Latest on MJJC

Meeting Michael - Beautiful, Touching Stories

Samantha Mumba Describes Meeting Michael Jackson

Singer Samantha Mumba has once again spoken about one of her visits with Michael Jackson, this time while reportedly in Dubai (believed to have been back in 2006). In 2007, Samantha Mumba also explained how she and Michael had conversed for a couple of hours at one point while in Los Angeles and how they talked about music, dancing, and recording music. At the time, Michael purportedly told her that he would love to help Mumba's musical career out and that he had written several songs that he would be willing to give to her. Mumba now balances her time living in both Los Angeles and Dublin, Ireland. Speaking about the Dubai experience, Mumba says:

"Meeting Michael was like the closest thing I will ever get to meeting a saint. He had this amazing aura to him. He was very spiritual and magical, even mythical. I was just in awe of him. The guy doesn't have a bad bone in his body. He was so kind and had this incredible way with him.

"I didn't know what to expect to be honest because you read and hear so much about him. When I walked into the room he was the most humble, warm, friendly person you could ever wish to meet. He also had a hilarious sense of humour. He kept cracking these jokes that had me in fits of laughter. It was weird because I was thinking, 'I'm standing in a room having a hoot with Michael Jackson. Nobody is ever going to believe this'.

"Everyone in the music business knows he has made history. But I can still see him making another great album. I would love to see him perform. He's a perfectionist so that's why it takes him so long to release material. But I'd definitely be going along to see him in concert if he did a gig in Ireland."



Source: MJJR.net / Paul Martin
 
Every act of kindness, Every prayer of love

"I recently heard of this interview airing and decided to get more information about it on Oprah's website. This is when I stumbled across this discussion and decided to share my story. I was diagnosed with a rare form of child bone cancer in 2000 at the age of fifteen. I was to start chemo therapy in August of that year. Not many people know this but Michael opened up Neverland several times each year for anyone to come and enjoy the park. Everything was free. Rides, games, food. A friend of mine who was a regular at Neverland called me one night and told me the park was going to be open for two weeks at the beginning of August that year. I asked my parents if they would take me the week before I was scheduled to start chemo. My doctors all advised against saying they feared I was too weak but I eventually talked my parents in to it. We had to drive what seemed like several miles after we went through the front gates of Neverland to get to where the actual park was with the rides. As we were driving down the winding road something came over me that I can't explain to this day. It was almost a feeling of peace.

When my family and I stepped out of the car we weren't sure if we should check in with someone or really what to do. A man finally walked over to us and introduced himself and then explained to my parents how everything worked. We signed in with our names and other information and were given matching wrist bands and told we could ride anything we wanted, eat anything we wanted, play any of the games, etc. The man mentioned that on occasion Michael would come outside and say hello to everyone there. My parents thanked the man and within minutes I was at the top of the ferris wheel with my Dad. We rode it three times in a row and then it was on to the swings. We rode the rides for hours before getting in line to get some cotton candy and popcorn. As we sat down at a table with our snacks we noticed a crowd of children running all in one direction. I stood up on the seat of the table we were at but couldn't see anything. Several minutes later the crowd began moving towards us and it was then that I saw Michael. Standing under a huge umbrella and laughing as children were pulling at his arms, legs, and hugging him.

My Mom then grabbed my hand and we made our way over to him. We introduced ourselves and my Mom told him what a wonderful time we were having. She then told him about my cancer and that I would be starting chemo the next week. When she said that Michael put one hand on my head and said, "God Bless you." When he touched me I felt the same feeling of peace and comfort that I did as I had when we drove through the gates of Neverland. He stood there and talked to us for a couple more minutes and then he left. I continued riding rides with my family and the other children but I couldn't stop thinking about meeting him. As we were leaving that night the man who we spoke to when we arrived stopped my dad and handed him a note. The note was from Michael and it was inviting the three of us to have dinner with him. Without hesitation my Dad accepted the invitation and the man then directed us to through another gate which led to the main house. I was surprised once we were in front of the house. I expected it to be this huge mansion but it wasn't. It wasn't small but it certainly wasn't huge. Several people who worked for him greeted us when we pulled up outside. We had dinner with Michael and his children that night and to this day it was the best night of my life. After dinner he asked my parents if it would be ok if he prayed with us and of course they said yes. I had never and still to this day have never heard anyone pray the way he did. At fifteen years old it made me cry.

After he finished praying I opened my eyes and looked to each of my parents who were in tears as well. Michael was gracious enough to give us a tour of some of the things we weren't able to see earlier in the day. He showed us the arcade and the movie theater. The movie theater at Neverland was not your typical theater. Not only were there seats like a real theater, there were also beds for the children who were too sick to sit up. After showing us around we said goodbye to Michael and thanked him for everything. Imagine my Mother's surprise when she received a call from him several days later! We assumed he had obtained our number from the sign in sheet that we filled out upon arriving at Neverland. He asked her how I was doing and she told him I would begin chemo on Monday. He then gave her a number in which to reach him directly and asked her to please call him and let him know how I was doing around the middle of the week. She agreed. I went that Monday morning to the hospital prepared to begin chemo. When the doctor walked in the room he asked both of my parents to sit down. The three of us feared he was going to say the cancer had spread. They had run blood work and some more scans on me two days prior which is typical prior to beginning treatment.

http://www.majorloveprayer.org/2010/10/every-act-of-kindness-every-prayer-of.html
 
* Blast from the past:

{from Kenny Rogers’ 1987 book of collection of photographs, “Your Friends And Mine”}:

