Man in the Music

by Joseph Vogel

  After deliberating for seven days, the Santa Maria jury delivered its verdict on June 13, 2005. Michael Jackson was found not guilty on all fourteen counts. “It is an absolute and complete victory for Michael Jackson,” said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, “utter humiliation and defeat for Thomas Sneddon, the district attorney who has been pursuing Michael Jackson for more than a decade, who brought a case that was not one that this jury bought at all. This one’s over.”

  Sneddon, however, had no regrets about the case or his tactics in and out of the courtroom. “I’m not going to look back and apologize for anything,” he said shortly after the verdict. “We thought we had a good case this time, and we thought we did a conscientious job, and the sheriff’s department did a remarkable job of investigating….The people in this county elected me to do a job, and I’ve tried to do that conscientiously.”

  In a short statement, meanwhile, defense attorney Tom Mesereau simply said: “Justice was done….The man’s innocent. He always was.”

  While Mesereau was pleased with the victory in court, however, he acknowledged the toll the trial took on the artist. He said:

  It was painful [for Michael], it was horrifying, he couldn’t believe that he was listening to some of the statements that were made. He couldn’t believe anybody would accuse him of harming children. He couldn’t believe that they would ever accuse him of masterminding a conspiracy to falsely imprison a family, to abduct children, to extort. These are things that Michael was not capable of even imagining and to formally charge him with this and then to call witnesses who clearly were not telling the truth, to try and build a case against him, was frightening and very disheartening for him.

  According to those close to him, when Jackson learned that the verdict was in, his biggest concern was for his children, Prince, Paris, and Blanket. Friends and family members remember him barely saying a word that day. He was terrified. If found guilty, he could have spent up to twenty years in prison.

  Jackson was acquitted of all charges that day, but the artist barely seemed to register the verdict. He looked hollowed out, broken. He whispered “thank you” to his attorneys and walked outside, where fans screamed and blared his music in celebration. He walked gingerly and lifted his hand up before stepping into a black SUV. Within days, he left the country. He never returned to his Neverland Ranch.

  VAGABOND

  In the years after his trial, the pop star became a sort of vagabond. The media occasionally learned of his whereabouts—which included Bahrain, Ireland, and Las Vegas—or took photos of him with his children in a bookstore or an amusement park. But, for the most part, he had slipped from the public’s consciousness. Most assumed his career was over. Behind the scenes, however, Jackson was still compulsively creative, and had developed dozens of new songs.

  Jackson’s first post-trial attempt to get back into recording was in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The artist had been invited to stay there and recover by Abdulla bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family and a friend of his brother Jermaine. “[Michael] looked beaten,” recalled Ahmed Al Khan, an attorney for Sheik Abdulla. “And so people here, Abdulla, myself, all the people around him, really helped Michael recover really quickly. They gave him his space. They let him recoup. They gave him rest. They gave him his privacy.”

  Before long, they had also worked out a recording deal. In 2006, Jackson and Sheik Abdulla announced that they were founding a record label, Two Seas Records, through which the artist would be releasing a new album in the coming year. “I am incredibly excited about my new venture, and I am enjoying being back in the studio making music,” said Jackson in a statement.

  Jackson worked sporadically in the palace studio during this time; tracks in progress included songs titled “Light the Way” and “He Who Makes the Sky Grey,” among others. He reached out to a number of his former collaborators, including Rod Temperton, Teddy Riley, John Barnes, and Bill Bottrell. Some even made it out to Bahrain. When Bottrell arrived in 2006, Jackson was gone, so he decided to do what he had done in the old days: get to work and start laying down some ideas. Yet, according to brother Jermaine, Michael became spooked when he learned that Sheik Abdulla’s generosity seemed to have more strings attached than he realized. “The signed contract had Michael tied up in some general management lock-down on music, musicals, movies and books,” explained Jermaine. “When Michael realized that, he walked away: he wasn’t being ‘owned’ by anyone.” The artist took a “family trip” to London and never returned. The Two Seas Records deal was over. (Sheik Abdulla later sued Jackson for $7 million; the case was eventually settled out of court.)

