michael jackson and bashir interview. Do you know what guy he was with? Manipulation in journalism

Martin Bashir to Michael Jackson:
Martin: You don't want to grow up?
Michael: No. I am Peter Pan
Martin: But you are Michael Jackson.
Michael: Yes, but at heart I'm Peter Pan.

Actor Michael Madsen (who co-starred in Michael Jackson's You rock my world video) once told me, "Michael Jackson was very open and kind person, but he seemed to me the most lonely and unhappy on the planet. It’s hard to be sincerely friends with someone and trust people if you live in a world of lies called “show business” from the cradle.”

Six years have passed since the moment when on June 25, 2009 the heart of the King of Pop stopped, and with it the whole world. I remember that on that day, almost all the news channels of the world spoke only about this, the planet froze. The magic seemed to be gone forever.

I would like to call this article my tribute, a kind of collection of sketch facts and personal thoughts about my hero Michael Jackson, who united and inspired a billion hearts and instilled in me a love for music since childhood.

I am deeply convinced that the mass media played a big role in Jackson's ailments. They tormented him for many years, shrouding him in cynicism, hypertrophying speculations and pseudo-facts that have never been proven. The press, like countless faceless termites, undermined him until it turned the great artist into a paranoid, hermit and recluse who lost confidence in almost everyone. Michael became a hostage own glory, in the fetters of which he lived all his life. People killed him with rejection, they also resurrected him after death. A kind of Judas weather vane. Madonna was at her most honest at the 2009 MTV Awards ahead of her tribute performance to Michael. She boldly said, as befits a queen, looking straight into the hall:

"We all pulled away from him when he was having a hard time. All of you and me. We were too busy making biased judgments instead of supporting a man who has never been and never will be in the history of music. There will never be another Michael Jackson." "I can't say that we were close friends, but there was a period when we talked. I once offered him a ride, and then we went home to watch a movie. While watching, he suddenly took my hand. There was so much innocence in it. "

Michael Jackson and Madonna

Few people know that Michael Jackson had an "inspiration tree" at his Neverland Ranch. He deftly climbed it and could sit for hours and look into the distance, writing songs. Some of his greatest hits, such as Will You Be There, were written on this very tree. In an interview with Martin Bashir, which later played a cruel joke on him, Jackson said:

“Some people like to play football, some like basketball, and I like to climb trees. Don't you climb trees in free time? he asked Bashir. He shook his head negatively. "ABOUT! You're missing out on a lot," Michael summed up. At that time, the King of Pop was 44 years old.

All his life he tried to return childhood, which was irretrievably stolen. And few people understood this, calling such attempts at least strange. As part of their myopia and conservatism, the crowd was unaware that this man did not initially know love and received many psychological traumas in childhood. They did not think that for the first time Michael celebrated Christmas in adulthood, and thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth Taylor. Few people thought that the problems of Jackson's relationship with the opposite sex were that it didn’t fit in his head how you could cheat on a woman if you became her husband. He believed in the sanctity of marriage and the cult family values, but constantly saw opposite examples even in his own family. According to the memoirs of one of the singer's biographers, Randy Taraborelli, when Michael found out that his brother Jackie was cheating on his wife Enid with the singer Paula Abdul, he suffered it so hard, as if he had been betrayed. He has always lived in a world where male infidelity was considered commonplace, and this was reflected in his perception. One day famous photographer Francesco Scavullo said: "Michael asked me:" How do you behave when you fall in love? Are you not afraid that she is with you, because you can do something for her? "I said, 'Mike, you can't live your whole life in distrust like that. You have to try to believe.' To which he told me, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid because of what I've seen. The men in my family don't know how to handle women. I don't want to become like my brothers."

JacksonFamily (partial)

Despite the inimitable energy, the confidence with which Jackson performed, forcing crowds of people to lose consciousness from just one dance step, in life he was extremely shy and had a fragile mental structure. So Bill Bray, Michael's security guard, who worked with him for thirty years, said: “When I met Jackson, I realized that he really lost his childhood and cannot come to terms with it. Despite his talent in business, he has a strange vulnerability. You want to go up and hug him, telling him to take care of himself. I wouldn't call myself a sentimental person."

Too busy digging in dirty laundry The press did little to cover the other side of the life of the great artist and philanthropist. little known fact: Michael Jackson was the initiator of the creation of the "Universal Bill of Rights for Children", the content of the points of which he determined himself. These points clearly demonstrated how accurately Michael understood the problems of children. Among them were such important topics as: "The right to be loved without having to earn this love", "The right to consider yourself worthy of adoration (even if you have such a look that only your mother can love you)" or "The right to know what you represent a unique value, even if you have not done anything in this world yet.”

Michael Jackson with childrenNeverland

“Michael's smile heals the soul,” wrote Uri Geller, “he had a unique energy. He had a great talent for choosing words that could move the one to whom they were intended.

However, Jackson was an impulsive person, and, perhaps, if it were not for his colleagues at the peak of their careers, for example, John Branca, we would never have seen the brilliant Thriller. The thing is, Michael long years was a Jehovah's Witness, and the elders insisted that whatever the King of Pop created, went through their personal artistic council. In the late 70s and 80s, Michael Jackson unquestioningly believed in the ideology of the Witnesses and showed the elders a video of the newly filmed Thriller. The latter were indignant and said that they would excommunicate Michael if this short film was released. Jackson called John Branca, who at that time was in charge of his affairs, mostly legal, and literally "ordered" to destroy all copies of Thriller. “This should never, you hear, never be aired,” Michael shouted nervously into the phone. Branca did not sleep all night. “How could such a masterpiece, in which a huge amount of money was also invested, turn into ashes because of this whim?” John recalled. Branca found a way out. He suggested that Michael write before the start of Thriller a phrase stating that its content does not reflect Michael's personal and religious views. Jackson agreed, the elders were satisfied. Michael will later say, “God bless John Branca. Without him, Thriller would never have seen the light of day." If Thriller changed the world of music videos by making Jackson an innovator in the creation of short films, allowing him to erase racial and stylistic boundaries in music, canonizing MTV, then Billie Jean changed music forever. This song remains one of the most successful singles of all time to this day. The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award is presented annually at the MTV Awards, which is one of prestigious awards in the world of video clips. During the creation of the Thriller record, together with the brilliant producer Quincy Jones, with whom they recorded two more masterpieces Off the wall and Bad, different situations arose. For example, at the very beginning of the work on the album, few people believed that it would sell more than 3,000,000 copies.

“Records don't sell very well right now, Mike,” his colleagues told him, as well as the head of the record company and Jones. This statement infuriated Jackson. He said sharply, "This is going to be the greatest CD ever, and if you don't believe it, there's no point in wasting a second of your time." Silence hung in the room, which was firmly broken by Jones: "OK" - he said - "To work!". It is known that during this period between Quincy and Michael there were very tense relations. Jones criticized Billie Jean's song as not good enough for this album, but Jackson categorically insisted that special attention be paid to this song, and he was right. It was Billie Jean who lifted the Thriller album to the top of Billboard, where the disc lasted 37 weeks at number one. To this day, Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, a cult and true classic of modern music that has inspired hundreds of millions of people, as well as most of today's superstars. Thriller also erased once and for all all racial barriers in music.