“The first person I shot for the book was Michael Jackson. In 1986, I hosted the Grammy Awards telecast in Los Angeles. That night, my son Christopher met Michael backstage. Christopher had always loved Michael. He would even dress like him at home […] As it happened, Marianne, [Roger’s wife] sent me some flowers with a little plastic Grammy attached. Unbeknownst to me or anyone else, Christopher took the plastic Grammy, walked into Michael Jackson’s press conference, and handed it to him. The next day, Michael called to tell Christopher how much he appreciated it. He also invited him out to his house to see his animals, so Marianne and Christopher went out to Encino. Michael knew I was a photographer, he mentioned that he’d like it if I took a picture of him and Christopher together. I called Michael the next day to set up an appointment, and he agreed to come down to my studio. I told Michael during our first session that I was thinking about doing a book of portraits and calling it Your Friends And Mine. I had heard about his chimpanzee, Bubbles, and we did a shot with the chimp. Later on, Michael and I did another session alone, at his request. That was the start. Michael Jackson’s agreeing to be part of the book was, in fact, the jumping off point for the whole project. Michael Jackson is unique, both as an individual and as a performer. Yet, while I’d been around him many times, I never honestly felt I knew him until we spent a day together in the photography studio. As I explained earlier, Michael had invited Christopher, my youngest son, to his home to see his zoo. They had such a good time that Michael, who heard I was a photographer, suggested I take a picture of him and Christopher in my studio. I told him of my ideas for this book and asked him to bring his chimp, Bubbles. There were maybe twenty-five people in the studio that day, and the chimp was the center of attention. That meant the focus was off Michael, and I think the relative anonymity gave him a chance to relax. And Bubbles was so human it was almost frightening. He would take Christopher by the hand, walk over to the refrigerator, open it, take out a banana, and hand it to him. Christopher was amazed – we all were. The session was the first time I’d had the chance to be one on one with Michael. It means a lot to me to be able to say that not only do I love his music, but I also like him very much as a person and consider him a friend.” –

[Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers, American country music singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur ; source: "Michael Jackson: The King of Pop", by Lisa D. Campbell]
 
In the mid 60’s or thereabouts, I heard a group of pop singers who went by the name of ‘the Jackson 5’. Many years later when I had the facility of a video player I saw them in action live. The youngest among them, was this chubby cute little fellow with an extraordinary voice and a body that for his age and countenance, moved exceptionally well. I found out his name was Michael – Michael Jackson. For several years thereafter, we did not hear him or of him; the Beatles had invaded the music scene and the entire universe had adopted them as their own. It was around the mid 70’s that lightening struck and from it emerged this grown up version of Michael Jackson, singing, moving, dancing like he was from some other planet ! Mesmerized by his brilliance in each and every department of music and performance, he changed the very psyche, of not just the kind of music he was making, but also the psyche of the listening audience. Nothing compared to him. He was just this incredible perfection that God could have possibly created in his mercy. His body moved like a wound up toy machine. Every conceivable action of rhythm and style was incorporated inside his diminutive form, without any blemish. The exhilaration that he provided became synonymous with the ultimate. He was the impossible. With the greater advent of modern technology and its rather slow percolation into the developing world, we would only get to see or hear him, through great effort made by those that had the privilege of travel. These, purveyors and bringers of good tidings, would carry with them his music and his videos from across the seven seas into our lives. And we the possessors of such rare material, became the idols of great attention, simply because we had in our possession, a video of Michael Jackson . Time passed by. Our own travels became more frequent and we started becoming proud owners of his CD’s and Video. They became our most prized possessions. Those who did not get an opportunity to be in similar circumstance, looked upon us with awe and gratitude when we would play for them, somewhat reluctantly, MJ music and video. Everyone wanted to dance like him, dress like him, BE him. But no one came anywhere near. Soon after my accident in 1982, I went to the United States of America for recuperation and consultations with the medical fraternity there on my post- operative condition. It was while I was in New York that we came to learn of Michael Jackson on tour with one of his many concerts that he was performing in. The next one was to be in a city called, oddly, Jacksonville Florida. The show we discovered was on the next day. It was an opportunity we just could not miss. So we boarded a flight and landed up in the morning at Jacksonville, without knowing a soul, without any hotel reservation and without a ticket to the concert. Moving from one location to the other with a friendly helpful cabbie, we landed up in the same hotel that MJ was in, only to be shown the door because the entire hotel, and all the floors had been taken up by Mr Jackson and his massive entourage. Begging and pleading with the management for some space, the kitchen, parking lot, a bench in the lobby, we finally managed a small discard in the corner somewhere, where my brother and I, he accompanying me on this escapade, rested our bodies before we undertook the other more important ordeal – tickets for the show !! By the afternoon, we discovered ourselves loitering around this massive football stadium, with no clue whatsoever where and how we could get inside this cavernous enclosure to see THE MJ perform. The walk about seemed endless. After consuming tons of ice sticks and the fizzies in the hot and humid atmosphere, and witnessing countless groups of fans in ecstatic gear and temperament; one particular individual standing out in his peculiarity by trying desperately to warn visitors NOT to go inside, because MJ was the devil incarnate, we finally, minutes before it was gearing up to start, met our savior – the ever reliable tout !! An exorbitant bargain was struck and we were racing up the galleries even as the first strains of the colossal audio system started up. Our seats were.. well.. comfortable. They were made of cement and were not individual in nature, just a long endless strip that ran around the stadium in uniform fashion. The air was fresh and I thought somewhat cooler than where we met Monsieur Tout and we soon realized why. We were in the last row of the tier at the very edge of this monstrous construction, looking down upon a mass of almost a 100,000 humanity, requiring most definitely, the assistance of a parachute in case we wanted to make an immediate exit !! With a bit of shoving and pushing we finally were able to seek deliverance – the space to finally rest our posteriors. This unfortunately lasted just a few seconds, for, a huge bang of music almost immediately, tore our eardrums away and a blinding light from the stage on one end, accompanied by the most decibel led roar from 100,000, got everyone on their feet again !! And that is how we remained for the next three hours !! For almost 45 minutes the build up kept us in hungry anticipation and then… almost by magic.. he was on stage… NOTHING WAS HEARD THENCE, NOTHING WAS SEEN THERAFTER, NOTHING BUT UTTER.. UTTER .. HALUCIGENIC MADNESS !! That was my first introduction to him in person. But it was not the last !! In the early 90’s on another private visit to New York, the door bell of my room in the Helmsley Palace Hotel rang, and I sauntered up to open it. There as I stood in the doorway, across me, was Michael Jackson ! He looked a little surprised as he turned around to those he was accompanied with and in his now well known soft voice gently spoke up – “Oh ! Excuse me ! I think I have the wrong room !”. I have no recollection of what I said in return, whether I said anything at all, how long I remained in that state and when I closed the door to come back in. But that was him and he had come to the wrong room !! Later the next day, my friend Mohan Murjani, who was perhaps working with MJ on some project and staying in the same hotel, set up a meeting for me with Michael Jackson and we met and laughed at the previous days incident and exchanged pleasant conversation. He was soft spoken, very humble and most polite. Introduced me to his Mother who accompanied him and then I was out of there !! I never saw him again but when he came to perform in Mumbai at the Andheri Sports Complex, Prateeksha, where I live, shook the entire night with the vibrations of all his most popular numbers booming out from the venue. An exceptional artist has gone. Someone that created an almost outer world experience for all of us with his art. When I get back I shall pull out an old birthday party recording of 7-8 year aged Abhhishek, dressed like Michael and dancing to ‘Thriller’.
Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan is hailed as the greatest actor in the history of Indian cinema.