  From London, Jackson moved to Ireland, where he stayed at several beautiful, secluded countryside estates over the next several months. Castle owner Patrick Nordstrom, who had rented his Blackmore Castle in Cork to Jackson for a couple of weeks, described him as a “restless soul,” but said the artist seemed to find some peace, refuge, and rejuvenation during his stay. He played with his children, read, and even attended a Bob Dylan concert one summer night.

  Jackson also spent time at the estate of friend and fellow dancer Michael Flatley in Castlebridge. “I felt that he was inspired here,” said Flatley. “He could be himself completely somehow here, away from the world’s eyes.”

  The majority of Jackson’s time in Ireland, however, was spent in Westmeath at Grouse Lodge and its nearby Coolatore House, owned by Paddy Dunning, entrepreneur, studio owner, and musician. Dunning remembered Jackson being interested in everything about Ireland. He would read the local paper every morning, fascinated with the country’s history, mythology, and music.

  Grouse Lodge had an internationally renowned, state-of-the-art studio, which Jackson utilized frequently during his stay. “Michael actually spent most of his time recording in Studio Two,” recalled Dunning. “He really seemed to like the sound of that room. What was amazing for me was discovering just how incredible Michael was at playing any instrument. He’d sit at the piano and play all the Beatles songs for us to all sing along to, or get on the drums, or play guitar. Michael was working with people like Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am, and other musicians, but the tracks he recorded were never finished.”

  Around this time, Jackson allowed Billy Bush of Access Hollywood to come out to Grouse Lodge and conduct a brief interview from the studio, where the artist was working with will.i.am. Asked if it felt good to be recording music again, Jackson responded: “I never stopped.”

  Jackson and will.i.am worked on several tracks together that year. “I think he’s doing wonderful, innovative, positive, great music,” Jackson said of will.i.am. For his part, will.i.am was thrilled at the opportunity to work with his idol. “Something needs to put a jolt back in the music industry,” he said, “and the only thing that can do that is the jolt itself, the energy that sparked the imagination of kids [like me in the first place].”

  Jackson and will.i.am worked on a range of grooves, with elements of EDM, hip-hop, and disco. “It was going to be out of this world,” said will.i.am. “Of course they were melodic and as he would say juicy. ‘It’s so juicy it sounds like something you would just want to eat,’ [he said]. The way he described music was just awesome.” One song, titled “The Future,” addressed environmental issues, but with a killer Latin beat. “It was very demanding,” said will.i.am. “It ordered and demanded people to the dance floor.”

  Another mid-tempo track, called “I’m Gonna Miss You,” was inspired by James Brown’s death in 2006. Other songs included “I’m Dreamin’ ” and “The King,” which was intended to feature artists influenced by Jackson, like Usher and Ne-Yo. “Man, he still sings like a bird,” will.i.am said in 2006. “He could go anywhere. I think we have a real opportunity to do something here.” Unfortunately, their work together was left incomplete.

  After a six-month stay in Ireland, Jackson finally returned to the United Stat
es in the winter of 2006 and rented a home in Las Vegas for several months. Here Jackson reached out to several former collaborators, including longtime friend Brad Buxer and recording engineer Michael Prince (not to be confused with Jackson’s son, Prince Michael). Over the next couple of years, Jackson worked on dozens more songs.

  Most of their work took place in Jackson’s Vegas home, where a studio was set up in a large second-floor space that included a dance floor and an office. It allowed Jackson to work in a comfortable environment with people he trusted. Some days he would simply wake up and work in his pajamas; other days, they would drive over to the Palms Hotel and use the professional recording space there, called Studio at the Palms.

