In the twilight of his career, Michael Jackson was almost as well known for the projects he never completed as he was for the ones that came to fruition. From the mid-1990s on, شائقین were frequently tantalized with the promise of movies, theme parks, tours and song collaborations with the day's hottest موسیقی stars that came and went without ever being realized.
As the one-year anniversary of Jackson's death approaches, MTV News is taking a look at the many plans the King of Pop dreamed up before his premature end, some of which are finally becoming reality.
Despite مزید than a decade out of the کلچر پاپ spotlight, Jackson also clearly never stopped having his finger on the pulse of what was going on in music. Lady Gaga recently revealed that Jackson had tapped her to open for his 50-show This Is It stand at the O2 arena in London. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she said. "We were going to open for him at the O2. ... And we were working on making it happen. And I suppose there was some talk about the openers doing some duets with Michael onstage."
In fact, one of the choreographers of This Is It کہا in an interview that not only did Jackson want to have Gaga open for him, he was very interested in recording a song with her before his death. Travis Payne کہا that after giving Jackson a short فہرست of possible collaborators for his اگلے musical project (including Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Usher and Justin Timberlake), the pop شبیہ suggested Payne check out the then budding superstar Gaga.
"He goes, 'Lady Gaga.' I go, 'Really?' He goes, 'Yeah.' He's the one who really got me to get into her," Payne recalled. "He literally told me, 'You gotta get into her. She's good.' So, I started listening to her موسیقی مزید and going on YouTube and looking at her performances, and I was like, 'He's right.' "
Jackson was also clearly looking to take his place among the musical شبیہیں he most admired and whose sales records he was determined to break during the course of his career. Just like the Beatles and Elvis Presley, Jackson will be immortalized سے طرف کی Cirque du Soleil with a permanent دکھائیں in Las Vegas and a touring version in 2011, thanks to an agreement with Jackson's estate. This brings to fruition a long-held dream for Jackson, who was a big پرستار of the Canadian troupe's productions and had discussed mounting a دکھائیں based on his موسیقی several years before his death.
Jackson always dreamed big, and toward the end of his life, he spent quite a bit of time in Vegas cooking up another abandoned pie-in-the-sky project. In October 2005, just a few months removed from his acquittal on child molestation charges, Jackson began work with fashion designer André وین Pier on costume and set designs for a Las Vegas residency. Their concepts included plans for a 50-foot tall MJ robot that would roam the Nevada desert as an ad for the singer's دکھائیں and an enticement to visit a robot-themed hotel. Like so many of Jackson's fantasias, it was not to be.
That was also the case with a movie the pop سٹار, ستارہ had planned to co-direct about an orphan shuttled between foster homes, titled "They Cage the Animals at Night." Even as he was gearing up for the This Is It run, Jackson was trying to get financing together for the indie film, based on the 1985 book about foster kid Jennings Michael Burch. Jackson told friend and filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller that he related to the book because he often felt like an orphan as a child due to his hectic life as a young pop star, and he had actually been thinking about adapting the book since around 2003, when he invited Burch to his ہوم to be interviewed on camera.
For years before his death, Jackson had been recording tracks for what was slated to be his comeback from 2001's disappointing Invincible album. He'd logged studio time with Akon and Will.I.Am and spoken to T-Pain, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Irv Gotti, Chris Brown, DJ Whoo Kid, Sean Garrett, Ne-Yo and 50 Cent about collaborations. Most of those tracks were never recorded یا have not seen the light of day, but over the past year, a few songs and snippets have leaked online, including a 90-second taste of a duet with rocker Lenny Kravitz called "Another Day." The unfinished demo of the song with the grinding R&B beat and soaring strings — on which Kravitz later کہا he played all the instruments and sang — is similar to a tune Kravitz used on his 2004 album Baptism, but it's unknown if he recorded the song with Jackson first.
One of the مزید exciting posthumous items (it's unknown if Jackson was involved in its development at the time of his death) is a yet-untitled MJ video game from Ubisoft due سے طرف کی the end of the year. The game, based on Jackson's legendary موسیقی and performances, will allow players to groove along to mega-hits like "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" while learning some of the singer's signature dance moves.
Among the other projects that have emerged in the past year: a movie about the singer's final days from biographer Ian Halperin, the "We Are the World" remake featuring Jackson's original vocals among those of a host of contemporary singers, a "This Is It" video directed سے طرف کی Spike Lee, his attempt to quash the beef between 50 Cent and Game and the super-secret video production known as the "Dome Project" that appeared to be connected with the massive stage set and 3-D films being made for the This Is It shows. And this month, plans were announced to build a Jackson Family Museum and arts center in his hometown of Gary, Indiana.