Michael Jackson: EpochThriller

The tandem of Michael and Quincy performed miracles, the largest in terms of effect in the world of music. Jones said: “Mike, listen to the music, let it tell you what you need. Let God into the room." And MJ listened. Working to the point of exhaustion, always 100% dissatisfied with the result. Then he continued to work again and again until he achieved perfection. At the same time, Quincy was not a supporter of the dictatorship in producing. He did not impose his views, rather, he revealed to the full extent the hidden potential that was inherent in you from the very beginning. The merit of Michael and Quincy is that they turned the standard idea of ​​​​pop music and allowed people to see the limitlessness of the possibilities of truly great creativity. Despite the fact that after the Bad album, for a number of reasons, the couple never worked together, the warm relationship between Jones and Jackson remained until the very end. Moreover, after the death of the singer, Quincy repeatedly criticized the idea of ​​releasing posthumous albums. He said that it was blasphemy, you can’t think only about money, and many colleagues agreed with him, emphasizing that if Michael were alive, he would never allow albums such as Michael and Xscape (the latter was produced by Timbaland, Darkchild, L.A. Reid and many other great people) saw the light. Michael was a perfectionist and would hardly have been happy with such "raw" releases. However, the numbers speak for themselves. When Xscape's latest album came out last year, it immediately topped the UK charts and hit #2 on Billboard.

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones

For many years, Michael's sound engineer was Bruce Swedien - a sound genius, master and magician who always achieved a unique sound. This is a unique person. No one in the world knows the geometry of sound better than Bruce. Proof of this is at least his work on Michael's Invincible record, recorded in 2001, which is objectively considered the best sounding in the history of pop music. Still. After 14 years.

Initially, Jackson wanted to record his hit Bad in a duet with Prince, who at that moment was at the peak of his career, but communication between the artists did not work out from the very beginning. They met and discussed the project. Michael and his management came up with an excellent plan: launch a rumor campaign in the press, saying that he and Prince are the worst enemies who hate each other, and then, when the whole world will savor it and divide into two camps, they will make an official statement that these are just rumors, and they will present a video for Bad, where, according to the original plot, they will compete with each other, finding out who's bad. Prince was not enthusiastic about this idea, and after he heard the demo of the song, he finally refused , referring to the fact that the guys will succeed without him.When Frank Dileo (Michael's manager in those years) asked what he thought about it, Jackson shrugged indifferently and replied: "Numbers."

Between them there was always some kind of struggle and rejection of each other. Prince sent Michael a box of amulets and feathers as a gift. It was later revealed that she had been charmed by voodoo masters, which horrified Jackson. Prince considered Michael a bore, and he said that Prince, although he writes good music, is in itself a sinister person and treats women terribly. “Besides, he is no actor. It doesn't represent anything." Not too upset, the king of pop performed the song Bad himself, and the great Martin Scorsese shot a musical short film on it. By the way, in it for the first time on the screen you can see Wesley Snipes. The song became another revolution in the world of music and attracted a huge number of street audiences.

Michael Jackson: eraBad

The Bad album sold dizzyingly, but it never managed to repeat the sales success of Thriller. Moreover, at the Grammy Awards in 1988, in the most anticipated for Michael nomination "Album of the Year", he lost to one of the most outstanding U2 discs - The Joshua Tree. Having released the most hits of the year and sold the most copies, Jackson left without this award, which undoubtedly plunged him into discouragement, but not for long. The next super hit called Dangerous went on sale in 1991 and became Michael's most successful record since Thriller. Among other things, Dangerous has had the most iconic influence on all modern R "n" B music, greatly changing it. There was a lot of controversy about the cover of the album, many tabloids looked for hidden meaning in it, even the message of Jackson's involvement in the illuminati was traced. Cover artist Mark Ryden said that he was very inspired by Michael's Leave me alone video, which was the impetus for creating just such an image. “This is the largest format for a cover. The original was about 90 square centimeters,” Mark recalls. “If you look at it very carefully, you will see that the names, themes and messages of the songs are displayed on it thoroughly. Its creation took me several months. It was a long, painstaking and very important job for me.”

Michael Jackson album coverDangerous

One of the album's most personal songs is Who is it, the video for which was directed by the iconic David Fincher. Who is it is saturated with throwing, internal matters singer. In the depths of magnificent harmony, innovative music, captivating hypnotic melody and performance, the deepest drama of loneliness in a crowd of many-sided people is imprisoned, behind whose masks it is impossible to discern sincerity. Especially in women. The line of distrust towards female love in this work is so pronounced that it is impossible not to feel all this emptiness of brokenness as a result of the deepest disappointment. In the life of Michael Jackson, perhaps, there were four women whom he idolized: mother Katherine, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross and Lisa Marie Presley. And if Taylor was his closest soulmate and support, and Ross was his mother in show business, then he definitely had feelings for Lisa of a different nature. They were similar. The childhood of both passed under the spotlight, both did not know normal life, she genuinely understood and idolized him, and he heeded her advice. It was she who once told him: “Michael, a good sleep is more precious than public opinion”, it was she who held his hand on the edge of the abyss. This puzzle had to come together. And he got along. True, not for long, but, nevertheless, gave Jackson and Presley a few happy years. After Michael's death, Lisa said that Jackson repeatedly repeated the phrase: "I think I'll end up like your father." The anthem of their relationship was the song, a super hit from the album History - You are not alone, written for him by R. Kelly. You are not alone is one of the best pop ballads in contemporary music.

Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor

Michael Jackson and Lisa Presley

Michael always wanted to reach out to people, to tell them, “Don't judge me, I'm just human. Just like you, I just want to love and be loved just like you,” and he sent these subtle messages through his sensual songs. How else could he do it? But how many of us can read between the lines? A huge bird descends onto the stage, hugging him with wings in Will you be there, “before you judge me try hard to love me”, begging, he sings in a soulful Childhood, “when you "re alone and you" re cold inside "on the doomed in anguish, he explains in Stranger in Moscow, more aggressively tries to convey his pain to people's understanding through Why you wanna trip on me, Scream and They don't care about us and sums up this desire through global themes about the problems of the Earth in the brilliant Earth song, as well as hymns to goodness We are the world, Heal the world and Man in the mirror. If we dwell on the composition Stranger in Moscow in more detail, then, of course, it will turn out to be the most personal song ever created by Jackson. Randy Taraborrelli said that the idea of ​​the song and video was originally conceived as a reflection of intimacy inner peace singer. He began to write it after the first tour in Moscow. This metropolis seemed to Jackson a complete identification of his own life. In his perception, Moscow remained a gray city, seething with races, a city of people running somewhere, where you feel the loneliest in this crowd. Randy said that even at the peak of his career, Michael sometimes took walks in order to make new friends. But unsuccessfully.

“Even at home I feel loneliness,” Jackson said, “sometimes it gnaws at me so much that I cannot cope with my emotions, lock myself in a room and cry. You have no idea how hard it is to find real friends. Sometimes I walk around the neighborhood at night, hoping to meet someone, just to talk about something abstract, but every time these walks end in nothing.

