After the sudden death of Michael Jackson Evan Chandler tells the truth. In 1993, Chandler told a psychiatrist and police that he and Jackson had engaged in sexual acts that included oral sex, the boy gave detailed description of Jackson's genitals. The case was settled out of court for a reported $22 million, but the strain led Jackson to begin taking painkillers. Eventually he became addicted.

Now maybe for the remorse of his death Chandler decides to tell us the truth. " I never meant to lie and destroy Michael Jackson but my father made me to tell only lies. Now I can't tell Michael how much I'm sorry and if he will forgive me ".

Evan Chandler was tape-recorded saying amongst other things, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever. Under the influence of a controversial father (Jordan Chandler) told his son to tell that Jackson had touched his penis. Jordan Chandler then told a psychiatrist and later police that he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation and oral sex, as well as giving a detailed description of what he alleged were the singer's genitals. "

Now for the first time i can't bare to lie anymore. Michael Jackson didn't do anything to me, all was my father lies to escape from being poor."

Posted: 06:19 PM ET

Michael was my idol.  He’s been my father figure since my father died.  It’s strange living without him.  I will never be the same, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this loss.  It’s like losing your companion, someone you always thought would be there.  It’s just not right.  He meant a lot to me.  I feel like a different person than I was before Thursday.  I feel numb — lost.  He was a good friend for so many years.

I treasure the time I spent with Michael.  We’d go shopping together, go to Disneyland, take trips, spend time at Dad’s house.  He’d just come over and set up camp at my dad’s house for a while.  I enjoyed talking about music, eating together and having fun with Michael.  We were just good friends, that’s the best way I can put it.  He was always there for me when I needed him, and I’d like to think I was always there for him.

I don’t really have a single memory of Michael that sticks out.  It’s hard to do when you’ve been friends as long as we have.  My best memories are of the time we spent talking, him hugging me, having good conversations, and making him laugh — I really enjoyed making him laugh.  I could say some things — just a few words in his ear, and I could get a laugh out of him.  And boy, did he have an infectious laugh.

Above all, Michael was a very caring person.  He had a lot of love in his heart.  He cared about everybody, especially the people on the street.  He wasn’t stuck up — he had no ego, and he tried to make time for everybody because he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  If he thought he did something wrong, it would really bother him.  He had more love than anyone I know.

The Michael I saw everyday was one that loved his kids.  They were his main focus.  He was a very busy man, but he always made sure the kids were being looked after.

What a lot of people may not realize about Michael, is how good a businessman he was.  The tour he was planning is a perfect example.  He was a perfectionist, and he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it.  Everything regarding the tour had to be approved by Michael.  Just because he hasn’t been on TV or out in public a lot recently,  that doesn’t mean he wasn’t busy and active.  A lot of people have speculated he was really stressed over the tour, but I don’t think he was.  He went through the same routines he did for past tours.

I’ve thought about whether there were any similarities between Michael and my dad, and I cannot think of a single one.  You’ve heard opposites attract?  I think that explains their friendship.  They had absolutely nothing in common, but when you got them together, you couldn’t tear them apart.  He loved my dad, and they spent many days together at Dad’s house and at Neverland.  They were very close.

Michael was instrumental helping my father through the last few years of his life.  For that I will always be indebted to him.  Dad had a hard time breathing in his final days, and he was on oxygen much of the time.  He loved the outdoors, so Michael would invite him over to Neverland.  Dad could name all the trees there, and the flowers, but being on oxygen it was hard for him to get around and see them all, it’s such a big place.  So Michael got Dad a golf cart with a portable oxygen tank so he could go around and enjoy Neverland.  They’d just drive around — Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando, with an oxygen tank in a golf cart.

Some of the best times I spent with Michael were just sitting on a bench at Disneyland’s “Main Street.”  We would just sit there and people watch.  Sometimes Michael would be in a getup so people wouldn’t recognize him — but they always did.  When he was in a bad mood or a little down, I’d just say “Michael, the bench,”  and that would bring him out of it.  If I knew he wanted to have fun, or just get away, I’d say “let’s go to the bench,” and we were gone.

Of course, Michael Jackson in a public place like Disneyland was bound to draw crowds, and sometimes we would have park security with us.  But they weren’t there to protect Michael, they were there to protect the crowds.  He was never really concerned about himself, but that someone would get hurt in the crush of people that wanted to see him.  People would just go crazy when they saw Michael Jackson.