http://michaelerz.tumblr.com/post/6975520771/in-the-mid-60s-or-thereabouts-i-heard-a-group-of-pop
 
I wasnt going to take no for an answer

HOTT 107.5 DJ Miss Thang says she was the “happiest child in the world” when she got the chance to tell Michael Jackson she thought he was gorgeous.

Miss Thang, aka Kristy Burgess, says she can remember every second of the meeting with her musical hero like it was *yesterday.

The “total Michael Jackson fanatic”’ was lucky enough to meet Jackson, who died suddenly last week, when he came to Bermuda on vacation in June 1991.

As an “inquisitive and mouthy” 13- year-old girl, Miss Thang said she was determined not to let the chance to meet the King of Pop pass her by.

Having heard he was on island in June 1991, she persuaded her neighbour Kentoine Jennings to take her to the Hamilton Princess hotel, where the star was staying with actor Macaulay Culkin.

Bold as brass

Bold as brass, Miss Thang walked up to the front desk and said: “Hi. I’m here to see Michael Jackson.” However, she was told there was no-one of that name staying at the hotel.

But not one to give up easily, Miss Thang went out to the *hotel’s swimming pool area to try to get the attention of Jackson by “screaming at the top of her lungs.”

Miss Thang noticed the balcony door to the hotel’s penthouse was slightly ajar and Michael Jackson was standing inside waving to her.

She said: “I can remember it like it was yesterday, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. There were no other fans there, just me.

“The people in the pool were just looking at me, I was screaming so loudly, I just didn’t shut up.”

A member of kitchen staff and a security guard eventually went over to Miss Thang and she was convinced she’d be thrown off the premises.

Big hug

But she was actually taken to the hotel entrance where Jackson was getting into a taxi. Miss Thang recalls: “he shook my hand and gave me a big hug.”

Miss Thang was then invited to get into the taxi with the pop icon where they had a conversation for about five minutes. Miss Thang says she was “the happiest child in the world.”

She said: “He was on his own, he was wearing a red shirt, black trousers and his usual hat.

“He was very softly spoken, he asked my name and my age, he was like any normal person.

“I told him I’d been his fan forever, then I told him I thought he was gorgeous and he blushed.”

She added: “I was smitten with him and I still am.”

Miss Thang didn’t stop there as she persuaded her neighbour to follow Jackson’s taxi, as he was taken on a tour of Bermuda. Miss Thang was on the back of the bike waving at Jackson in the taxi as he waved back.

She told everyone at school about “the day she met Michael” and even today, she admits to re-telling the tale whenever she gets the chance.

Miss Thang says she’s loved Jackson since she was a child, plastering her bedroom walls with “everything Michael.”

Having lost her own mom at an early age, Miss Thang said her heart went out to Jackson as she felt she could relate to his difficult childhood. She remembers seeing him on TV and thinking they both had had to grow up fast and learn to cope on their own.

Then Miss Thang got into his music calling him a “musical genius.” She names The Girl Is Mine as her favourite Jackson song as she believes “he’s singing to me.”

Miss Thang admits she “cried her eyes out” when listeners called into her radio show on Thursday to tell her Jackson had died.

She said: “I just can’t believe he’s gone.

“I cried when I found out and I’ve bawled crocodile tears ever since.

“I’ve been a total basket case.”

But she added: “At least I got to meet him, I’m so thankful for that, not that many fans can say they came face-to-face with their hero.”

http://www.bermuda.com/articles/share/2009/july/i-wasnt-going-to-take-no-for-an-answer.aspx
 
4veryoung;3422309 said:
I wasnt going to take no for an answer


But she was actually taken to the hotel entrance where Jackson was getting into a taxi. Miss Thang recalls: “he shook my hand and gave me a big hug.”



She said: “He was on his own, he was wearing a red shirt, black trousers and his usual hat.

“He was very softly spoken, he asked my name and my age, he was like any normal person.

“I told him I’d been his fan forever, then I told him I thought he was gorgeous and he blushed.”

She added: “I was smitten with him and I still am.”







But she added: “At least I got to meet him, I’m so thankful for that, not that many fans can say they came face-to-face with their hero.”

http://www.bermuda.com/articles/share/2009/july/i-wasnt-going-to-take-no-for-an-answer.aspx
Click to expand...

So lucky <3
 
&#8220;I was a staunch defender [of Michael Jackson] before his passing and I was called just to tell you, and I was called by friends and I was told that I gotta stop talking about Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is the most astonishing person I&#8217;ve ever met on the face of this planet. I never expected to meet anybody like him, I never suspected there was anybody like him&#8230;He lived to give. He lived to give to his audience, he loved his audience. One night&#8230;one day, I got a call at 4 o&#8217;clock in the afternoon, here in New York, saying &#8216;You gotta be out here&#8217;, meaning L.A., &#8216;Tonight, at 11 o&#8217;clock, Michael is canceling his tour and you&#8217;re the only one he&#8217;ll listen to&#8217;. When Michael and I sat down in the trailer that night at 11 o&#8217;clock &#8211; a dark trailer outside the studio in L.A. where he and his brothers were rehearsing for their tour &#8211; it was like two profits going out against each other. Michael said to me, &#8220;I will not go on stage. I owe my audience, I owe them the most astonishing thing they have ever seen in their life, and my brother, Jackie, is the best dancer I have ever seen, and my brother, Jackie, just came down with a bone shift in his knee, and if I can&#8217;t go out with the best dancer in the world, then I will not go out, because I will not want to cheat my audience&#8217;. And I felt in Mike&#8230;I felt as if Michael&#8217;s chest&#8230;the ribs had opened like gates and I could see 10,000 kids inside of there, and Michael would not let anybody school around with those kids. He owed them something tremendous.