As the one-year anniversary of Jackson's death approaches, MTV News is taking a look at the many plans the King of Pop dreamed up before his premature end, some of which are finally becoming reality.
Despite مزید than a decade out of the کلچر پاپ spotlight, Jackson also clearly never stopped having his finger on the pulse of what was going on in music. Lady Gaga recently revealed that Jackson had tapped her to open for his 50-show This Is It stand at the O2 arena in London. "I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour," she said. "We were going to open for him at the O2. ... And we were working on making it happen. And I suppose there was some talk about the openers doing some duets with Michael onstage."
In fact, one of the choreographers of This Is It کہا in an interview that not only did Jackson want to have Gaga open for him, he was very interested in recording a song with her before his death. Travis Payne کہا that after giving Jackson a short فہرست of possible collaborators for his اگلے musical project (including Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Usher and Justin Timberlake), the pop شبیہ suggested Payne check out the then budding superstar Gaga.
"He goes, 'Lady Gaga.' I go, 'Really?' He goes, 'Yeah.' He's the one who really got me to get into her," Payne recalled. "He literally told me, 'You gotta get into her. She's good.' So, I started listening to her موسیقی مزید and going on YouTube and looking at her performances, and I was like, 'He's right.' "
Jackson was also clearly looking to take his place among the musical شبیہیں he most admired and whose sales records he was determined to break during the course of his career. Just like the Beatles and Elvis Presley, Jackson will be immortalized سے طرف کی Cirque du Soleil with a permanent دکھائیں in Las Vegas and a touring version in 2011, thanks to an agreement with Jackson's estate. This brings to fruition a long-held dream for Jackson, who was a big پرستار of the Canadian troupe's productions and had discussed mounting a دکھائیں based on his موسیقی several years before his death.
Jackson always dreamed big, and toward the end of his life, he spent quite a bit of time in Vegas cooking up another abandoned pie-in-the-sky project. In October 2005, just a few months removed from his acquittal on child molestation charges, Jackson began work with fashion designer André وین Pier on costume and set designs for a Las Vegas residency. Their concepts included plans for a 50-foot tall MJ robot that would roam the Nevada desert as an ad for the singer's دکھائیں and an enticement to visit a robot-themed hotel. Like so many of Jackson's fantasias, it was not to be.
That was also the case with a movie the pop سٹار, ستارہ had planned to co-direct about an orphan shuttled between foster homes, titled "They Cage the Animals at Night." Even as he was gearing up for the This Is It run, Jackson was trying to get financing together for the indie film, based on the 1985 book about foster kid Jennings Michael Burch. Jackson told friend and filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller that he related to the book because he often felt like an orphan as a child due to his hectic life as a young pop star, and he had actually been thinking about adapting the book since around 2003, when he invited Burch to his ہوم to be interviewed on camera.
For years before his death, Jackson had been recording tracks for what was slated to be his comeback from 2001's disappointing Invincible album. He'd logged studio time with Akon and Will.I.Am and spoken to T-Pain, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Irv Gotti, Chris Brown, DJ Whoo Kid, Sean Garrett, Ne-Yo and 50 Cent about collaborations. Most of those tracks were never recorded یا have not seen the light of day, but over the past year, a few songs and snippets have leaked online, including a 90-second taste of a duet with rocker Lenny Kravitz called "Another Day." The unfinished demo of the song with the grinding R&B beat and soaring strings — on which Kravitz later کہا he played all the instruments and sang — is similar to a tune Kravitz used on his 2004 album Baptism, but it's unknown if he recorded the song with Jackson first.
One of the مزید exciting posthumous items (it's unknown if Jackson was involved in its development at the time of his death) is a yet-untitled MJ video game from Ubisoft due سے طرف کی the end of the year. The game, based on Jackson's legendary موسیقی and performances, will allow players to groove along to mega-hits like "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" while learning some of the singer's signature dance moves.
Among the other projects that have emerged in the past year: a movie about the singer's final days from biographer Ian Halperin, the "We Are the World" remake featuring Jackson's original vocals among those of a host of contemporary singers, a "This Is It" video directed سے طرف کی Spike Lee, his attempt to quash the beef between 50 Cent and Game and the super-secret video production known as the "Dome Project" that appeared to be connected with the massive stage set and 3-D films being made for the This Is It shows. And this month, plans were announced to build a Jackson Family Museum and arts center in his hometown of Gary, Indiana.