Michael rarely cried, but I think he’d be in tears over the reaction to his death.  He’d be overwhelmed and happy that so much of the love he gave was returned by the people he loved.  I think he’d take a deep breath and just say thank you.

The family is still planning the funeral, but I think Michael would want it to be a celebration.  He would want everybody there.  He loved his fans.  I’ve been around plenty of big movie stars, but Michael’s fans are beyond fans.  He knew the fans were what made him, and he wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.  Everywhere he went, fans would be there.  He’d tell me the fans always knew what he was doing.  I don’t think anyone has ever had fans like that.  So Michael would want a funeral that included his fans and made them happy.  He would want it to say: “I’m still with you and we’ll always be together.”  He was happy, and he wanted to make everybody around him happy.  Finally, he would want love.  Above all, Michael was about love.

By Craig Johnson
Special to CNN

(CNN) -- The star-studded BET Awards got under way without "the greatest star in the world," Joe Jackson, father of the late Michael Jackson, said on Sunday night.

"I wish the world had recognized him when he were living," Joe Jackson told CNN's Don Lemon outside the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

"Right now he's bigger than ever. But I wish he was here to see all this, to hear all this," Joe Jackson said.

When asked about circumstances surrounding his son's death, he said, "I have a lot of concerns but I can't get into that. ... I don't like what happened."

The awards opened with a fleet-footed New Edition, with Bobby Brown, performing an energized version of the Jackson 5 hit "The Love You Save," to raucous praise.

Host Jamie Foxx wore a red, leather "Billie Jean" jacket for his opening monologue and did his best to imitate Jackson's backward glide across the floor. See photos of the show's tributes >

In addition to Foxx, presenter Jeremy Piven mixed praise for Jackson with comic relief.

"If it wasn't for Michael Jackson, people like Justin Timberlake would be selling curly fries in the valley," the actor said. "I mean that with love."

This year's performers included, Beyonce, Keyshia Cole and R&B artist Neyo who performed a hard-hitting tribute to the 1990s with appearances by acts Keith Sweat, Guy and Bell Biv Devoe. Watch celebrities walk the red carpet before the show >

Near the end of the show, Michael Jackson's sister Janet Jackson spoke holding back tears: "My entire family wanted to be here tonight. It was just too painful. To you Michael is an icon. To us Michael is family. And he will forever live in all of our hearts."

The presenters included the past and present Uhura of "Star Trek": Zoe Saldana, who starred in the film, and Nichelle Nichols of the TV show.

The show also honored the soulful Ohio trio, The O'Jays, who were presented the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tevin Campbell performed a rendition of The O'Jays classic "Forever Mine." Johnny Gill, Tyrese and Trey Songz performed a rumbling, soulful medley of The O'Jays hits that had some in the audience wondering if Songz was older than his years.

Among the award winners, Atlanta, Georgia-based singer Keri Hilson, who was nominated in four categories, received best new artist and Beyonce won best female artist.

Debra L. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Black Entertainment Television, said Jackson's death both saddened and energized the awards organizers.

"When we heard the news of Michael Jackon's passing we knew immediately we'd have to change the nature of this show," she said.

"We put the show together in a matter of three or four days. It's truly been a labor of love for us," Lee said.

Story Highlights

• Dr. Conrad Murray found Jackson not breathing but with a slight pulse

• Murray believed to be last person to see Michael Jackson alive

• Jackson's father concerned about his son's last moments

• Police conduct "extensive interview" with Murray

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's father says he is concerned about the last moment's of his son's life and about the personal physician who found pop icon unconscious at the singer's estate.

"I have a lot of concerns," Joe Jackson told CNN's Don Lemon on the red carpet leading up to the BET Awards ceremony Sunday night. "I can't get into that, but I don't like what happened."

Michael Jackson's personal physician, who was questioned extensively by investigators over the weekend, found the singer not breathing in bed when he entered the singer's estate last week, according to the law firm representing the doctor.

However, Jackson did have slight pulse when Dr. Conrad Murray discovered him Thursday, and Murray gave tried to resuscitate the singer as he awaited paramedics, a representative with the law firm of Stradley, Chernoff and Alford law firm in Houston, Texas, told CNN Sunday.

Attorney Edward Chernoff is representing Murray. The law firm said reports that Murray injected Jackson with powerful painkillers, such as Demerol or Oxycontin, were false.

Funeral arrangements for Jackson were pending Sunday. "We haven't gotten to that yet -- we're working on that," Joe Jackson told CNN's Lemon.

Murray voluntarily met for several hours with detectives, the Los Angeles Police Department said late Saturday night.