And I had to convince him of the reasons that canceling his tour would s**** those kids, because they would cease to believe in him, his tour would be so badly&#8230;his tour already had been savaged by the press over and over again, his public would not believe in him anymore, and he could feel his audience in my chest. Well, I never expected to meet a human being like that. One day, we were looking at pictures together for what was supposed to be his next album cover, and his knees buckled when he saw only one inch of a picture in a portfolio, and he made an orgasmic sound, and the further he (inaudible) back the page, the more his knees buckled, and I knew I was standing next to him. And I could feel his body language, and the more the orgasmic sounds grew &#8211; because Michael was capable of seeing infinity in a tiniest of things, and I&#8217;ve never ever in my life expected to meet that kind of quality and wonder and that kind of extreme generosity. He lived for other people. And when he quit living for other people, he died a little. He..I mean, if there ever was a saint on the face of this planet, Michael was it. So, I will defend him till the end of my days and, yes, I talked about him until I was blue in the face long before he ever died, because&#8230;look, the first two principles of science, they&#8217;re in [my] book, [&#8216;The Genius of the Beast&#8217;] are the truth and the price, including the price of your life, and look at things right under your noses if you&#8217;ve never seen them before and, then, proceed from there, look at things that you and everybody else around you take for granted and, then, proceed from there. That first one is the quality of courage and the second rule is the quality of wonder, and Michael instantiated, he was, he realified that quality of wonder in ways I never, ever expected to see in my life. [&#8230;]&#8221;

[Howard Bloom, American popular science author and former music industry publicist, also former publicist of Michael Jackson &#8211; on air at The Expert Witness Radio Show; sources: www.mj-777.com/The Expert Witness Radio Show]
 
But not one to give up easily, Miss Thang went out to the *hotel&#8217;s swimming pool area to try to get the attention of Jackson by &#8220;screaming at the top of her lungs.&#8221;
Click to expand...
Lol, too cute:D

Thanks for sharing these.
 
The Michael Jackson We Will Never Forget



We had the good fortune of knowing between October 1984 until Mar 1988.
A great human being who always spoke well of other celebrities whenever we spoke on phone during the years he kept in touch.
It was Oct 1984 when he called us at The Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto in response to a fan letter I wrote on behalf of our daughter
Andrea aged 3 and a letter that I was able to get through his father whom I met outside the hotel walking on the street. Thereafter he invited us to his Victory Tour concert as VIP guests. And started a friendship that would have him call many times. In Nov 87 he dedicated a single The Way You Make Me Feel to our daughter Andrea 7 and then invited us to a Bad concert reception in New York in March 1988. Thereafter I received a large size photo of me with him in April.

My name is Andrea Patel. When I was 6 years old I met Michael Jackson here in Toronto and he personally invited my family to his concert. Soon after he would phone us, and send us boxes of stickers/gum. Then to top it off he dedicated the single &#8216;The way you Make me Feel&#8217; to me. Dedicated to Andrea Patel of Canada, I love you. It&#8217;s something I have never been able to live down, even if I try. People are always fascinated by this and refer to him as my best bud even though I don&#8217;t talk to him anymore. It truly was 15 minutes of fame!

Unfortunately we never heard from him once he fired his manager at the time Frank Dileo. However fond memories will always remain with us. We never used our friendship for any personal gains although we had offers for our story which we always refused. Until to this day I never gave up trying to get in touch with him. But his new managers were of no help and my mail probably never reached him. I was still hoping to hear from him even just a day prior to his passing away.
The last card Thinking of You I sent to an address in L.A belonging to Michael that was provided by a friendly source has not returned to me undelivered. Perhaps the people around him may have not been delivering my mail to him. I would just like to express my condolences to his family members and especially his dad who gave this great opportunity by passing on my fan letter to his son. To us and to the world he will always be remembered as the King of Pop. We will miss him.
Michael autographed the cover of the Thriller album to Andrea , autographed the cover of the Bad album and also wrote a whole page in his handwriting to our son as well autographed many other photos to each one of us. And I took many photos of him with my family members when he had invited us to his hotel suite in Four Seasons. We have shared those memories with friends , relatives and coworkers.






http://michaelerz.tumblr.com/post/7116134856/the-michael-jackson-we-will-never-forget
 
aww u beat me claud lol...anyways here's the pic:

26slide1.jpg

26slide2.jpg

26slide3.jpg


img_1305-150x150.jpg

img_3063-150x150.jpg

img_3052-150x150.jpg
 
March 1975, Michael Jackson in Jamaica

Fan remembers seeing Michael Jackson in March 1975 in Jamaica:

It was 1975; I was 13 years old and in third form at St. Andrew High School for Girls, when I heard the news that Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 were coming to Kingston to perform. My mother, a strict Pentecostal Christian, forbade my sisters and I to play secular music or to dance. Yet, I could not help watching Michael Jackson while she was at church, which was several nights per week. And I could see pictures of him in the American teen magazines I would browse with my friends in York Pharmacy after school. I thought he was the cutest boy I had ever seen in my life. I loved his voice, clear as a bell reaching high notes in songs like "I'll be there" or giving unconditional love in the beautiful song dedicated to his pet Ben. For all I knew, he was singing to me when he declared to Ben:


&#8220;If you ever look behind
And don&#8217;t like what you find
There&#8217;s something you should know
You&#8217;ve got a place to go&#8221;

As far I knew he was talking to me, heart to heart and I loved it. I was going to grow up and marry Michael Jackson, whatever it took to get rid of the millions of other girls in line. I was convinced it was my destiny.
St Andrew High was full of Jackson 5 adulation. I thought the most enthusiastic, if unregistered Jackson 5 fan club was filled with my classmates, a clique of six girls. They loved the Jacksons, talked about them incessantly and formed a dance group that started for the sole purpose of performing Jackson 5 hits. And they practiced hard, performing with gusto at school barbecues and other events. They spent hours planning and scheming how to host their own show at Carib Theater in Crossroads, imitating the Jackson 5.