He envied people who could safely walk the streets, shop in the supermarket (once his friends closed one of them especially for Michael so that he could imitate shopping), meet, fall in love, walk in the park. The greatest artist who dreams of simple things. A hermit with hundreds of millions of crazy fans, a lonely dreamer, riding a "ferris wheel" in his Neverland for hours on the tenth circle, looking at one point, lost among hundreds of evening lights. A grown man with the soul of a nine-year-old boy, stuck in time, who so wanted to be understood. A person who longs for sincerity and a genuine miracle in the world of people who always wanted to take something from him, touch him, be involved in fame and money, but never thought about giving this person at least a little true love instead. Unconditional. open. Hence the purchase of human-sized dolls, which he kept at home, giving them names and talking to them, in the same parallel, the park of wonders, his favorite pastime - shootouts with water pistols and friendship with Macaulay Culkin. Children are supposedly the audience he was comfortable with, because they are genuinely sincere. “If I wake up and find out that there is not a single child left on Earth, I will jump out of the balcony immediately,” Michael said. The desire for this sincerity and the childish environment in which he received it played a cruel joke with him in the world of self-serving, unscrupulous and greedy adults who were so eager to snatch at least something from this “pie”, to destroy and trample Jackson’s empire, as it says "by any means necessary". In the end, they succeeded. But it is unlikely that one day it will be possible to shroud in oblivion the great musical legacy that the King of Pop left in his songs, videos, performances. Incredible, ingenious creativity, settled in millions of hearts forever. This extraordinary man changed the world and gave us magic. And magic never dies.

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Last interview Michael Jackson (recorded five days before death)

Many will ask why this interview was not published earlier? For three reasons. The first - 5 days after the interview, unfortunately, Michael Jackson died. Second, I didn't want to publish the material without Michael's approval. Well, the third - there was a lot of turmoil around this person, I wanted everything to subside.

Now I have decided to publish the latest interview of the King of Pop. Nothing has been changed or added in it, I honor his memory. And know, the name Lenny Rodriguez is fictitious. Let this be proof of the sincerity of Michael Jackson. It was his wish, now it has been granted.

It came as a surprise to me when Michael Jackson wanted to privately give an interview to some obscure reporter, that is, me. When the offer was made to me to take this interview, at first I was even a little confused. To be honest, I was completely unprepared for it. But having suppressed confusion, I, of course, accepted it. In a couple of weeks I had to read a lot various information about Michael, from childhood to the present day, including materials from dubious sources, simply put - the yellow press. I watched all his interviews and videos: concerts, clips, home recordings. I needed to understand what was going to be discussed, reproduce the whole picture of what is happening, because Michael said that the main purpose of this interview should be to clarify many aspects of his life. Many people have formed an established opinion about them, thanks to rumors. Actually, we are going to dispel these rumors. I tried to follow his whole life and form my own independent opinion - it was necessary to make a list of questions that would be more accurate for our interview. The very idea of ​​the interview was based on this - a conversation with a person who is not interested in any selfish goal, completely distant from show business.

When I went to his mansion on Sunset Street, he looked a little tired. Michael invited me to a small table in the living room, where we began to talk. To be honest, I was a little nervous. I have never had the opportunity to speak to a star of this stature.

Lenny Rodriguez: Michael, why did you need such an ordinary correspondent as me, because you can find a more famous and professional one?

Michael Jackson: You're young and not corrupted by show business like the pros that have haunted me all my life. I've already made a similar mistake once, inviting one of them, and paid for it. I opened up to him, and received again one lie and gossip. Although my goal was to tell the world the truth in order to exclude all ridiculous fiction.

Lenny Rodriguez: You mean Martin Bashir?

Michael Jackson: Well, to name names, yes.

Lenny Rodriguez: Okay, I'll try to justify your trust and I won't change a single word in your interview. If you don't mind, let's get down to the main part, shall we?

Michael Jackson: Come on.

Lenny Rodriguez: There have always been a lot of rumors, gossip, various conjectures around your personality. It's hard to live when they make a scarecrow out of you and invent all sorts of nonsense. After all, you're right, people believe gossip more than the truth. I would like to know about your appearance: plastic surgery, whitening, skin falling off in patches, a pressure chamber - which of these is true?

Michael Jackson: (Laughs) Yes, almost nothing ... You know, there was a time when such gossip made my hair stand on end, why don't people invent their articles to get to the top of the ratings. But then I stopped paying attention to it, if they want to write something like that, let them write it. You see, when I was little, I lived in my fantasy world, because I didn't have any friends. In that world, I looked a little different. I believe this view is correct. So I decided to change my nose, make it narrower. I wanted to get closer to the real me. Yes, my face has undergone some changes only thanks to the nose and only. Everything else remained unchanged, it only changed with age, like all people. Well, except in Lately I lost a little weight, because of this my cheekbones became sharper, the profile of my face became more angular, but this is not a reason to say that a plastic surgeon worked on my face.

Lenny Rodriguez: Okay, the face is clear, but what about the color of your skin? Yet you were born black.

Michael Jackson: Yes, I started having problems with her already in young age. Pigmented spots lightened it. I had to use foundation on exposed parts of the body. Gradually my skin took on a pale appearance. The disease, called vitiligo, is rare and not common enough to be known about. Well, I did not dare to tell this to the press before, because I was just shy and did not want to give an extra reason for gossip.

Lenny Rodriguez: One of the causes of vitiligo is severe or long-term stressful conditions. I heard that your father made it so that you didn't have any free time for all the entertainment that other children your age had, and also made you work hard on your career as a musician with his fist and belt, instilling in you horror.

Michael Jackson: Unfortunately, that's how it was. Yes, I had absolutely no free time as a child. I wanted to play basketball with other teenagers or just sit and chat, but no, I went to rehearse. Not me, but my father planned my whole life. My father was a real tyrant for the five of us. And the fact that I was at the head of the Jackson's five team set me apart from the rest. I was a role model and therefore had no room for error, otherwise the wrath of my father fell upon me. It was terrible to dance or sing and think that if you do something wrong, forget or get tired, then you will be whipped or beaten. Endless rehearsals with my father left more than one scar in my soul.

Lenny Rodriguez: Didn't you have a single friend growing up?

Michael Jackson: Yes, it's true. I couldn't make long-term friendships because I was constantly busy.

Lenny Rodriguez: How did you deal with their absence? You said something about your special world.

Michael Jackson: You see, the brain of a child is very sensitive to fantasies, it tends to create different fairy worlds inaccessible to an adult because of his adulthood. In moments when I was alone, I created my own world in which I stayed during not only childhood, but throughout my life, when I was lonely. This is not autism, but a completely different feeling based on imagination. I don’t go and talk to myself like crazy (smiles), but I go there mentally, at the same time I can communicate normally with people around me. I always carry my world with me and at any moment I can find myself in it.

Lenny Rodriguez: So your world, created as a child, interfered with your normal communication with people?

Michael Jackson: Not really. The people who surrounded me, for the most part, had some selfish goals in relation to me. I just felt it. I don't mean the fans, they have always been loyal to me. That's why I couldn't start with anyone friendly relations. This was one of my biggest disappointments in life. But it didn't work out any other way. I have always given people a chance to improve, but very often those chances have made me the butt of ridicule or the target of other people's interests.

Lenny Rodriguez: Is that why kids became your friends?