"Detectives assigned to Robbery-Homicide Division met with Dr. Murray and conducted an extensive interview," a police statement said. "Dr. Murray was cooperative and provided information which will aid the investigation." Watch attorney for Jackson's doctor say his client is not a suspect >

Jackson's family suspects that Murray can answer some lingering questions about the singer's last hours, but they have been unable to contact him, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday.

"The routine inquiry is now an investigation," Jesse Jackson said. "They (Jackson family) didn't know the doctor. ... He should have met with the family, given them comfort on the last hours of their son." Watch latest developments in Jackson's death investigation >

Jackson family attorney L. Londell McMillan told CNN that a second autopsy is "under way."

"We'll let that process take its course," McMillan, who accompanied Joe Jackson to the BET Awards, told CNN.

McMillan said a will has not surfaced since Michael Jackson's death and that the singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, is seeking custody of his two children.

"Well, if there is no will, then under the state of California it goes to the next of kin. That's an adult to administer and oversee the best interests of the children and that would be Mr. and Mrs. Jackson," McMillan said. "And Katherine Jackson is the duly appointed person."

He added, "She will seek custody of the children. That's who Michael would have wanted to have the children, she loves them dearly."

On Saturday, the founder of 1-800-AUTOPSY, a private firm that conducts autopsies, told CNN that the Jackson family had contacted the business to inquire about possibly having a second autopsy done there.

Jesse Jackson added on Saturday that the family needed "an independent autopsy to get even more answers to questions that are now being driven by the gap between when Michael was last seen alive and was pronounced dead."

There are lingering questions, including: "How long had he stopped breathing? How long had he been unconscious?" Jesse Jackson said.

Michael Jackson was discovered unconscious Thursday by paramedics at his home, where Murray apparently had tried to revive him. He was rushed to a Los Angeles medical center, where he was pronounced dead. Listen to the 911 call >

An autopsy performed by a county medical examiner was inconclusive -- although officials said there were no indications of external trauma or foul play. The Los Angeles County coroner's office has said more tests are needed before a cause of death can be determined. That could take four to six weeks.

Detectives impounded Murray's car, which was parked at the singer's rented home, because, they said, it may contain evidence related to Jackson's death, possibly prescription medications. Police have released no information on what they may have found.

CNN's Ted Rowlands, Traci Tamura, Drew Griffin and Anna Coren contributed to this report.

The Jackson family issued a statement Saturday, conveyed by family patriarch Joseph Jackson. In full, it reads:

In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter. Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon. It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point, where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.

We miss Michael endlessly, our pain cannot be described in words. But Michael would not want us to give up now. So we want to thank all of his faithful supporters and loyal fans worldwide, you ? who Michael loved so much. Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you. Continue to spread his message, because that is what he would want you to do. Carry on, so his legacy will live forever.

In addition, Joseph Jackson wishes to personally convey: "My grandchildren are deeply moved by all the love and support you have shown for them and their father, Michael Jackson."

Joseph Jackson & Family

By Todd Leopold
CNN

(CNN) -- There's a photo of the Jackson family on the cover of the September 24, 1971, issue of Life magazine. In it, Joseph and Katherine Jackson stand at the foot of a set of stairs, their star children -- known as the Jackson 5 -- arrayed behind them.

They appear to be the all-American clan, gold records arranged behind them, the boys loose and smiling, the parents more awkward and serious in their demeanor.

Over the years, that facade crumbled. The brothers bickered; some made accusations of abuse. But the group remained tight-knit through crises, including Thursday's tragedy, when Michael Jackson collapsed at his house and later died at UCLA Medical Center.

The journey began with music in Gary, Indiana. Joseph Jackson, the patriarch, played in a short-lived band called the Falcons (no relation to the Detroit-based group featuring Wilson Pickett) in the 1950s. His primary job, however, was as a crane operator at U.S. Steel.

Katherine Jackson, the musical and devoutly religious woman who he married in 1949, tended to the couple's large family: Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Michael and Randy, all born between 1950 and 1961. Daughter Janet arrived in 1966.

By that time, the three oldest boys -- Jackie, Tito and Jermaine -- had started their own group, which Marlon and Michael eventually joined. Joseph Jackson saw a chance for his sons to have the musical career he'd found elusive.

Joseph Jackson admitted being a harsh taskmaster. He drove his sons hard, forcing them to rehearse with a James Brown-like intensity. He wasn't above emphasizing his feelings to his seventh child, Michael.