Of course, they all went to the concert, while I had to spend another Saturday night watching &#8220;Little House on the Prairie, a morally sound television show approved by my mother. My friend Michelle had obtained tickets through her mother&#8217;s connections for seats right up front of the stage at the National Stadium.

Michelle and the entire group of girls lucky to attend the Saturday night concert arrived at school on Monday morning dazed and ecstatic. They had discovered that the Jackson 5 were staying at the Sheraton Hotel in New Kingston. We headed over the there right after school, walking in the sun from St. Andrew. If my mother only knew! Apparently, the other high school girls in Kingston had obtained the &#8216;Lets go see Michael&#8217; memo. There were scores of girls scattered all over the hotel lobby and in the pool area, hoping for a glimpse of Michael or any of his handsome brothers. The Jacksons emerged in about half hour after we arrived, dressed for a basketball game against Kingston&#8217;s finest high school players. I remember first seeing Marlon&#8217;s head on the top of the stairs, then Jermaine, Jackie and finally Michael. The girls screamed as in mass frenzy, they rushed up the short flight of stairs. I saw the look of panic on Michael&#8217;s face before he ran back and we never saw him again. I wonder now how many of those frightening encounters set back his childhood development and created the recluse he became out of necessity.

I do not recall how long it took to quieten the crowd and bring order to the Sheraton lobby or how the Jacksons got out. Eventually we took a bus to the National Arena and spent the rest of the afternoon drooling at Marlon, Tito and Jackie Jackson playing against the Jamaican boys. I recognized only two boys from Kingston College and if they played like NBA stars, I could not tell you. I had eyes only for the Jacksons, mesmerized by their billowing Afros, their sparkling smiles, their powerful legs in those short shorts; it was my dream come true. I may have missed the concert but I had seen Michael, the boy of my dreams and his gorgeous brothers in the flesh, and now I have my friend Michelle to thank for the memories.




http://www.facebook.com/notes/micha...75-michael-jackson-in-jamaica/190345427672365
 
Michael Jackson
'Thriller' Was Greatest Triumph, Greatest Tragedy
Leonard Pitts Jr.


I got to interview Michael Jackson only once, at the family home in Encino, Calif.

This was on the occasion of his 21st birthday, and I remember thinking that for a guy approaching a milestone, he didn't seem very happy. Truth is, he seemed tired. Not from fatigue or exertion.

It was an existential tired, as if he felt worn down by the simple act of being.

I remember Jackson did not walk about the place so much as haunt it, slumping from room to room as a great weight rested upon his sparrow shoulders.

He complained to me that he was lonely, told me how he wandered the streets outside the security gate sometimes, late at night, just looking for someone to talk to. I took it for image-making hyperbole until a friend of mine, singer Sam Moore of the old duo Sam & Dave, told me about driving through Encino one night and finding Michael, just walking.

One other memory from that interview: Michael was telling me in that soft, fey voice of his how some girl had climbed the security fence and been found wandering the property early one morning. She was lucky, he said, that the dogs were not out because they'd have eaten her alive. Moments later, by way of illustration, he took me to see the dogs in question.

We were standing before a pen in which the canines were lounging. And Michael said, "Pretend you're attacking me." I said, Beg pardon? He repeated it: "Pretend you're going to attack me." So I did as he said, hesitantly raising my hands toward his throat. In an instant the dogs had gone zero to bloodlust, barking and snarling, climbing the fence and trying to chew through the chainlinks. Suddenly, I was doing a statue imitation and wondering if I had soiled myself. Michael was laughing his head off.

He was an odd guy.

And this was before "Thriller" made him the most successful recording artist in history.

It was before Bubbles the chimp and the elephant man's bones, before Elvis' daughter and plastic surgery, before the hyperbaric chamber and skin the color of bones. And yes, it was before sordid rumors and eventually a trial -- and an acquittal -- on charges of child molestation.

THE PINNACLE OF 'THRILLER'

Michael Jackson's life will always separate out like that, into epochs of before "Thriller" and after.

Before: an apple-cheeked adolescent, child prodigy of the Motown stable, obsessed with fantasy and reptiles, and possessed of a raw talent (listen again to that explosive lead vocal on "I Want You Back") years beyond his age. Years beyond anyone's age.

And after: a star bigger, perhaps, than any human being ever should be, so big he redefined the very meaning of success.

Before "Thriller," an artist might call himself successful if he got a gold record, signifying 500,000 copies sold. He might call himself a superstar if he got platinum, signifying a million copies sold. To sell five times or 10 times platinum was to have one of the biggest albums of the year.

"Thriller" has gone at least 48 times platinum worldwide. It has sold 28 million in the United States alone.

It made him bigger than Elvis, bigger than the Beatles, bigger than popular music itself. That the album produced videos (Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller) that changed the face of music video seems almost incidental. That its grab-bag approach, its something for everybody style, was a work of prescience and marketing genius, seems almost irrelevant.

Because the truest statement of "Thriller's" success is simply this: It made the man historic. It opened a whole new stratosphere of success. This was his great triumph. And his great tragedy.

Because the very magnitude of the achievement isolated him from the ordinary human contact he claimed to crave, made him prey for the leeches and hangers-on who troubled the last years of his life. The charming eccentric who walked the streets of Encino looking for companionship was suddenly unable to poke his head out of a window without causing a riot.

Worse, his success made him a man no one could say no to. Not when he altered his very visage with a series of plastic surgeries that, some said, were designed to remove every trace of Africa and of the father with whom he had a famously troubled relationship. Not when he made his home into an amusement park complete with a train and a zoo and a tree he climbed in order to be alone. Not when he spent a fortune on garish baubles and tchotchkes and drove his finances into the ground. Not when a series of scandals and public oddities ruined his image, and left one of music's greatest showmen an object of pitiable scorn.

And not when he began sharing his bed -- innocently, he always said -- with little boys.

THE TRUTH WITHIN

"Thriller" consumed Michael Jackson.