Michael Jackson: Oh, yes, a child is a miracle in itself. They have a highly developed imagination. It is very interesting to talk with them. They don't think like adults. They have a pure mind, not spoiled by society, a different attitude to the world, other concepts of love, friendship. Children themselves want to tell a lot, but adults usually do not listen to them and teach their values.

Lenny Rodriguez: You invite sick and poor kids to Neverland, what do you get out of it?

Michael Jackson: I get inspiration. Nothing in the world gives me so much happiness as the contemplation of joy on the face of a child. In general, I like to give more than receive, this is the meaning of my life. We often talk to them various themes. It is the unfortunate children who had a difficult childhood who are even more sensitive and receptive. It is easier for such children to instill kindness, respect for nature, animals. Very easy to find with kids mutual language. With my conversations, I try to give them a piece of that kindness that will help in the future to preserve our beautiful world. I just hug them, wanting to give at least a drop of warmth and kindness.

Lenny Rodriguez: Unfortunately, hugs like this have given rise to dirty gossip. It’s embarrassing for me to talk about it myself, I feel your sincerity, I understand how unpleasant this question is for you, but since we are writing candid interview Michael Jackson, many people would like to know about the case of harassment of a young boy whose family filed a lawsuit in 2003.

Michael Jackson: You know, this is the question I've been waiting for the most, because I want to talk about it for a long time. Many rumors were born from envious people, it was in the hands of many to spread such rumors. Adults are mean and heartless people. They can do all sorts of bad things for fame or money. The larger the star, the more gossip and dirt around it. My time with the kids has nothing to do with these dirty rumors. If you look at me and think with a sober mind - can this person bring pain to a child? He himself will receive the answer - no, I will never and never be able to do such a thing, even under pain of death. On the contrary, I am ready to give my life for any of the children. It hurts me a lot to think about how terrible monster represent me. You can't imagine how upset I am.

Lenny Rodriguez: I understand you. But what actually happened?

Michael Jackson: I... I don't even know how to explain it. I didn't do anything at all. Perhaps one day I hugged Gavin, as I hugged many other children, and it seemed to someone that something similar was happening .. To start from the very beginning, I took Gavin and his family to me in Neverland, because the boy was terminally ill, he I couldn’t even walk myself, I had to carry him in a wheelchair myself. I wanted to last days he spent in the most wonderful place for a child. But after a while he recovered completely and was soon to return to his Everyday life. Maybe this was the reason for my accusation. There was a similar case in 1993 when I gave some money for a similar lie. The case did not go to court, I just didn’t want to waste my time because of a lie, it was easier for me to give the child’s parents what they wanted me so much - money. That is what happened this time as well. The very fact of the accusation was another lie in order to use me as a money cow. If last time I tolerated such a lie, then this time I did not want to put up with it. For everyone, it would turn out as if I actually admit my guilt and pay off.

Many people who, for whatever reason, disliked me, came to the trial with their fictitious nasty stories. I was disgusted not only by their stories, but also by the fact that people whom I knew and trusted well were saying such things about me. I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat much the whole time the trials were going on. I began to take sedatives and sleeping pills, otherwise I simply could not sleep. After that, information was leaked to the yellow press that I was taking drugs, and I just wanted peace of mind. I wanted to take a break from a nightmare that is hard to imagine. About my creative activity I just had to forget. The lawsuits had so exhausted me that I was in deep depression and lost a lot of weight. What served as yet another gossip about my appearance. Although my lawyers and I won the case, my reputation was damaged, I was practically ruined by these people, and my Neverland became the most hated place for me. It still kills me to this day that I was simply tormented for my kindness. In our world, kindness is punishable, people do not believe in sincere kindness, they are not able to understand that not only God and angels can give goodness. People judge by themselves and, even if they don’t find anything wrong in your actions, they will come up with something for you, and pass off a lie for the truth, so skillfully and deftly ... that you yourself will be ready to believe in it ... It is very painful and bitter.

Lenny Rodriguez: You and your parents were Jehovah's Witnesses. Subsequently, you left her. Living in a religious family, you should have formed an opinion about God and religion. How do you feel about it now?

Michael Jackson: About religion.. I think if I were a god, I would ban religion. It takes time, it makes you suffer, it makes you limited. I don't like religion, religion has always been a limitation. What's the point of worshiping God if all the time is spent doing just that? A question that often arose in my childhood: "Doesn't God want good things for his children?" I still cannot understand why God, if he exists, does not see the good in his children. Why does he often need to prove something in order for him to be kind to you, why should God be afraid? Jehovah is not my God, I do not want such a God. He is too hot-tempered, angry and scary. Have you ever asked yourself how people live on Earth? I constantly ask myself this, I think that God is unfair to good people. He never sees you, never hears you. He only looks and gives you more suffering. If he could see my soul, read my mind, he would never let this happen to me.

Lenny Rodriguez: After a long silence, you are now preparing a new world tour. What made you take this step, because after litigation do you still feel unwell?

Michael Jackson: You know, sometimes I think about the Michael that was before. Now I want to resurrect it. It doesn’t matter that I am exhausted by the courts, I just want to tell the world that I am the same as I was before, that the world did not kill me with its cruelty. I want to revive in the hearts of my fans the music that makes them go crazy, enjoy life, flutter like butterflies. I want to sing old hits: Billy Jean, Dangerous, Smooth criminal... and get satisfaction from it. I can't live without a stage, I think it should give me strength for new creative ideas.

Lenny Rodriguez: In conclusion, what would you like to say to our readers?

Michael Jackson: Did you ever think that a downcast person would rise again from the ashes of hope? Thanks to everyone who supported me at this stage of my existence. In the future, I will be able to justify your hopes, you will not be forgotten. When we are there, you will understand what you did and who you helped. To the rest, I'll say goodbye.

Lenny Rodriguez: Is that all?

Michael Jackson: I think so.

We said goodbye, and as I left, Michael's eyes briefly flashed a deep longing, which was imprinted in my memory as something indelible. And now he smiles again... I will never forget that look. And those strange last words... A man without age. This Michael Jackson is a strange guy, maybe there really is something unearthly in him? At least he doesn't look like any of us at all.

On January 31, the Michael Jackson trial begins in a California court. The famous singer has been charged with ten counts, including sexual harassment of minors, child soldering and conspiracy to kidnap, wrongful imprisonment and extortion.

This process promises to become very loud: more than a hundred television and radio companies from all over the world have already deployed their mobile stations in the city of Santa Maria, where the court is located, and special correspondents of newspapers and magazines have stormed local hotels. In addition, fans of Jackson flock to the city, who intend to support their idol, chanting slogans about his innocence in front of the courthouse. The process will be open, but Judge Rodney Melville has imposed a ban on communication with the press for its participants. In addition, there will be no cameras in the courthouse.

How life with Jackson turned into a trial with Jackson

In February 2003, in the UK and the USA, it was shown on television documentary about the life of the singer "Living with Michael Jackson" (Living with Michael Jackson), filmed by British journalist Martin Bashir. Bashir accompanied Jackson everywhere for several months and, as the journalist himself said, was convinced that the singer was simply obsessed with children.

