaching them to ride bicycles and how to read. I love it.”
The singer had a famously difficult upbringing as a child star in the Jackson Five, driven on by his domineering father, Joe.
But asked if he would do it all again, Jackson replied: “I think I would. It is very much worth it. I have always loved showbusiness and have always enjoyed making people happy through that medium. I love the celebration of music and dance and art. I just love it.”
However, he is determined that his own children “enjoy their childhood as much as possible”, explaining: “I let them go to the arcade and go to the movies and do things. I want them to get to do the kind of things I didn’t get to do. So I fill them with a lot of enjoy that way – a lot of amusement, you know?
“I get pretty emotional when I see them having a wonderful time, when they are on a ride and they are screaming and they are happy.”
The Jackson children are rarely seen in public without veils, which the singer apparently insisted they wear as protection against kidnap threats. The two eldest children are the product of his former marriage to nurse Debbie Rowe, while Blanket is of unknown parentage.
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