"My father teased me and I just hated it and I cried every day," Michael told Oprah Winfrey in 1993. He said his father also beat him: "He was very strict, very hard, very stern. ... There's been times when he'd come to see me, I'd get sick, I'd start to regurgitate."

He quickly said, imagining his father's reaction, "Please don't be mad at me."

Joseph Jackson disputed the word "beat," but didn't question Michael's account.

"I whipped him with a switch and a belt," he told the BBC in 2003. He added, "I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick."

In a 2005 interview with CNN's Larry King, Jermaine defended his father's actions.

"We grew up like any other black family. You did something, you got your butt tore up, and it wasn't tore up, it was just, you got a spanking," he said. "I will say this. He kept us off of the streets. He kept us away from drugs. He kept us away from gangs and ... we've been able to project a talent out there and have the support of strong people to entertain the world."

By 1968, when Michael turned 10, the Jackson 5 was a professional musical machine. They'd won an Apollo Theater talent night the previous year and were working the "chitlin circuit" of black clubs when producer Bobby Taylor urged Motown to sign the group. Motown founder Berry Gordy was impressed and made them "the last big stars to come off my assembly line," according to a biography on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Web site.

The group shot out of the gate with four No. 1 hits and gained a huge fan base, along with an animated TV show. But success took its toll, particularly when it wasn't so easy to come by.

In the mid-1970s, the band -- minus Jermaine, who'd married Gordy's daughter Hazel -- moved to Epic Records, where they were produced by the Philadelphia soul-funk team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The two remember nothing but good times from the sessions, which produced two albums and the Top 10 hit "Enjoy Yourself."

"It was a collaboration," Gamble said. "They all participated in creating. Tito was a great guitarist -- they were all great musicians."

Huff said he visited the Jackson compound during a trip to California and remembered a warm family setting, complete with a "fantastic meal" cooked by Katherine Jackson.

"I've got nothing but respect for the father," added Gamble. "He's a great man. He made something out of nothing."

Even during that era, however, Michael was standing out. Gamble and Huff recalled him taking a keen interest in recording technology and the way he sounded. Going solo with Quincy Jones producing, as he did in 1979, was the right move, Gamble and Huff said.

The family dynamics kept changing as the siblings grew older. After Michael's "Thriller" became the biggest album of all time, the brothers -- including Jermaine -- regrouped for a new album, "Victory," and accompanying tour. But Michael, now the undisputed draw, disagreed with some of the tour plans and ended up donating his earnings to charity.

Michael's brightened spotlight boosted the careers of his siblings; even Rebbie had a hit. But it was Janet who broke out with the most success, including the No. 1 singles "Miss You Much," "Black Cat" and "Again" in the 1980s and '90s.

With the increased interest in the Jacksons came tabloid scrutiny of the family's every move. When La Toya appeared nude in Playboy magazine, the story made headlines. She later criticized Michael and was on the outs for several years.

Jermaine put out a song called "Word to the Badd," an attack on Michael, in 1991; he later changed the lyrics. Janet's relationships were probed in detail, as were the brothers' marriages.

And Michael, of course, was seen as increasingly eccentric, his personality overwhelming his music.

But for all their own bickering, the family closed ranks when a member was attacked. In 1992, Jermaine co-produced "The Jacksons: An American Dream," a TV miniseries based on Katherine Jackson's memoir, which chronicled their rise to stardom. When Michael faced molestation allegations in the early '90s and was tried in 2005, the family rallied around.

"The Jackson family was groomed to be a team," said Linda Johnson Rice, president and CEO of Ebony and Jet magazines' Johnson Publishing and a longtime family friend. "As you can see through their performances, they were always there for each other."

In recent years, La Toya has appeared on the reality shows "Armed and Famous" and the UK "Celebrity Big Brother." She originally had a scene in the forthcoming Sacha Baron Cohen movie, "Bruno," but CNN confirmed the scene has been cut, "out of respect for Jackson's family," the studio told The (UK) Guardian.

Jermaine, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Abdul-Aziz, appeared on "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2007. Jackie runs a record label, Tito remains involved in the music business, and according to a 2008 article in the New York Post, Marlon and Randy have struggled financially.

In the hospital emergency room Thursday, Randy and Jermaine were witnessed hugging and crying over their late brother.

"We're a family," Jermaine told Larry King in the 2005 interview. "We're no different than any other family who has feuds and problems. ... But at the same time, we're united, and we have a united front that is very, very strong, and it's supported by God.