In particular, the film contains an interview with one of the young residents of the Neverland Ranch, where Jackson spends most of his time. The 12-year-old boy reported that he sometimes sleeps in the singer's bed. Jackson himself innocently confirmed that he sometimes shares his bed with children, and sometimes spends the night in a sleeping bag on the floor next to the bed on which his guests sleep. In particular, Jackson reported that he regularly slept in bed with this boy, who had cancer, but as a result of Jackson's actions, allegedly recovered without medication. Insisting that his love for children is completely innocent and has nothing to do with sex, Michael Jackson called his behavior "beautiful and charming."

The authorities of the Californian city of Santa Barbara, next to which the Jackson ranch is located, immediately after the unusual revelations of the star emphasized that they take them seriously. Indeed, the representatives law enforcement in Jackson's words, they did not find a precedent for initiating a criminal case, but noted that an investigation could be launched in the event of claims. The prosecutor's office even set up a telephone hotline - specifically for those who believe they have facts that could serve as evidence in a possible trial against Jackson.

And such evidence appeared. Nine months after the film was shown, a 13-year-old boy complained to his therapist that Jackson allegedly molested him. The psychotherapist contacted the police, who searched the singer's ranch and found hundreds of videos of children who visited Jackson (however, it must be admitted that the footage was not of a sexual nature), as well as love letters and poems written by Jackson and dedicated to the children who visited his ranch. .

I see the Lord in the faces of these children. I just love being around them. Yes, there are enough guest rooms in the house, but the children want to be with me. They often ask me if they can stay the night. And if their parents don't mind, I let them. What could be more natural than sharing your bed with someone? When you say the word bed, you mean sex. All wrong. We are just sleeping.

Michael Jackson

However, California authorities issued an arrest warrant for Jackson on charges of sexual harassment of minors. Jackson voluntarily turned himself in to authorities and was released on $3 million bail pending an investigation.

Incendiary "Rubba" in Neverland

The trial will begin with a selection of 12 jurors out of 750 candidates who wish to participate in the consideration of the Jackson case. This process is expected to take about a month. The court itself, according to lawyers, will last at least six months.

The main witness for the prosecution will now be a 15-year-old teenager, whose name has not been disclosed. According to some reports, it was he who appeared in the documentary film by Martin Bashir, who was also summoned to court as a witness. The teen's testimony was partly made public on an ABC News talk show in mid-January. At the same time, by decision of the judge, all materials of the case are closed. How the testimony of one of the key witnesses for the prosecution got to the employees of the TV channel is currently being established by the investigation.

The leaked testimony is described by some experts as "the most detailed evidence describing the physical relationship between Jackson and one of his alleged victims." So, according to the teenager, the most popular game among the boys on the ranch was called "Rubba" - supposedly according to its rules, the singer, exciting himself, rubbed himself against the bodies of the children.

In addition, representatives of the prosecution, which is headed by prosecutor Tom Sneddon (Tom Sneddon), intend to provide the court with some "erotic materials" seized at the singer's ranch in 2003. According to experts, these materials confirm that Jackson had a motive for the crime.

Protects former king pop music lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. He has represented the singer since April 2004, when he unexpectedly parted ways with his former lawyers Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman. The defense intends to present to the court the testimonies of other children who visited Jackson at the ranch. In particular, one of the defense witnesses, 17-year-old Ahmed Elatab, claims the following: "Michael never molested either the children or me personally. I never saw him behave in a strange way with any of the boys." Regarding the plaintiff's claims, Elatab said: "I'm sure his parents just want money, and this is a chance for them to get rich."

Jackson himself maintains his innocence. On the eve of the opening of the trial, he posted a video message on his website in which he called for a fair trial of himself, adding that he believes in American justice. If proven guilty, Jackson faces 3 to 8 years in prison for each of the ten counts.

One time is not a pedophile

It's not the first time Jackson has been accused of pedophilia. In 1993, the father of 13-year-old Jordan Chandler, who was allegedly molested by Jackson, filed a lawsuit against the singer. However, the case did not reach the court: the proceedings lasted more than a year and ended with a settlement agreement, which cost Jackson, according to some reports, $ 20 million. The child refused to testify against the singer, and all charges were dropped from the latter.

In addition, as it became known during the investigation, in 1990, Jackson paid another $ 2 million "compensation" to his son former employee of his ranch to prevent a charge of harassment. The 12-year-old teenager did not testify against the singer, fearing that his friends would accuse him of homosexuality. The agreement between him and Jackson included a "non-disclosure" clause.

If this time Jackson fails to decisively justify himself, then others may follow this process. According to Robert Wegner, the star's former security guard, about 300 boys under the age of 14 have passed through the singer's ranch since the early 90s. Wegner claims to have seen the singer stroking his groin in front of the children, rubbing against them, and touching and caressing them themselves. The huge fortune of the ex-king of pop may simply not be enough to pay all legal costs and possible compensation.

The Nature of Michael Jackson's Love

Probably the explanation unusual love a singer to children should be sought in the childhood of Jackson himself, which, especially in the light of oddities adult life this person, is a fertile field of activity for psychoanalysts.

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He was the seventh child of nine poor family steel mill worker Joe Jackson. When Michael was five years old, Joe made a musical ensemble "The Jackson Five" from his five offspring. Moreover, he put together in the truest sense of the word - as Michael's sister, Latoya Jackson, writes in her autobiography, her father mercilessly beat them with a belt or a bamboo cane, forcing them to rehearse for 3-4 hours every evening. According to Latoya, Michael experienced constant humiliation from his father, whom he hated more and more every year.

It was in childhood that Michael began to develop a "black complex". Moreover, paradoxically, the fault was his father, who could not stand the spirit of blacks.

By the age of 14, when Michael was already a stage veteran in the Jackson Five family group, one more problem was added to his problems - acne. Michael's character has changed markedly: before, Jackson was very sociable and easily converged with people, but now he is closed in on himself. And although by the age of 16 acne completely disappeared, Jackson was never able to completely get rid of the psychological consequences of this trouble. One of them is excessive shyness, turning into timidity. Probably, it was after this that Michael began to meticulously monitor his appearance and the cleanliness of his environment, which later turned into a real mania.

Among other problems of young talent, the “sexual taboo” that existed in the Jackson family should be highlighted. All conversations on this topic were prevented, and if one of the brothers was seen in the company of a girl, then his father gave him a grandiose scandal, which, as a rule, ended in assault. According to Joe, who was the producer of The Jackson 5, the marriage of one of the brothers could interfere with the group's career.

The already established singer explains his indifference to children by the fact that, having become an adult, he experiences the humiliation of childhood anew and tries to get rid of this feeling by communicating with children and showing them care and love. However, now the nature of Michael Jackson's love for children will be determined by the court.

