The third of nine Jackson children and last to release a solo project, Tito was ‘incredible man who cared about everyone’
Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the pop group the Jackson 5, has died at the age of 70.
Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, including global superstars Michael and sister Janet.
Continue reading...Court filing details how the King of Pop was in financial straits as he was preparing to embark on his This Is It tour
Michael Jackson had accumulated more than half a billion dollars of debt when he died in 2009, new court documents reveal.
A 21 June court filing by the executors of his estate provided some of the most complete details yet about the strained finances with which the 13-time Grammy winner was grappling at the time of his death.
Continue reading...Guitar also played by George Harrison on Norwegian Wood could sell for millions in May auction, alongside other memorabilia including a book of Tupac Shakur’s handwritten lyrics
A guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison in sessions for the albums Help! and Rubber Soul, which has spent the last 50 years lying in an attic, is to go up for auction alongside other memorabilia items such as a handwritten concert setlist by Kurt Cobain, a book of handwritten lyrics by Tupac Shakur and a Fendi dress worn by Amy Winehouse.
The 12-string acoustic guitar, a Hootenanny model made by Bavarian firm Framus in the early 1960s, was primarily played by Lennon and also appears in the movie Help!, used to perform You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away. The studio version of that song also features the guitar, as well as Help!’s title track, It’s Only Love and I’ve Just Seen a Face. Harrison, meanwhile, used it to play the rhythm guitar part on Norwegian Wood, and it appears on another Rubber Soul song, Girl.
Continue reading...Wade Robson and James Safechuck detailed allegations that singer sexually abused them as children in HBO documentary
Lawsuits from two men who accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them when they were children can move forward to a jury trial, a California appeals court ruled on Friday.
The two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, were featured in the 2019 HBO documentary series Leaving Neverland that detailed their allegations against Jackson, who died in 2009.
Continue reading...In 2005, a Bahraini prince welcomed the deposed king of pop and wrote a Hurricane Katrina charity single with him. But Jackson’s erratic behaviour sent plans off course
Omar Shaheen remembers the moment well. In early 2005, the young Bahraini was driving when he received a surreal job offer: the chance to work with Michael Jackson. “It was totally out of left field,” he recalls. “It is a pinch-yourself kind of moment when you get a call to say you’re going to be working with someone who you idolise and is the biggest superstar of all time.”
The request came from Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, who asked Shaheen to set up a state-of-the art recording studio on his grounds in anticipation of the star’s arrival. “There are so many adjectives to use,” Shaheen says of what was to unfold. “It was bizarre. It was crazy.”
Continue reading...The singer-songwriter recalls the life-changing joy of playing in an orchestra, the beauty of her first braids and being empowered by Eternal
The first orchestra I played in was Birmingham School, a concert orchestra. The first time I played in a symphony orchestra was this powerful, life-changing experience, like the first time I took a plane – you know, when the engine kicks in and you’re about to take off? Playing with the brass section behind us and full woodwind, I was blown away by the magnitude of the sound.
Continue reading...Property sold for less than a quarter of its initial $100m asking price to billionaire investor Ron Burkle
Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch has reportedly sold for $22m, less than a quarter of its initial $100m asking price, to billionaire investor Ron Burkle in a deal described one LA real estate agent as a “steal”.
The property in Los Olivos, California, was home to the late popstar from 1987, when he was at the height of his fame, to the time of his death in June 2009. He died of a drug overdose at a different home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Continue reading...The ‘Wacko Jacko’ persona was a deliberate ruse to cover a much darker truth, says Jacques Peretti as he examines his own complicity in letting the pop star off the hook
If you keep wondering what to think about Michael Jackson’s complicated legacy – is it OK to play Billie Jean at a party? Do you have to switch radio stations if Smooth Criminal comes on? – imagine how Jacques Peretti feels. He has made three films about the pop icon in the past 15 years and in this, his fourth, he aimed to build the fullest picture yet. But how many of us are brave enough to confront that picture?
The Real Michael Jackson (BBC Two) comes just over a year after the broadcast of HBO/Channel 4’s Leaving Neverland, a gruelling, four-hour documentary built around the detailed accounts of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who say they were sexually abused by Jackson as children. Peretti’s film was initially billed as a rival Jackson film, but in the event, it’s much more like an unofficial sequel; a film that could not exist if Leaving Neverland hadn’t cleared the media’s hagiographic haze, but which also provides necessary context on the huge fallout from Jackson’s 2009 death.
Continue reading...Dan Reed knew his film would shatter Michael Jackson’s reputation. But he didn’t expect so many death threats – or the superfans stalking his office
In February, when the documentary maker Dan Reed and I met in a near-empty bar, it felt very much like the lull before the typhoon. He was calm and expansive as he spoke about his film, Leaving Neverland – which was about to be broadcast – about James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them for years.
As I looked at him leaning back, relaxed as you like, talking casually about “the Jackson fans”, I thought: “Sonny Jim, you have NO IDEA what you’re getting into.” It was like watching an innocent babe wander into a dark wood, the sounds of snarling animals in shadows all around him.
Continue reading...Standup comedian also takes aim at callout culture that sees public figures held to account by audiences
Dave Chappelle has come under fire for his latest Netflix special in which he claims he does not believe Michael Jackson sexually assaulted young boys, and makes jokes at the expense of Jackson’s accusers.
In a standup set that seemed designed to provoke precisely the backlash that it was critiquing, Chappelle took aim at a prevailing callout culture that sees celebrities being held to account by audiences and in the media for perceived or actual crimes and for the offensive things they say.
Continue reading...Barbra Streisand has apologised over her remarks about Michael Jackson and two men who have accused him of sexual abuse, saying she should have chosen her words more carefully and that she admires the accusers for “speaking their truth”.
Streisand had been strongly criticized for her comments about two men who accused Jackson of sexual abuse in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
Continue reading...Robson Wade and James Safechuck, who in HBO documentary accuse Jackson of child sex abuse, face legal action in France
Three Michael Jackson fan groups are suing his alleged victims in France for “sullying his memory” by taking part in the Leaving Neverland documentary, the fans’ lawyer told Agence France-Presse on Friday.
The Michael Jackson Community – which claims to be the “official fan club forum” – and the MJ Street and On The Line groups accuse Robson Wade and James Safechuck of “lynching” Jackson.
Continue reading...Child abuse allegations in Leaving Neverland prompt cartoon’s makers to act
An episode of The Simpsons featuring Michael Jackson’s voice has been pulled by its producers after a powerful documentary accused the star of sexually abusing two men when they were children.
The HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which was shown on Channel 4 this week, featured James Safechuck and Wade Robson who claimed they were sexually abused by Jackson.
Continue reading...Backlash comes after documentary Leaving Neverland details abuse allegations of two men against the singer
Dozens of radio stations around the world have removed Michael Jackson’s music from their playlists after allegations that the late singer abused children aired on Sunday in the documentary Leaving Neverland.
In New Zealand, the public broadcaster and its major commercial rivals – whose listener base covers more than half the population – united in opting not to play Jackson’s hits.
Continue reading...The singer’s estate is claiming the network is breaching a 1992 non-disparagement contract by airing a two-part documentary alleging sexual abuse against children
Michael Jackson’s estate is suing HBO over the network’s plans to air a documentary alleging the singer sexually abused two young boys.
The estate is claiming that by showing Leaving Neverland, HBO is violating a non-disparagement clause from a 1992 contract. According to the suit, when HBO aired Michael Jackson in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour, the clause precluded them from disparaging the singer in future works.
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