It raised the stakes on everything he did, and until his last day he was always competing with it, always looking to top what he had done. He never did. And yet, you wouldn't have been surprised if he had. That's how good he was.

Which is why for those of us who remember Michael Jackson before, those of us who memorized his little ad libs in "ABC" and stayed up late to watch him dance the robot on Carson, those of us who saw him move seamlessly as liquid, or sing in a voice that shifted without apparent effort from saw-toothed rawness to a sweet and ethereal falsetto, there is a poignancy beyond mere grief here. We were waiting for him to get back to what he had been before all the extraneous madness: a singer and showman of astonishing genius. We were waiting for that, even those of us who thought we weren't.

Just the other day, I exchanged e-mails with a friend who, like me, covered Jackson in the old days. We were talking about his recently announced comeback show and I asked my friend what he thought of it. My friend didn't think much. He was sick of Michael's self-centeredness, his manipulation of others, his general weirdness. As far as he was concerned, the comeback could pass him by. I agreed.

And we were both lying through our teeth. If that show had come off, we'd have gone.


http://www.ihavenet.com/Michael-Jackson-Remembered-Thriller-Greatest-Triumph-Greatest-Tragedy.html
 
Here is a story from sound engineer John Van Nest who witnessed Notorious B.I.G.&#8217;s first meeting with Michael Jackson for the recording of the song &#8220;This Time Around&#8221; from the album HIStory.


Michael used to call people to ask them to participate on albums. It was interesting knowing that nearly anyone on the planet would come to the phone if it were Michael calling. Anyway, I heard rumors that B.I.G. was going to come, and I was excited about that! I knew that I would be the one to record that, as I had recorded nearly all of that tune, &#8220;This Time Around&#8221;.

So, Dallas (Austin) and I were expecting him any minute, and pretty much on time, Notorious strolls in. He was quite an imposing figure when he walked in, as he was quite popular at the time. I had no idea what to expect from him in terms of attitude, but he seemed nice when he walked in. No problem. But almost immediately, he blurted out, &#8220;Yo, Dallas, can I meet Mike?&#8221; To which, Dallas replied that he thought so. Biggie went on to talk about how much this opportunity meant to him, as Michael was his hero. Anyway, Dallas tells him that we&#8217;re going to lay down the rap first, so Biggie heads in the booth, we get some headphone levels and get ready to start recording.

So, we hit the big red button (on a Sony 3348 machine), and away we go. During his first take, Dallas and I looked at each other, because it was spot on. wow. I was impressed, and so was Dallas. We listened back, and Dallas was like, &#8220;Wow, I think we got it&#8221;. As I recall, we took another take for good measure, but I&#8217;m fairly certain that we ended up using the first take. So, Notorious comes in, and asks if he can meet Michael now. We sent word to the back room where Michael was working that Biggie was finished and wanted to meet him.

Simply for security, Michael&#8217;s security would enter and make sure that no one was in the room that shouldn&#8217;t be, and once that was confirmed (it was just me, Biggie and Dallas), Michael came in. Biggie nearly broke out in tears&#8230;I could tell how much this meant to him. Well, Michael could have this effect on anyone, even the most hardcore rappers! Biggie was tripping up on his words, bowing down and telling Michael how much his music had meant to him in his life. Michael was, as always, very humble and kept smiling while Biggie just went on and on how much he loved Michael. I watched Biggie just become this big butterball of a man, and it was really very sweet to witness. After all, we are all just people.

Michael finally asked to hear what we had done, and we popped it up on the big speakers and let her go. Michael LOVED it and was excited to tell Biggie that! &#8220;Oh, let&#8217;s hear it again&#8221;, I recall Michael saying, and we listened again. Michael just loved it&#8230;and thanked Biggie for coming all the way from Philadelphia. Biggie asked rather sheepishly whether he could get a photo, and Michael agreed. A shot was taken, we listened again, and Michael thanked Biggie. Michael said goodbye and stepped out, leaving Biggie standing there looking completely stunned.

It will always remain a great, great memory.


http://mjjnews.tumblr.com/post/3745277610/michael-jackson-and-notorious-b-i-g
 
270377_230879763609791_121841604513608_747217_2297221_n.jpg


Michael Jackson was a kid at heart, and stopped by the Mickey Mouse Club when it filmed at Florida&#8217;s Disney-MGM Studios in 1990.Former Mouseketeers Damon Pampolina, Albert Fields and Chasen Hampton fondly remember the King of Pop&#8217;s visit.

&#8221;He was larger than life. He believed in the Disney Magic. He loved our show, and said he used to watch it every day if he could. That alone made me bust at the seams with excitement.He was telling us that he was our fan. What power onstage, and such a beautiful man offstage. He was never scared to say what most of us won&#8217;t.I never thought that he was a molester or pedophile or any of that craziness.I thought people were trying to take advantage of him.What no one can take away from Michael is the &#8220;It&#8221; factor. He was literally kissed by God to have that talent.&#8221;

There is absolutely no other performer on earth who can touch his magnetism, energy and danceability. But his showmanship live, if you haven&#8217;t seen it, I don&#8217;t know if it will ever exist again. I don&#8217;t see it in our human lifetime. I don&#8217;t think it will ever be touched again. There&#8217;ll never be another Elvis. There will never be another Michael.&#8221;

- Damon Pampolina, former Mickey Mouse Club mouseketeer
 
We were standing before a pen in which the canines were lounging. And Michael said, "Pretend you're attacking me." I said, Beg pardon? He repeated it: "Pretend you're going to attack me." So I did as he said, hesitantly raising my hands toward his throat. In an instant the dogs had gone zero to bloodlust, barking and snarling, climbing the fence and trying to chew through the chainlinks. Suddenly, I was doing a statue imitation and wondering if I had soiled myself. Michael was laughing his head off.
Click to expand...
:D Wow, that's some serious guard dogs!