There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending دن سے طرف کی day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, آپ know,
Love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just آپ and me
Send them your دل so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us سے طرف کی turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if آپ just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending دن سے طرف کی day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, آپ know,
Love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just آپ and me
Send them your دل so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us سے طرف کی turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if آپ just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one
Sadness had been
Close as my اگلے of kin
Then happy came one دن
Chased my blues away
My life began when happy smiled
Sweet like candy to a child
Stay here and love me just a while
Let sadness see what happy does
Let happy be where sadness was
Happy, that's آپ
آپ made my life brand new
Lost as a little میمنے, برہ was I
Till آپ came in
My life began when happy smiled
Sweet like candy to a child
Stay here and love me just a while
Let sadness see what happy does
Let happy be there where sadness was
(Till now)
Where have I been
What lifetime was I in
Suspended between time and space
Lonely until happy came smiling up at me
Sadness had no choice but to flee
I کہا a prayer so silently
Let sadness see what happy does
Let happy be where sadness was
Till now
Happy
Yeah, yeah, happy
Close as my اگلے of kin
Then happy came one دن
Chased my blues away
My life began when happy smiled
Sweet like candy to a child
Stay here and love me just a while
Let sadness see what happy does
Let happy be where sadness was
Happy, that's آپ
آپ made my life brand new
Lost as a little میمنے, برہ was I
Till آپ came in
My life began when happy smiled
Sweet like candy to a child
Stay here and love me just a while
Let sadness see what happy does
Let happy be there where sadness was
(Till now)
Where have I been
What lifetime was I in
Suspended between time and space
Lonely until happy came smiling up at me
Sadness had no choice but to flee
I کہا a prayer so silently
Let sadness see what happy does
Let happy be where sadness was
Till now
Happy
Yeah, yeah, happy
Girlfriend
I'm gonna tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what آپ do to me
Late at night when the wind is free
Girlfriend
I'm gonna دکھائیں your boyfriend (yeah)
دکھائیں him (woo hoo)
The letters I've been savin' (yeah)
دکھائیں him how آپ feel inside
An' how love could not be denied (oh no)
We're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do, etc.
Girlfriend
آپ better tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what he needs to know
یا he may never let آپ go
Yeah we're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do ...... ad lib to fade
I'm gonna tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what آپ do to me
Late at night when the wind is free
Girlfriend
I'm gonna دکھائیں your boyfriend (yeah)
دکھائیں him (woo hoo)
The letters I've been savin' (yeah)
دکھائیں him how آپ feel inside
An' how love could not be denied (oh no)
We're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do, etc.
Girlfriend
آپ better tell your boyfriend (yeah)
Tell him (woo hoo)
Exactly what we're doin' (yeah)
Tell him what he needs to know
یا he may never let آپ go
Yeah we're gonna have to tell him
You'll only be a girlfriend of mine
Do-doot-do ...... ad lib to fade
All آپ gotta do is just walk away and pass me سے طرف کی
Don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you, yeah
And all آپ gotta do is not answer my calls when
I'm trying to get through
To keep me wondering why, when all I can do is sigh
I just wanna touch آپ
Chorus
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with آپ tonight
آپ give me butterflies inside, inside and I
All I gotta say is that I must be dreaming, can't be real
You're not here with me, still I can feel آپ near me
I caress you, let آپ taste us, just so blissful listen
I would give آپ anything baby, just make my dreams come true
Oh baby آپ give me butterflies
Chorus x 2
If آپ would take my hand, baby I would دکھائیں آپ
Guide آپ to the light babe
If آپ would be my love, baby I will love you, love آپ
'Till the end of time
Chorus x 3
Don't acknowledge my smile when I try to say hello to you, yeah
And all آپ gotta do is not answer my calls when
I'm trying to get through
To keep me wondering why, when all I can do is sigh
I just wanna touch آپ
Chorus
I just wanna touch and kiss
And I wish that I could be with آپ tonight
آپ give me butterflies inside, inside and I
All I gotta say is that I must be dreaming, can't be real
You're not here with me, still I can feel آپ near me
I caress you, let آپ taste us, just so blissful listen
I would give آپ anything baby, just make my dreams come true
Oh baby آپ give me butterflies
Chorus x 2
If آپ would take my hand, baby I would دکھائیں آپ
Guide آپ to the light babe
If آپ would be my love, baby I will love you, love آپ
'Till the end of time
Chorus x 3