  Jackson was happy to be working with old friends again. “Some days we would work two hours, some days eight hours, depending on his kids’ schedule,” recalled Michael Prince. “He was a great father. People don’t realize much of the time he didn’t even have a nanny. He was a single father. He’d make them breakfast, talk to them, take them out to see shows, let them watch him work. Then he’d call a tutor over and they would study while we recorded.”

  In Las Vegas, Jackson also reached out to producer RedOne (best known at the time for his work with Lady Gaga). “All I can say is, he is the best,” said RedOne of the experience. “He is very inspirational and very open. It seems like there is no limit in what he knows about music, about productions and about emotions….The music we were doing was good, really good…very energetic, uplifting. It’s sad that we never finished.”

  Jackson also worked on a handful of songs with Senegalese American artist Akon. “He’s incredible,” said Akon, after recording with Jackson in Las Vegas. “He’s a genius. Just to be in the same room, I felt everything I wanted to accomplish in life has been achieved. That’s how incredible that aura is….The way he thinks…some artists think regional, some think national, I was thinking international. He thinks planets. It’s on another level.” Only one of their collaborations was completed—the lush mid-tempo track “Hold My Hand.”

  By 2008, buzz was starting to build again in the music industry about a Michael Jackson comeback album. “This is something Michael is carefully planning. I think the album is going to be amazing,” a longtime Jackson associate told the Chicago Sun-Times. That February, Sony released Thriller 25, a reissue of Jackson’s legendary album that included five new remixes by contemporary artists, including Kanye West, will.i.am, and Akon, as well as (strangely) an outtake from the Dangerous sessions called “For All Time.”

  Considering Jackson’s absence on the music scene over the prior six years, many were surprised at how well the album sold. It hit #1 in eight countries. Even in the United States, where Jackson was thought to be commercially dead, it reached #2 on the Billboard Albums Chart, selling more than 106,000 copies. By Halloween, that number had risen to nearly 700,000, making it the top-selling catalog album of 2008.

  That spring, Jackson reached out to Ne-Yo, who developed several demos for the artist to review. “My hands were shaking like never before,” recalled Ne-Yo. “But the great thing is that I get to work with my idol and he is really cool.” Asked what Jackson was looking for from him, Ne-Yo responded, “His music is all about the melody, and that’s the only sort of real direction he gave me: ‘Just make sure the song is as melodic as possible. I want to get back to that.’ ”

  Recording engineer Michael Prince remembers Jackson being happy and in his element during these months in the studio, as they worked on songs like “Days of Gloucestershire,” “Best of Joy,” and “I Was the Loser.” “He was incredibly focused, completely coherent, always in a good mood,” noted Michael Prince. “[In 2008] you could tell he was getting ready for his comeback. He was looking good, looking stronger, plotting his next move.”

  THIS IS IT

  In the summer of 2008, Jackson moved to Los Angeles to prepare for his This Is It concert series at the O2 Arena in London, first staying at the Bel-Air Hotel for a few months before settling with his children in what would be his last home, in Holmby Hills. Jackson had worked out the deal with AEG Live executive Randy Phillips, originally agreeing to ten concerts. That number quickly grew after Jackson announced the series at a press conference in London. Public response was off the charts. By the next day, more than 1.6 million people had signed up to buy tickets on Jackson’s website. The artist ultimately agreed to fifty shows to meet demand. “Tickets sold at a rate of eleven per second, 657 per minute, and nearly forty thousand an hour,” said concert organizers, who called it the fastest-selling show in history. “We often talk about unprecedented demand, but this week we have witnessed a live entertainment phenomenon,” said Ticketmaster’s managing director, Chris Edmonds. “This was undoubtedly the busiest demand for tickets for an event which we have ever experienced.” Even his peers were amazed and excited to see the shows. “To sell out like that is a testament to talent,” said Coldplay’s Chris Martin. “It is just amazing to sell out fifty shows in one city in a big arena. It’s the biggest comeback since Lazarus.”