On last week Jury selection has begun for Michael Jackson's trial. The trial promises to be long and scandalous. "Power" brings to the attention of readers summary the first act of a soap opera that, for the next six months, will surely compete with any other entertainment offered by television and the press.
The first phenomenon. boy and singer
In 2000, Gavin Arviso was ten years old, but he had already experienced a lot. He was diagnosed with cancer. Made a few major operations. He spent almost most of his time in the hospital, which, however, was even good for him: at home, the boy was always expected by parents who were always quarreling and fighting with each other and intimidated, downtrodden sisters.
Forgetting at least for a while about the disease helped him television. From one TV program, he learned about the international charity campaign "Make a Wish", engaged in the execution cherished desires terminally ill or dying children. He spoke about the transfer of his mother and said that he would like one of his idols to write to him - actors Jim Carrey, Chris Tucker, Adam Sandler. In the first place, he put, of course, Michael Jackson, but he was absolutely sure that the main idol would not find time to write to him. Nevertheless, Gavin wrote a letter to Michael Jackson with the help of his mother.
A few weeks later, the hospital where Gavin was in received a call. Michael Jackson, after reading the boy's letter, wanted to talk to him on the phone. The first conversation lasted only a few minutes. Michael promised to call again. And he kept his word. A global celebrity and a ten-year-old teenager from Los Angeles became "phone friends". They talked almost every day. Soon the hospital began to bring gifts from Michael Jackson. Gavin was happy. And soon Janet informed her son that as soon as he recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital, they would all go to Michael Jackson in Neverland.
First trip to the estate famous singer took place in August 2000. For Janet, Gavin and his sisters, Michael Jackson sent his own limousine. Since then, the boy very often came to the singer's estate, either accompanied by his mother, or one of his relatives.

The second phenomenon. Same director
In 2002, another guest appeared at the Neverland estate - TV journalist and director Martin Bashir. world fame Bashir brought a documentary about Princess Diana, in which she spoke candidly about life in the royal family. Bashir has repeatedly expressed a desire to meet Michael Jackson and interview him. Michael agreed.
The TV journalist spent several months with Michael Jackson, filming his life in Neverland and talking with his friends, including Gavin. Actually, it was thanks to Bashir that Gavin became a celebrity. Bashir's camera repeatedly captured moments of extraordinary friendship. Here is Michael hugging the boy, here they are walking hand in hand through Neverland. Here Gavin says that Michael cured him of cancer.
The release in 2003 of the film "Life with Michael Jackson" made a real sensation. Not only was the great singer filmed walking and playing with teenage boys, he also frankly admitted in front of the camera that he shares his bed with them and does not see anything reprehensible in this. Martin Bashir certainly didn't call Michael Jackson a pedophile. There was no need for this. The footage from the film spoke for itself. Martin Bashir gave interviews in which he spoke of "deep concern" about how Michael Jackson affects teenagers.
The singer tried to protest. He issued several statements accusing Bashir of betrayal. A new film appeared on the screens - "Michael Jackson, take two. An interview that you will never be shown." It included footage from Jackson's own cinematographer, who happened to be filming Martin Bashir making a film about Michael Jackson. In "Double" Bashir did not seem at all concerned about the morals and health of Jackson's young friends. “I have tears in my eyes when I see you with these children. Your relationship is so natural, so caring, so kind,” Bashir said enthusiastically to Jackson.
The resonance caused by the films was enormous. Showbiz stars and fans of Jackson stood up to protect Michael Jackson from a traitor reporter. Janet Arviso also said her word. She was outraged by Bashir's insinuations, as well as the fact that her son was being interviewed without parental consent. In all the interviews that she gave at that time, a mandatory part of the program was a promise to sue the journalist. However, the lawsuit never came to fruition. The Arviso family suddenly disappeared from the field of view of journalists.

The fifth phenomenon. Same judge
Judge Rodney S. Melville, who presides over the trial, is one of the most controversial figures in California. He gained notoriety in the state in the mid-90s, becoming the first high-ranking judge to publicly admit to being an alcoholic. In his own words, he became addicted to alcohol in boy scout camps when he was 12 years old. Through his efforts, special courts for alcoholics and drug addicts were opened in California, which sentence the accused not to imprisonment, but send them for rehabilitation to the appropriate state clinics.
It is said that it was because of Judge Melville's special attitude towards alcohol and alcoholism that the district attorney decided to add cases of drinking minors to Jackson's list of charges, setting the judge against the accused in advance. So far, however, the judge seems to have done everything so that no one can accuse him of bias. According to many experts, Judge Melville gave the most extensive opportunities to both the prosecution and the defense. For example, the District Attorney's request to have the jury screen Martin Bashir's controversial film was widely seen as a huge victory for the prosecution. On the other hand, the judge's decision that 15-year-old Gavin Arviso will personally testify in court, as insisted on by the defense, is called a victory for the lawyers: they will be given the opportunity to cross-examine the witness.
However, the task facing the judge - to ensure a fair and impartial trial - seems to many almost impossible. In mid-January, just before the start of jury selection, the text of the testimony appeared in the newspapers, which Gavin Arviso gave during the preliminary investigation in the absence of Michael Jackson's lawyers. The testimony is so frank and shocking that not a single decent newspaper dared to publish it in full. The most decent was the story of how Michael Jackson almost forcibly tried to get Gavin drunk with wine. The testimony was confirmed by the words of one of the sisters of the witness, who, however, admitted that she herself was not present at the time, but learned about everything from her brother. Where the newspapers got the text, banned by the judge for publication, remained unknown.

End of the first act
Formally, the trial on Michael Jackson's charge of seducing a minor began last Monday, when the jury selection process began. Out of 700 applicants, 12 main jurors and seven alternates must be selected. Taking into account the obvious desire of the prosecution and the defense to get as many people convenient as possible on the jury, this process will last at least a month.
About two billion people witnessed the beginning of this second act of the documentary soap opera. Leading US television networks, as well as many television channels in Europe and Asia, broadcast live from the courtroom in Santa Maria.
As for the third, main act, which will begin when the jury is sworn in, the number of its spectators is completely impossible to calculate. More than 50 TV channels will cover the process on a daily basis with regular live broadcasts from the courthouse. Given that almost every channel has its own website, where you can also find news from the process, the number of daily viewers will significantly exceed the two billion that watched Michael Jackson enter the courtroom on January 31st.
The results of the process are more or less boldly ready to be predicted only by astrologers who promise condemnation of Michael Jackson. Legal experts are preparing the public for a lengthy process and a completely unpredictable outcome. "We have: a multimillionaire - the idol of millions of people around the world, a district attorney opposed to him, ready for anything, and several witnesses who, obviously, changed their testimony throughout this story," says one of the California lawyers. All this makes the process completely unpredictable."

Martin Bashir to Michael Jackson:
Martin: You don't want to grow up?
Michael: No. I am Peter Pan
Martin: But you are Michael Jackson.
Michael: Yes, but at heart I'm Peter Pan.

Actor Michael Madsen (who starred in one of the roles in Michael Jackson's You rock my world video) once told me: “Michael Jackson was a very open and kind person, but he seemed to me the most lonely and unhappy person on the planet. It’s hard to be sincerely friends with someone and trust people if you live in a world of lies called “show business” from the cradle.”

Six years have passed since the moment when on June 25, 2009 the heart of the King of Pop stopped, and with it the whole world. I remember that on that day, almost all the news channels of the world spoke only about this, the planet froze. The magic seemed to be gone forever.

I would like to call this article my tribute, a kind of collection of sketch facts and personal thoughts about my hero Michael Jackson, who united and inspired a billion hearts and instilled in me a love for music since childhood.