"My mother and father did a great job in instilling the morals and principles in us from the very beginning. We feel that with that, that's all you need to go through life."

CNN's Alan Duke contributed to this article

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's body was moved from a Los Angeles, California, coroner's office to a mortuary Friday evening, a coroner said.

The body was moved in a van about 9:30 p.m. PT (12:30 a.m. Saturday ET), but Jackson's family asked that the location not be made public, said Ed Winter, assistant chief coroner of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

"We ask that you respect the family wishes," Winter told reporters. "They are all grieving in their different ways."

Earlier on Friday, Craig Harvey, a spokesman for the coroner's office, said Jackson's autopsy was completed, but more testing was needed to pinpoint the cause of death. Harvey said the tests would take four to six weeks.

Harvey did say there were no signs of foul play or trauma.

Jackson was in cardiac arrest when paramedics took him Thursday from his home to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where the music idol was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. (5:26 p.m. ET).

In a 911 call released Friday, an unidentified caller told a dispatcher to send help. He told the dispatcher that Jackson was not breathing and Jackson's doctor was performing CPR on a bed. Jackson had been preparing for a comeback tour -- aimed at extending his legendary career and helping him to pay off hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

Jackson is survived by his three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Years ago Michael and I were having a deep conversation about life in general.

I can't recall the exact subject matter but he may have been questioning me about the circumstances of my Fathers Death.

At some point he paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty, "I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did."

I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that.

14 years later I am sitting here watching on the news an ambulance leaves the driveway of his home, the big gates, the crowds outside the gates, the coverage, the crowds outside the hospital, the Cause of death and what may have led up to it and the memory of this conversation hit me, as did the unstoppable tears.

A predicted ending by him, by loved ones and by me, but what I didn't predict was how much it was going to hurt when it finally happened. The person I failed to help is being transferred right now to the LA County Coroners office for his Autopsy.

All of my indifference and detachment that I worked so hard to achieve over the years has just gone into the bowels of hell and right now I am gutted.

I am going to say now what I have never said before because I want the truth out there for once.

Our relationship was not "a sham" as is being reported in the press. It was an unusual relationship yes, where two unusual people who did not live or know a "Normal life" found a connection, perhaps with some suspect timing on his part. Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much.

I wanted to "save him" I wanted to save him from the inevitable which is what has just happened.

His family and his loved ones also wanted to save him from this as well but didn't know how and this was 14 years ago. We all worried that this would be the outcome then.

At that time, In trying to save him, I almost lost myself.

He was an incredibly dynamic force and power that was not to be underestimated.

When he used it for something good, It was the best and when he used it for something bad, It was really, REALLY bad.

Mediocrity was not a concept that would even for a second enter Michael Jackson's being or actions.

I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him.

I was in over my head while trying.

I had my children to care for, I had to make a decision.

The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow.

After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret.

Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation.

At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.

As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.

Any ill experience or words I have felt towards him in the past has just died inside of me along with him.

He was an amazing person and I am lucky to have gotten as close to him as I did and to have had the many experiences and years that we had together.

I desperately hope that he can be relieved from his pain, pressure and turmoil now.

He deserves to be free from all of that and I hope he is in a better place or will be.

I also hope that anyone else who feels they have failed to help him can be set free because he hopefully finally is.

The World is in shock but somehow he knew exactly how his fate would be played out some day more than anyone else knew, and he was right.

I really needed to say this right now, thanks for listening.

~LMP

June 25, 2009, is the saddest to us all especially to me personally. Since the start of this year two of my beloved relatives was taken away from me now Michael Jackson.

He has given his music, his heart to the world, sadly he gave his all that his fragile body was not able to take it. For us fans we mourn his passing. But we can do more, share the love he gave all of us. Continue helping the people close to his heart Children. No matter what people say us MJ Fans go on. In this way, we can hounor him even more.

To my brother Michael,

Thank you for every you gave us your fans. May you now in His arms feeling love your never felt in your life while you are with us. May He also give peace you longing for.

Peace,

Anna M.

The Legend and Undisputed King of Pop has died at age 50 due to cardiac arrest June 25, 2009. Cause is still unknown.

This webpage will update you or go CNN.

Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine has denied the singer's Neverland was ever for sale- insisting the property would go on the market "over my dead body".

California estate was reportedly scheduled to be sold off if Jackson fail to pay GBP 25.12 million he owned in property taxes by 19 March.

The Thriller hitmaker was believed to have saved his home by ageeing a deal with a investment group that will allow him ownership.

But Jermaine has insisted the property was never under threat.