  Jackson was thrilled by the response, and initially excited about creating the show along with veteran director and producer Kenny Ortega. Over the ensuing months, the artist was engaged in every aspect of the show, from selecting dancers to creating visual effects to designing costumes. Jackson’s behind-the-scenes preparations and rehearsals were captured in the 2009 documentary This Is It, which received widespread critical acclaim and grossed $260 million at the box office, becoming the most successful music documentary in history.

  What the film didn’t show, however, was Jackson’s physical deterioration in the months leading up to the concerts. Given the pressure and high stakes surrounding the comeback, Jackson’s anxiety was triggered in a major way and, in turn, his reliance on prescription drugs. It was in the lead-up to the concerts that Jackson brought in a personal physician, Conrad Murray, who administered drugs to the artist intravenously, including the general aesthetic propofol, to help him sleep at night. (In 2011, Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for his role in Jackson’s 2009 death.)

  In the 2013 wrongful death lawsuit that Jackson’s family brought against concert promoter AEG Live, it was also revealed that AEG executive Randy Phillips exerted excessive pressure on the artist, occasionally even becoming abusive. In e-mails, he admitted to slapping the artist and screaming at him “so loud the walls were shaking.” He and other executives also acknowledged paying Jackson’s personal physician and pressuring him to do whatever it took to have the artist ready to perform without regard to the artist’s health or well-being.

  Often put in the position of middleman, concert director Kenny Ortega was torn about what to do. Some days Jackson seemed so weak and frail he could barely stand up, let alone perform; other days, he would come to rehearsals sharp and on fire and assure the director he would be ready come show time. “I believe that [Michael] really wants this,” wrote Ortega in an e-mail that June. “It would shatter him, break his heart if we pulled the plug. He’s terribly frightened it’s all going to go away. He asked me repeatedly tonight if I was going to leave him. He was practically begging for my confidence. It broke my heart. He was like a lost boy. There still may be a chance he can rise to the occasion if we get him the help he needs.”

  THOSE TWELVE NOTES

  As Jackson prepared for his This Is It concert series, he continued to plot out his next album. On a piece of paper taped to his wall, the artist had a list of songs he was considering. Some were outtakes from Invincible, including “Beautiful Girl” and “Hollywood Tonight.” Some came from even earlier, among them Bad-era outtakes “Scared of the Moon,” “Cheater,” and “You Were There.” And many more had been recorded just over the past few years, such as “Hold My Hand,” “Too Late to Turn Back Now,” “The Loser,” “Best of Joy,” “Rock Tonight,” “Remember What I Told You,” “Adore You,” “Shut Up and Dance,
” “Lady of Summer,” and “Silent Spring.” Some of these tracks had full vocals; some did not.

  In Los Angeles, Jackson also began work on a classical album. In the spring of 2009, he reached out to award-winning composer David Michael Frank to help him with it. When Frank arrived at Jackson’s Holmby Hills home, he wasn’t sure what to expect. “I was reluctant to shake his hand,” he recalled, “because I had heard that he was concerned about germs, but he immediately stuck his hand out and gave me a very firm handshake. He was very skinny, but not the least bit frail. He was wearing a suit and a hat. He was going to rehearsal later for the tour.”

  Jackson told Frank he was engaged in three creative projects: the This Is It Tour, a pop album, and a classical album. “He said he listened to…classical music all the time,” said Frank. “It was his absolute favorite. I was impressed with the pieces he mentioned: Aaron Copland’s Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man, and Lincoln Portrait; Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. I mentioned Bernstein’s On the Waterfront. Then Michael mentioned that he loved Elmer Bernstein’s film music, too, and he specifically mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird. I realized that almost all the classical pieces he mentioned are childlike, very simple and pretty, like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. He also mentioned Debussy several times, specifically Arabesque [No. 1] and Clair de Lune. He was very soft-spoken when we were talking about music, but when he got animated about something, he was very changed. When he mentioned how he loved Elmer Bernstein, and I said I liked The Magnificent Seven score, Michael started singing the theme very loudly, almost screaming it.”