I am deeply convinced that the mass media played a big role in Jackson's ailments. They tormented him for many years, shrouding him in cynicism, hypertrophying speculations and pseudo-facts that have never been proven. The press, like countless faceless termites, undermined him until it turned the great artist into a paranoid, hermit and recluse who lost confidence in almost everyone. Michael became a hostage to his own fame, in the shackles of which he lived all his life. People killed him with rejection, they also resurrected him after death. A kind of Judas weather vane. Madonna was at her most honest at the 2009 MTV Awards ahead of her tribute performance to Michael. She boldly said, as befits a queen, looking straight into the hall:

"We all pulled away from him when he was having a hard time. All of you and me. We were too busy making biased judgments instead of supporting a man who has never been and never will be in the history of music. There will never be another Michael Jackson." "I can't say that we were close friends, but there was a period when we talked. I once offered him a ride, and then we went home to watch a movie. While watching, he suddenly took my hand. There was so much innocence in it. "

Michael Jackson and Madonna

Few people know that Michael Jackson had an "inspiration tree" at his Neverland Ranch. He deftly climbed it and could sit for hours and look into the distance, writing songs. Some of his greatest hits, such as Will You Be There, were written on this very tree. In an interview with Martin Bashir, which later played a cruel joke on him, Jackson said:

“Some people like to play football, some like basketball, and I like to climb trees. Don't you climb trees in your free time?" he asked Bashir. He shook his head negatively. "ABOUT! You're missing out on a lot," Michael summed up. At that time, the King of Pop was 44 years old.

All his life he tried to return childhood, which was irretrievably stolen. And few people understood this, calling such attempts at least strange. As part of their myopia and conservatism, the crowd was unaware that this man did not initially know love and received many psychological traumas in childhood. They did not think that for the first time Michael celebrated Christmas in adulthood, and then thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth Taylor. Few people thought that the problems of Jackson's relationship with the opposite sex were that it didn’t fit in his head how you could cheat on a woman if you became her husband. He believed in the sanctity of marriage and the cult of family values, but he constantly saw opposite examples even in his own family. According to the memoirs of one of the singer's biographers, Randy Taraborelli, when Michael found out that his brother Jackie was cheating on his wife Enid with the singer Paula Abdul, he suffered it so hard, as if he had been betrayed. He has always lived in a world where male infidelity was considered commonplace, and this was reflected in his perception. Once the famous photographer Francesco Scavullo said: "Michael asked me:" How do you behave when you fall in love? Are you not afraid that she is with you, because you can do something for her? "I said, 'Mike, you can't live your whole life in distrust like that. You have to try to believe.' To which he told me, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid because of what I've seen. The men in my family don't know how to handle women. I don't want to become like my brothers."

JacksonFamily (partial)

Despite the inimitable energy, the confidence with which Jackson performed, forcing crowds of people to lose consciousness from just one dance step, in life he was extremely shy and had a fragile mental structure. So Bill Bray, Michael's security guard, who worked with him for thirty years, said: “When I met Jackson, I realized that he really lost his childhood and cannot come to terms with it. Despite his talent in business, he has a strange vulnerability. You want to go up and hug him, telling him to take care of himself. I wouldn't call myself a sentimental person."

Too busy digging in the "dirty linen" press little covered the other side of the life of the great artist and philanthropist. A little-known fact: Michael Jackson was the initiator of the creation of the "Universal Bill of Rights for Children", the content of which he himself determined. These points clearly demonstrated how accurately Michael understood the problems of children. Among them were such important topics as: "The right to be loved without having to earn this love", "The right to consider yourself worthy of adoration (even if you have such a look that only your mother can love you)" or "The right to know what you represent a unique value, even if you have not done anything in this world yet.”

Michael Jackson with childrenNeverland

“Michael's smile heals the soul,” wrote Uri Geller, “he had a unique energy. He had a great talent for choosing words that could move the one to whom they were intended.

However, Jackson was an impulsive person, and, perhaps, if it were not for his colleagues at the peak of their careers, for example, John Branca, we would never have seen the brilliant Thriller. The fact is that Michael had been a Jehovah's Witness for many years, and the elders insisted that whatever the King of Pop created, went through their personal artistic council. In the late 70s and 80s, Michael Jackson unquestioningly believed in the ideology of the Witnesses and showed the elders a video of the newly filmed Thriller. The latter were indignant and said that they would excommunicate Michael if this short film was released. Jackson called John Branca, who at that time was in charge of his affairs, mostly legal, and literally "ordered" to destroy all copies of Thriller. “This should never, you hear, never be aired,” Michael shouted nervously into the phone. Branca did not sleep all night. “How could such a masterpiece, in which a huge amount of money was also invested, turn into ashes because of this whim?” John recalled. Branca found a way out. He suggested that Michael write before the start of Thriller a phrase stating that its content does not reflect Michael's personal and religious views. Jackson agreed, the elders were satisfied. Michael will later say, “God bless John Branca. Without him, Thriller would never have seen the light of day." If Thriller changed the world of music videos by making Jackson an innovator in the creation of short films, allowing him to erase racial and stylistic boundaries in music, canonizing MTV, then Billie Jean changed music forever. This song remains one of the most successful singles of all time to this day. The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award is presented annually at the MTV Awards, which is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of video clips. During the creation of the Thriller record, together with the brilliant producer Quincy Jones, with whom they recorded two more masterpieces Off the wall and Bad, different situations arose. For example, at the very beginning of the work on the album, few people believed that it would sell more than 3,000,000 copies.

“Records don't sell very well right now, Mike,” his colleagues told him, as well as the head of the record company and Jones. This statement infuriated Jackson. He said sharply, "This is going to be the greatest CD ever, and if you don't believe it, there's no point in wasting a second of your time." Silence hung in the room, which was firmly broken by Jones: "OK" - he said - "To work!". It is known that during this period between Quincy and Michael there were very tense relations. Jones criticized Billie Jean's song as not good enough for this album, but Jackson categorically insisted that special attention be paid to this song, and he was right. It was Billie Jean who lifted the Thriller album to the top of Billboard, where the disc lasted 37 weeks at number one. To this day, Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, a cult and true classic of modern music that has inspired hundreds of millions of people, as well as most of today's superstars. Thriller also erased once and for all all racial barriers in music.

Michael Jackson: EpochThriller

The tandem of Michael and Quincy performed miracles, the largest in terms of effect in the world of music. Jones said: “Mike, listen to the music, let it tell you what you need. Let God into the room." And MJ listened. Working to the point of exhaustion, always 100% dissatisfied with the result. Then he continued to work again and again until he achieved perfection. At the same time, Quincy was not a supporter of the dictatorship in producing. He did not impose his views, rather, he revealed to the full extent the hidden potential that was inherent in you from the very beginning. The merit of Michael and Quincy is that they turned the standard idea of ​​​​pop music and allowed people to see the limitlessness of the possibilities of truly great creativity. Despite the fact that after the Bad album, for a number of reasons, the couple never worked together, the warm relationship between Jones and Jackson remained until the very end. Moreover, after the death of the singer, Quincy repeatedly criticized the idea of ​​releasing posthumous albums. He said that it was blasphemy, you can’t think only about money, and many colleagues agreed with him, emphasizing that if Michael were alive, he would never allow albums such as Michael and Xscape (the latter was produced by Timbaland, Darkchild, L.A. Reid and many other great people) saw the light. Michael was a perfectionist and would hardly have been happy with such "raw" releases. However, the numbers speak for themselves. When Xscape's latest album came out last year, it immediately topped the UK charts and hit #2 on Billboard.