He tells TMZ.com, " It's very simple . It is not for sale. Not over my dead body. It is not for sale

And when asked if the property would be sold if it went into foreclosure, he added, "That a myth.

Submitted by:

yahoo...

paul(mjcool)

Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine has denied the singer's Neverland was ever for sale- insisting the property would go on the market "over my dead body".

California estate was reportedly scheduled to be sold off if Jackson fail to pay GBP 25.12 million he owned in property taxes by 19 March.

The Thriller hitmaker was believed to have saved his home by ageeing a deal with a investment group that will allow him ownership.

But Jermaine has insisted the property was never under threat.

He tells TMZ.com, " It's very simple . It is not for sale. Not over my dead body. It is not for sale

And when asked if the property would be sold if it went into foreclosure, he added, "That a myth.

Submitted by:

yahoo...

paul(mjcool)

? Story Highlights
? "Thriller," released in Nov. 1982, just out in 25th anniversary edition
? Michael Jackson releases video thanking fans for its huge success
? Jackson: "Still much for to come for Michael Jackson"

NEW YORK (AP) -- Michael Jackson appeared in a video to thank fans for the success of "Thriller," the landmark record the reclusive singer is marking with a 25th anniversary edition.

Jackson will release the new version of the blockbuster album Tuesday, featuring new collaborations with Kanye West, Akon, Fergie and will.i.am.

"It's hard to believe that 25 years ago Quincy Jones and I embarked on an album named 'Thriller,' " Jackson said in a video message to fans released Monday by his record company, Sony-BMG.

It was not immediately clear exactly when Jackson had made the video, or where it was recorded. He also hinted that he's not through recording music.

"There is still much for to come for Michael Jackson," he said. "My passion for music has never stopped. ... It's my hope that 'Thriller' continues to live on for each new generation to discover."

Jackson, 49, soared to superstardom after releasing "Thriller" in November 1982. The instant classic spawned the hits "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and -- of course -- "Thriller," and introduced the moonwalk to legions of fans all around the world.

"To be able to say that 'Thriller' still holds the record as the biggest selling album of all time is just mind-blowing. I have you, my fans, throughout the world to thank for this achievement," said Jackson, who has sold more than 750 million albums worldwide.

Jackson -- whose previous disc, 2001's "Invincible," failed to produce any "Thriller"-level hits -- seemed poised for a career comeback after years of avoiding the spotlight (including a period of self-imposed exile in Bahrain following his acquittal in 2005 on child molestation charges.).

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

? Story Highlights
? A public auction has been set for March 19, according to court documents
? Jackson owes $24.5 million on the property
? Jackson insider: "The financing is all being worked out"
? The singer has not lived at Neverland Ranch since June 2005

(CNN) -- Pop star Michael Jackson will avoid foreclosure on his Neverland Ranch property with a new loan, a Jackson insider told CNN Wednesday.

Documents show that Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California, is scheduled for a public auction on March 19 at Santa Barbara's downtown courthouse.

But the Jackson source said that won't happen.

"Michael Jackson's ranch is not going to be auctioned off at the courthouse," the Jackson insider said. "The financing is all being worked out."

"There are plenty of lenders willing to work with him. The real estate market is very bad right now and Jackson is being affected just like many other Americans," the source said.

The Santa Barbara County Recorder's Web site lists a "notice of trustees sale" by Jackson and his property lenders, Financial Title Company, filed Monday.

In California, title companies typically represent lenders in foreclosure cases.

A notice of trustees sale cannot be posted earlier than 90 days after a notice of default is filed. That notice is not filed unless a loan is in substantial default, sometimes six months or more past due.

A real estate source inside Santa Barbara County said the trustees filing is only the first step in a long process that could drag on for months.

The real estate source said other options are available to Jackson, including selling the ranch directly to another party or making a payment on his $24.5 million Neverland debt that would satisfy the trustee.

The recorder's Web site also reveals there was a release of lien on Jackson on February 4, showing he paid off all or part of delinquent taxes to the state of California.

"It seems unlikely that someone would pay off back taxes, only to let the ranch go up for auction a few weeks later," said the real estate source.

Jackson has not lived at Neverland since June 2005, after a Santa Barbara County jury found him not guilty of child molestation charges.

? Story Highlights
? Michael Jackson still owes $24 million on his Neverland Ranch in California
? A public auction has been set for March 19, according to court documents
? Jackson has until that time to pay the money and keep the property


LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch will be put up for sale at a public auction next month unless the pop star pays the more than $24 million he still owes on the property, according to a Tuesday court filing.