Well, Michael could have this effect on anyone, even the most hardcore rappers! Biggie was tripping up on his words, bowing down and telling Michael how much his music had meant to him in his life. Michael was, as always, very humble and kept smiling while Biggie just went on and on how much he loved Michael.
Click to expand...
Awww:wub:
 
I found this on another forum and I wanted to share

In the late 90's I was an International Manager for United Airlines and was working onboard a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. I was notified approximately 45 minutes before departure that Michael Jackson and 3 body guards would be traveling on our flight. He is one of the only people in the world that was allowed to travel under a false name due to the significant security risk of releasing a passenger manifest with his name. This is something the US government has to approve. He did not have to go through customs nor come through the airport. He was brought by police escort directly planeside immediately before takeoff with 3 bodyguards. He was in first class with one bodyguard next to him and two behind him. I found him to be one of the most kind, funny and gentle people I had ever met. During the 12 hour flight he came to the galley while his bodyguards were sleeping to talk with the flight attendants and myself. He was facinated to hear the crews stories of what they did on layovers and expressed how very much he wished he could just go see tourist attractions or simply walk on a beach without having to wear a disguise of some kind. He said he was sincerely jealous of our "normality". He was kind enough to sign autographs for the crew and spent a good 40 minutes talking with us. Interestingly he asked for a small amount of wine and requested that it be put in a paper coffee cup. He explained that if people saw him with a wine glass someone would write that he was drinking and possibly had a drinking problem. It was sad to see the lenghts he had to go to for a shot glass size amount of wine. He is still one of the most soft spoken, and kind people I have ever met. He took a sincere interest in the crews lives and their freedom to live them the way the chose. I pray Michael rests in peace. He deserves so much more from us and the world for his countless contributions! He is as close to American Royalty that we have.

June 26, 2009 at 10:46 am |
 




Ms Messick (L) and another lady with Michael Jackson


When I met Michael Jackson
By Tabitha Messick


"It's very nice to meet you too," Michael Jackson said to me in his very soft, high voice, as I had the amazing experience of meeting him, unexpectedly, in Orlando, Florida in 2002 when, by chance, we were eating at the same restaurant.


I was competing at the Miss America Jr. Teen pageant and on the last night my family and I ate at a very popular Japanese steakhouse, the Benihana (which Michael told me was one of his favorites).


My family got out of our seats when we heard a lot of commotion at a nearby table. When our cook told us that Michael Jackson was eating in the next room, we couldn't believe it. We left our chairs and our food to see if it was true. It was.


Michael was so gracious and generous, at times even shy. The owners closed the restaurant to additional customers and Michael took pictures and talked with people for over two hours. Everyone was standing in line to meet him. He was very patient and sweet despite the numerous people and downright chaos. I particularly remember people outside the restaurant's locked glass doors banging and shouting to get in to see him.


I saw poised beauty queens turn outright giddy in a matter of seconds of just seeing him. Everyone around him was talking loudly and screaming, not only for his attention, but because they were impressed. I felt a natural high and an excitement that rivaled Christmas and birthdays. Energy and excitement radiates from Michael! As he walked outside to a waiting car, hundreds of fans were gathered. As his car drove off, I saw two women pass out.


His kids, wearing spiderman masks, were with him along with an entourage of about 10 people. Michael talked with everyone and it took him hours to slowly walk out of the restaurant to the limo outside. He signed autographs and gave hugs. He was very relaxed and seemed genuinely happy.


I actually wasn't a huge Jackson fan, besides knowing him and appreciating his music, until I met him (my junior year in high school) and since then I defended him during the next years. When I met him he was nothing like those reports you see on T.V. The literal pandemonium that surrounded him was unreal. It really put into perspective the good and bad of his amazing star power. And yet he still remained calm, composed and childlike.


It's been really tragic to hear of his passing. He is such a huge international star. I've been living in China for almost two years, and I've found that Chinese people universally know two people- Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. Sometimes showing the picture of me and him, especially in China where it is hard for me to communicate, has been a great conversation starter.


I feel incredibly honored to have met him. There's just something about him and being in his presence that is hard to explain- it's simply...special.


Messick is a 23-year-old American living and working in Beijing.

(China.org.cn July 9, 2009)
http://www.china.org.cn/culture/Michael_Jackson/2009-07/09/content_18101976.htm
 
Michael Jackson: King of Hearts

Farewell, and goodbye Michael, thank you America, what a superb send off you have organised for a man who gave all he had to give, physically, emotionally and as I have learnt today, his contribution to so many, many charities, financially. Here in my home today in Sydney, Australia, there were no dry eyes and without a doubt the whole world is breaking their hearts which are filled with sadness.

The farewell tribute concert commenced in Sydney at 2.50 am and as I watched with bitter sweetness, I realized that indeed this was a wonderful tribute to a man who had nothing to give the world but his whole soul.

What can you write about a man who gave so much and contributed completely and wholeheartedly to the happiness of millions of people throughout the world, through his music, not to mention the many sick and infirmed children which he visited in hospitals throughout the many countries of the world where he so generously gave from his heart, gifts and tickets to his shows, and lifted their spirits which would I have no doubt would have aided in their recovery.

I am the mother of one such child, where my son and I had the opportunity of meeting Michael at the Sydney Childrens Hospital in Randwick when he visited Sydney on the 18 November, 1987. I will never forget that day as long as I live, when Michael came to the hospital with an abundance of stuffed animal toys, so generously given, to all the children in the children&#8217;s ward. He went around the ward and visited each child personally and quietly spoke words of comfort to them and I will never forget the delight of these children, the medical staff and the parents who visited on that day.

My son now is a grown man and I wish to share this photograph with the whole world because it shows Michael&#8217;s selfless and generous nature. My son, unfortunately, lost his eye in a school accident that week and, as you can imagine, it was a real tragedy for the whole family, but that day he gave us all some joy, great pleasure and and an abundance of happiness.

Michael, I know that you are with the angels and may God Bless your soul and, rest assured, you will live in our hearts forever. Thank you for the music.
m_3.jpg



Read more: http://authspot.com/thoughts/michael-jackson-king-of-hearts/#ixzz1VmIqGOAJ
 
My Dinner With Michael Jackson, By Tim Kash
The MTV News correspondent recalls his encounter with the King of Pop in Bahrain, 2006

The first album I ever borrowed (stole!) from my dad was Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. It was a cassette tape with that great picture of a young Michael Jackson dressed in a black tux, with big hair and an even bigger smile, leaning up against the brick wall.

