In 1987, Michael Jackson bought Sycamore Valley Ranch and transformed it into Neverland, the ultimate childhood fantasy world. Located in the Santa Barbara County area in California, the dreamlike playground seemed to be catered more toward children than to the pop star himself, highlighting the fact that MJ never really had a childhood.
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When he was just a little boy, Jackson became a renowned musical sensation with his brothers. He was a natural-born performer, but that’s pretty much all he did. And when he wasn’t on stage, he had a troublesome relationship with his father, Joe. The Neverland Ranch became the place that Michael Jackson could live out the childhood he never had and always yearned for.