Financial Title Co. filed the notice of trustee's sale with Santa Barbara County Superior Court, setting the auction date for March 19.

A spokeswoman for Jackson did not immediately return a call for comment.

Julie Wagner, a manager at the San Francisco-based title company, confirmed that Jackson's property was set for auction.

Court documents obtained by Fox News warn Jackson that he has until the date of the auction to take action to keep his lavish Los Olivos estate.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

According to Global Track Chart, the official global hitlist compiled and provided by Media Traffic, Michael Jacksonfs eThriller 25th Anniversary Editionf debuts at the top of the Global Album Chart (week 9/2008) with sales of 381,000 copies.

Source: Global Track Chart

paul(mjcool)

Ann Powers - LOS ANGELES TIMES

There are two ways to listen to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," 25 years after its release. Scandal addicts will find trace evidence of the obsessions that would sink the greatest pop star of his generation into Hollywood Babylon: the repressed, explosive sexuality in his breathy vocals; the racial ambivalence he would encode on his body, evident in genre-busting songs such as "Beat It"; the innocence fetish that made ballads such as "Human Nature" sparkle but led the singer into a shadowy life among paid-off children in his own Neverland.

The dirty stuff is all there. But so is wonder, pure and complex, and some willful forgetting can bring you back to it. Put aside jackson, the tragic example. Return to Michael, the musical prodigy who filtered a host of cross-cultural and intergenerational influences through his own weird radar to create music as surprising as it was definitive.

Enjoy that Michael, at play in the fields of new technology with producer Quincy Jones and the best team of studio pros since Brian Wilson roped in the Wrecking Crew. At 24, that Michael embodied the vertiginous power of being young -- his love songs were all longing and playful innuendo, his angry songs half bluster and half nightmare. That Michael believed that pop songs could have the effect that classic tales have on kids, coloring their dreams and staying forever in their memories. "Thriller" was the first Neverland he built -- the one he'll never lose in bankruptcy court.

The just-issued 25th anniversary of "Thriller" includes remixes by will.i.am and Kanye West and guest appearances from Fergie and Akon. But the classic content is what still resonates, even if younger listeners need to be lured in by names they associate with the Hot 100. Here, nine Los Angeles Times staff writers and contributors offer their views of the album's original tracks.

? "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ": Hot as Jackson was after the quantum leap that 1979's "Off the Wall" brought his solo career, few expected him to match, much less dramatically surpass, those heights so quickly. But "Thriller's" leadoff track immediately established the new album as another giant step forward. It connected to "Off the Wall" with an irresistible Afro-Caribbean funk, dance-floor pulse and peppery horn accents akin to "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," then rocketed to new heights with even more sinewy bass and guitar lines propelling his impossibly nimble vocals. If "Off the Wall" demonstrated that Jackson was a kid no more, "Somethin' " signaled the full maturity of his musical acumen. All the more impressive for a song built on just two chords. (Randy Lewis)

? "Baby Be Mine": Imagine if this weren't the better of the two non-singles from a monster album but a one-shot single by an unknown artist. The sweet midtempo glide of "Baby Be Mine" probably would have bubbled into the R&B Top 20 and gotten lots of roller-skate play, been included on recent mix CDs by cutting-edge European DJs and been remade as a slow jam at least three times. We would have wondered at the bionic singer, the effervescent synth arrangements, the popping groove. In short, it would sound like the hidden classic it remains, even in plain sight. (Michaelangelo Matos)

? "The Girl Is Mine": Treacly, insipid, weak, embarrassing -- that's how detractors describe Jackson's gentle sparring match with his then-favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney. Borne forward on a beat light as hair mousse and synth flourishes supplied by the guys from Toto, it's a long way from the paranoid funk of "Billie Jean." But its spun-sugar vocal line is like the G-rated version of "Unchained Melody," and the cornball lyrics (I know, "doggone") invoke a show-tune Arcadia that both MJ and Macca fought to preserve as pop got ever filthier. The lift Jackson gives the word "endlessly" midsong can still make a listener feel like she's swimming in a sea of Love's Baby Soft. (Ann Powers)

? "Thriller": If ever a video killed the radio star, "Thriller" was it. The song was adequately groovy -- funked-out beat, lyrics seemingly lifted from some little kid's "scary storybook" -- but the video was legendary: Costing $800,000, the 14-minute mini-film was the most expensive video of its time. Back then it was over the top; to today's viewer, jaded by bloated-budget videos, it still looks epic -- and deliciously campier than ever. That dialogue ("I'm not like other guys")! That Vincent Price rap interlude! And, most of all, those choreographed zombies, dancing in a style that -- thanks to Usher, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown -- still gets its close-up on MTV. (Baz Dreisinger)