In 1988, my first concert was when Michael Jackson at London's Wembley Stadium during his Bad tour. It was immense. He was in his prime and a spectacular performer in every sense of the word.

But the first time I actually met Michael Jackson was in 2006. I was invited to Bahrain to take part in one of the preliminary car races for the Formula One Grand Prix. Our gracious host was Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who was also playing host to another member of royalty, King of Pop Michael Jackson.

Towards the end of an amazing week of some R&R (racing and relaxing), I was invited along with John Legend, Tyson Beckford, DJ Whoo Kid, Simon Webbe and a few others to dinner at his palace. (Whoo Kid gave us his account of the dinner back in 2006.)

Like kids visiting Disneyland, Whoo Kid and I were the first to get off the trucks when we arrived. A line of people, starting with the crown prince and his wife, was assembled to welcome us. It was then that I turned to Whoo Kid and whispered, "Yo, that guy looks a lot like Michael Jackson, no?" You see, we had no idea MJ was going to be there, my initial reaction was to think it was someone that looked like him and not actually him.


He had shoulder-length black hair and was wearing a shiny black tuxedo with aviators tucked into his open white shirt. He knew how to dress. As I walked up to Michael, he extended his hand and said, &#8220;Hi, Tim.&#8221; That was weird, but I guessed he had been briefed prior to our arrival. Then I figured I&#8217;d try to break the ice, so I said, &#8220;Hi &#8230; and you are?&#8221; The prince and everyone within earshot looked at me with disbelief, but the King of Pop simply replied &#8220;Michael&#8221; with no sense of ego whatsoever. I smiled, &#8220;I know,&#8221; and we laughed. To the relief of everyone listening, Michael had a sense of humor.

A few things surprised me about the legend in real life: His voice was quiet but not as high-pitched as you might have heard him in interviews. Maybe that was part of his character. He wasn&#8217;t wearing his signature aviators, but I remember seeing him sweep his hair in front of his face a few times, almost as if to hide his eyes. He was shorter than I thought he would be, but despite being skinny, he was solid and well-built (yes, we bro-hugged).

Dinner conversation was as diverse as the characters sitting around the tables. The topic of his big comeback came up early, and Whoo Kid started telling him he should &#8220;get hip-hop with it&#8221; &#8212; cut the hair short, go for a new look and get some bling. Ha. When I told Whoo Kid to show him his big, diamond-encrusted watch, MJ joked, &#8220;What is that?&#8221; We couldn&#8217;t stop laughing.

The jokes didn&#8217;t stop there. I remember Tyson Beckford standing up and challenging Michael to a dance-off. Michael hit back with, &#8220;Let&#8217;s see what you got.&#8221; Tyson gave it his best with an MJ impression and a moonwalk. Michael laughed, &#8220;That&#8217;s OK, but that&#8217;s easy. Can you do the backwards and sideways moonwalk?&#8221;

Right in front of us all, he effortlessly broke out a few dance moves (and totally wiped the floor with Tyson). There was a rapturous applause all round. MJ took a small bow. Tyson sat on the floor in submission. It struck me that Jackson was at his most comfortable when performing; and for an obviously shy man, there was a part of him that loved the attention.
__________________
 
This is such a beautiful project thread. I really enjoy reading all the stories.
The stories are so heart warming and show the human, sweet, kind, funny and generous side of Michael. :wub:
 


The Blog Article:

A Smile and Hello: Meeting Michael Jackson in Berlin..June 26, 2009 | 1:02 pm

When I arrived in Berlin in June 1988 for the start of what turned into the Particularly Bad Shoes and Brown Gravy Tour (more on the name later), I knew Michael Jackson also was making a tour stop there.
Jackson, at the height of his fame, was in the middle of his 16-month "Bad" world tour, which at the time became the largest grossing and most attended tour in history.

I was embarking on a dog-and-pony show tour staged for the benefit of Western media by sports authorities in East Germany, which then was at the height of its athletic fame (or infamy).

Our tour got its (unofficial) name after we were served brown gravy on everything -- including sliced pineapple in Leipzig -- and my colleague, Jere Longman of the New York Times, accurately observed there were two kinds of shoes in East Germany: bad shoes, and particularly bad shoes.

Anyway, no sooner had I checked into my hotel in what then was West Berlin than I realized Jackson also was a guest in the hotel, because there were hundreds of fans on the street chanting his name.

But I didn't think anything more of my relative proximity to the pop superstar until I was walking from my room to the elevators so I could join some friends for dinner.

In a hallway stood two very large men, who tensed as I approached. They were outside the open door of a room I was passing. When I reached the open door, I looked inside the room, and there, unmistakably, was Jackson, looking right in my direction.

I said, "Hello.'' He smiled and returned the greeting. The bodyguards, expecting me to ask for an autograph or something else that would bother their charge, seemed taken aback when I simply kept walking, satisfied with the exchange of pleasantries.

As it turned out, Jackson would be inadvertently involved in some communist chest-thumping not unlike what I would see in East Germany.

The Washington Post reported that Jackson and East German figure skating icon Katarina Witt "squared off on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall this evening in an East-West battle of the bands that delighted the city's music fans and gave headaches to East Germany's Communist authorities. Witt hosted a concert in East Berlin -- featuring Canadian singer Bryan Adams and the British group Big Country -- that clearly was designed to placate fans barred from traveling crosstown to hear Jackson performing in the western side of this divided city.''

The Post said East German authorities counted 120,000 fans at their open-air concert, exactly double the total given for Jackson's open-air performance.

Three months later, East Germany, a country of 16 million, would win more gold medals at the 1988 Olympics than the United States, nearly 20 times more populous.

That was East Germany's final Olympics as an independent nation. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the two German countries re-unified in 1990.

Michael Jackson in 1988 was in a different place in every sense of that phrase.

Then as now, his smile and "hello'' are indelible to me. They are my lasting memories of a 5-second encounter that was better than any autograph.

Photo: Michael Jackson's 1988 concert poster in Berlin.
-- Philip Hersh


The Source:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/oly...ef-berlin-encounter-with-michael-jackson.html

:heart::pray::heart:​
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top