Photo: Billboard
After tireless concerns that they consisted of faked vocals, three songs of Michael Jackson have been pulled out from streaming platforms.
These three songs, “Monster,” “Keep Your Head Up,” and “Breaking News,” are all part of the posthumous compilation album, Michael, released in 2010. They had been brought to court by a fan, who alleges the vocals are by a session singer.
According to Sony Music and Jackson’s estate, their withdrawal from streaming services doesn’t necessarily mean they are inauthentic.
They call the measure “the simplest and best way to move beyond the conversation associated with these tracks once and for all” in a statement. “The focus remains where it belongs – on the exciting new and existing projects celebrating Michael Jackson’s legacy,” such as MJ, the Broadway musical, and a newly-revealed biopic.
“The album’s remaining tracks remain available,” the statement added. “Nothing should be read into this action concerning the authenticity of the tracks – it is just time to move beyond the distraction surrounding them.”
Michael, dropped in 2010, was the first album of outtakes and unheard music to appear following Jackson’s death from a propofol overdose in 2009.
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Way ahead of its shop release, the icon’s family were pitching doubts if he had played all of the songs.
“I tried so hard to prevent this craziness, but they wouldn’t listen,” said a tweet from Jackson’s nephew, Taryll. “It doesn’t sound like him,” said La Toya, Jackson’s sister.
In response to the allegations, Sony said in a statement that it had “complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals… are his own.”
During its release, the Michael album’s back cover stated: “This album contains nine previously unreleased vocal tracks performed by Michael Jackson. These tracks were recently completed using music from the original vocal tracks and music created by the credited producers.”
But fans grew suspicious about three specific songs after hearing the music.
According to the official story, Jackson wrote and recorded the songs with the production team Edward Cascio and James Porte in 2007. However, gossip continued to spread, saying that the vocals were from an American singer named Jason Malachi, who reportedly claimed credit for them in a Facebook post in 2011.