? "Beat It": A secret not closely guarded: The uncredited guitarist who whipped out the fluttering, squealing solo on this ode to macho cowardice was Eddie Van Halen, whose extracurriculars ranked among the provocations for singer David Lee Roth's 1985 departure from the megalithic rock band Van Halen. The aerodynamic metal flight pumped crossover fuel that would boost the success of "Thriller" -- a gimmick Jackson would flog later with spots from Slash and Carlos Santana. Without the Van Halen precedent, there might have been no collaboration of Run-DMC and Aerosmith on the 1986 rap/rock version of "Walk This Way." (Greg Burk)

? "Billie Jean": Twenty-five years later, "Thriller's" central chamber has lost none of its fevered mystery. This is where the album's material plane gives way to a haunted interior, excavated by that remorseless bass line and shaped by a taut interplay of instruments -- the arrangement is ingenious, so lean and spare that it's hard to accept that there are three synthesizers at work. Jackson finds a new voice here, a victim's voice that shudders in the shadows of this remarkable sonic space, lashing at his own naivete and at the false accusers who were just starting to gather at his door. (Richard Cromelin)

? "Human Nature": Jackson is a sensual vampire flying over the city looking for juicy necks to bite. A template for new jack swing and hip-hop soul ballads, "Human Nature" is comparatively slower and more intimate than "Thriller's" other songs. "If this town is just an apple, let me take a bite," quivers Jackson's voice over a cascading synthesizer and percolating bass line. Though written by John Bettis and Steve Porcaro of Toto, the lyrics resonate with Jackson's yearning to break free from his tower of celebrity and mingle with young people in a "city that winks its sleepless eye." (Serena Kim)

? "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)": It's all about the chipmunk. The production has a compelling charm already; It's not as forceful as "Beat It" or as slick as "Human Nature," but those squiggly synths and chewy bass lines do their work well. But besides the robo-accented "P.Y.T." hook, what seals the deal is that helium-pitched voice after the bridge. Honestly, to this day, I still can't decipher what line is blurted out, but just the chipmunk effect has been enough to imprint the song in my head. Given that Kanye West looped the same passage for his Grammy-winning "Good Life" only confirms I'm not alone in my infatuation. (Oliver Wang)

? "The Lady in My Life": And the '80s pop big bang ends with a ... whimper? So it might have seemed at the time, this Rod Temperton-penned and arranged trifle closed "Thriller" on an unconvincingly romantic note -- even pre-scandal. Yet today, "Lady" shines for its classic simplicity and nuanced craft, a verse melody straight from vintage Burt Bacharach (the muted trumpet early on leaves no doubt) topped with a chorus that's almost a Stevie Wonder homage. And Jackson's delivery is refreshingly unaffected -- not until shortly before the final fade does he even let out an ooo! No, not a whimper. A sigh.

paul(mjcool)

When Michael Jackson took his three children to see ?The Lion King? at the Minskoff Theatre on Sunday, the family was wearing costumes almost as ornate as the actors in the long-running show, the New York Post reported today.Aspen magazine fashion editor Sue Hostetler was backstage when ?all of a sudden, Michael Jackson appears with his three kids - who all had wigs and baseball caps on,? she told the Post.
Jackson introduced his kids as Paris, Prince and Blanket to the cast before taking pictures and ?running out.?
NY Post

The Jackson family have released the following statement:
People Magazine has followed other publications in reporting untrue and inaccurate information about Michael Jackson and the Jackson family. Of theses widely reported rumors, what has become the most troubling and heinous, is that my son, and brother, Michael Jackson, is dependent on painkillers and alcohol.
People, and other news organizations, have quoted "sources" indicating that our family has attempted a drug intervention, and engaged in an effort to take over his business affairs, because of this alleged drug and alcohol usage.
We categorically deny ever planning, participating in, or having any knowledge of any kind of intervention, whatsoever. We strongly believe that these "sources" and others, no matter who they are, are making these defamatory, inaccurate, and untrue claims for monetary reasons.
Michael Jackson, and the Jackson family, has endured years of false accusations and misrepresentations.
It is time for these unfair and hurtful rumors, for profit to end.
Thank you.
The Jackson Family
with thanks to PJR
Source: MJStar