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones

For many years, Michael's sound engineer was Bruce Swedien - a sound genius, master and magician who always achieved a unique sound. This is a unique person. No one in the world knows the geometry of sound better than Bruce. Proof of this is at least his work on Michael's Invincible record, recorded in 2001, which is objectively considered the best sounding in the history of pop music. Still. After 14 years.

Initially, Jackson wanted to record his hit Bad in a duet with Prince, who at that moment was at the peak of his career, but communication between the artists did not work out from the very beginning. They met and discussed the project. Michael and his management came up with an excellent plan: launch a rumor campaign in the press, saying that he and Prince are the worst enemies who hate each other, and then, when the whole world will savor it and divide into two camps, they will make an official statement that these are just rumors, and they will present a video for Bad, where, according to the original plot, they will compete with each other, finding out who's bad. Prince was not enthusiastic about this idea, and after he heard the demo of the song, he finally refused , referring to the fact that the guys will succeed without him.When Frank Dileo (Michael's manager in those years) asked what he thought about it, Jackson shrugged indifferently and replied: "Numbers."

Between them there was always some kind of struggle and rejection of each other. Prince sent Michael a box of amulets and feathers as a gift. It was later revealed that she had been charmed by voodoo masters, which horrified Jackson. Prince considered Michael a bore, and he said that Prince, although he writes good music, is in itself a sinister person and treats women terribly. “Besides, he is no actor. It doesn't represent anything." Not too upset, the king of pop performed the song Bad himself, and the great Martin Scorsese shot a musical short film on it. By the way, in it for the first time on the screen you can see Wesley Snipes. The song became another revolution in the world of music and attracted a huge number of street audiences.

Michael Jackson: eraBad

The Bad album sold dizzyingly, but it never managed to repeat the sales success of Thriller. Moreover, at the Grammy Awards in 1988, in the most anticipated for Michael nomination "Album of the Year", he lost to one of the most outstanding U2 discs - The Joshua Tree. Having released the most hits of the year and sold the most copies, Jackson left without this award, which undoubtedly plunged him into discouragement, but not for long. The next super hit called Dangerous went on sale in 1991 and became Michael's most successful record since Thriller. Among other things, Dangerous has had the most iconic influence on all modern R "n" B music, greatly changing it. There was a lot of controversy about the cover of the album, many tabloids looked for hidden meaning in it, even the message of Jackson's involvement in the illuminati was traced. Cover artist Mark Ryden said that he was very inspired by Michael's Leave me alone video, which was the impetus for creating just such an image. “This is the largest format for a cover. The original was about 90 square centimeters,” Mark recalls. “If you look at it very carefully, you will see that the names, themes and messages of the songs are displayed on it thoroughly. Its creation took me several months. It was a long, painstaking and very important job for me.”

Michael Jackson album coverDangerous

One of the album's most personal songs is Who is it, the video for which was directed by the iconic David Fincher. Who is it is saturated with throwing, internal questions of the singer. In the depths of magnificent harmony, innovative music, captivating hypnotic melody and performance, the deepest drama of loneliness in a crowd of many-sided people is imprisoned, behind whose masks it is impossible to discern sincerity. Especially in women. The line of distrust towards female love in this work is so pronounced that it is impossible not to feel all this emptiness of brokenness as a result of the deepest disappointment. In the life of Michael Jackson, perhaps, there were four women whom he idolized: mother Katherine, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross and Lisa Marie Presley. And if Taylor was his closest soulmate and support, and Ross was his mother in show business, then he definitely had feelings for Lisa of a different nature. They were similar. The childhood of both passed under the spotlight, both did not know a normal life, she genuinely understood and idolized him, and he heeded her advice. It was she who once told him: “Michael, a peaceful sleep is more valuable than public opinion,” it was she who held his hand on the edge of the abyss. This puzzle had to come together. And he got along. True, not for long, but, nevertheless, gave Jackson and Presley a few happy years. After Michael's death, Lisa said that Jackson repeatedly repeated the phrase: "I think I'll end up like your father." The anthem of their relationship was the song, a super hit from the album History - You are not alone, written for him by R. Kelly. You are not alone is one of the best pop ballads in contemporary music.

Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor

Michael Jackson and Lisa Presley

Michael always wanted to reach out to people, to tell them, “Don't judge me, I'm just human. Just like you, I just want to love and be loved just like you,” and he sent these subtle messages through his sensual songs. How else could he do it? But how many of us can read between the lines? A huge bird descends onto the stage, hugging him with wings in Will you be there, “before you judge me try hard to love me”, begging, he sings in a soulful Childhood, “when you "re alone and you" re cold inside "on the doomed in anguish, he explains in Stranger in Moscow, more aggressively tries to convey his pain to people's understanding through Why you wanna trip on me, Scream and They don't care about us and sums up this desire through global topics about the problems of the Earth in the brilliant Earth song, and also hymns to goodness We are the world, Heal the world and Man in the mirror.If we dwell on the composition Stranger in Moscow in more detail, then, of course, it will turn out to be the most personal song ever created by Jackson.Randy Taraborrelli said that the idea of ​​the song and the video was originally conceived as a reflection of the intimacy of the inner world of the singer. He began to write it after the first tour in Moscow. This metropolis seemed to Jackson a complete identification of his own life. In his perception, Moscow remained a gray, bustling city of people running somewhere, where you feel like the loneliest in this crowd. Randy said that even at the peak of his career, Michael sometimes took walks in order to make new friends. But unsuccessfully.

“Even at home I feel loneliness,” Jackson said, “sometimes it gnaws at me so much that I cannot cope with my emotions, lock myself in a room and cry. You have no idea how hard it is to find real friends. Sometimes I walk around the neighborhood at night, hoping to meet someone, just to talk about something abstract, but every time these walks end in nothing.

He envied people who could safely walk the streets, shop in the supermarket (once his friends closed one of them especially for Michael so that he could imitate shopping), meet, fall in love, walk in the park. The greatest artist who dreams of simple things. A hermit with hundreds of millions of crazy fans, a lonely dreamer, riding a "ferris wheel" in his Neverland for hours on the tenth circle, looking at one point, lost among hundreds of evening lights. A grown man with the soul of a nine-year-old boy, stuck in time, who so wanted to be understood. A person who longs for sincerity and a genuine miracle in the world of people who always wanted to take something from him, touch him, be involved in fame and money, but never thought about giving this person at least a little true love in return. Unconditional. open. Hence the purchase of human-sized dolls, which he kept at home, giving them names and talking to them, in the same parallel, the park of wonders, his favorite pastime - shootouts with water pistols and friendship with Macaulay Culkin. Children are supposedly the audience he was comfortable with, because they are genuinely sincere. “If I wake up and find out that there is not a single child left on Earth, I will jump out of the balcony immediately,” Michael said. The desire for this sincerity and the childish environment in which he received it played a cruel joke with him in the world of self-serving, unscrupulous and greedy adults who were so eager to snatch at least something from this “pie”, to destroy and trample Jackson’s empire, as it says "by any means necessary". In the end, they succeeded. But it is unlikely that one day it will be possible to shroud in oblivion the great musical legacy that the King of Pop left in his songs, videos, performances. Incredible, ingenious creativity, settled in millions of hearts forever. This extraordinary man changed the world and gave us magic. And magic never dies.

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