Michael Jackson could not sing and dance live at the same time, claim emails to be presented in court
13 May 2013 08:23
There was a 'secret plan' to use his backing tracks for his This Is It shows Tragic Michael Jackson was so frail in the days before his death he could not sing and dance at the same time, documents allege.
And it is claimed his physical state so worried bosses of his comeback tour that they made contingency plans to use backing tracks at his £100-a-ticket shows.
But The King of Pop died aged 50 from an overdose of powerful anaesthetic shortly before the This Is It shows were was due to start at London’s O2 Arena in July 2009.
Jackson’s mother Katherine, together with his three children, are suing concert promoters AEG Live for £31billion.
A string of emails, seen by the Mirror and to be presented to the Los Angeles Superior Court in California, make it clear there were serious fears about Jacko’s ability to perform.
Long-term Jackson family friend Terry Harvey claims the singer had laid down vocals over several months to work as back-up material for shows.
And the promoter insists he made Jackson’s managers Dr Tohme Tohme, Frank DiLeo and contract lawyer Dennis Hawk aware of his dangerously frail state.
He says he warned Di Leo, who died in 2011: “You are going to kill Michael.”
In other evidence it is claimed Jacko was so emaciated that, two days before he died, his heart could be seen beating.
Make-up artist Karen Faye said costume director Michael Bush looked in horror at Jackson’s unclothed body before a dress rehearsal: “He said, ‘Oh my God ... I could see Michael’s heart beat through the skin of his chest’.”
Faye, 60, who worked for Jackson over nearly three decades, claimed he was on the brink of death weeks before his drug overdose.
She wept, describing how she made up Jackson in his coffin, but refused to “help retouch” footage of the singer for the posthumous documentary, “This Is It”.
Faye blasted: “It was a lie. I didn’t want a lie.
“Everybody was lying after he died, (saying) Michael was well. Everybody knew he wasn’t. I felt retouching Michael was just a part of that lie.”
The key emails show there was a difference between the public version of Jackson’s rehearsals and reality.
After announcing the series of This Is It gigs, ticket sales reaped more than £169million at the box office.
But on June 16, 2009 music arranger Michael Bearden revealed the singer was unable to sing live and dance, just three weeks away from the start at London’s 02 Arena.
In a message entitled Plan B, Bearden told Kenny Ortega, producer and director of the This Is It tour, that he planned using Jackson’s studio material.
Bearden wrote: “If we can’t get everything we need from the vault I can use what we have and take out ad libs and such to try to make it feel new.
“MJ is not in shape enough yet to sing this stuff live and dance at the same time. He can use the ballads to sing live and get his stamina back ... I have full confidence he can sing the majority of the show live.
“His voice sounds amazing right now he just needs to build it back up.”
Dancer Travis Payne, who let slip Jackson needed golf carts to get around the arena, responded with, “Great idea”.
There were even rumours, strongly denied, that a Jackson stand-in was used to announce the London gigs.
Harvey, claims the singer recorded show vocals weeks before his rehearsals.
He said: “On This Is It there were moments where he wasn’t singing, his energy levels were down and anyone who worked with him in the past could tell Michael was a way off from 100 per cent. We found out Michael was in the studio recording tracks for the show and even new albums in his last months. You can put your voice in a sequencer and backing track for live shows, so if you don’t want to sing you mime and fans don’t realise.”
Other documents show how, five days before Jackson’s death, Ortega asked AEG managing director Randy Phillips to pull the plug.
On June 20 Ortega wrote: “My concern is that now that we’ve brought the doctor in to the fold ... the artist may be unable to rise to the occasion due to real emotional stuff.”
He continued saying how Jackson was “trembling, rambling and obsessing,” adding: “Everything in me says he should be psychologically evaluated. If we have any chance at all to get him back.”
Ortega added: “He’s terribly frightened it’s all going to go away. He was like a lost boy.” But Phillips shot down Ortega, after consulting Dr Conrad Murray.
Phillips refused to consider stopping the This Is It concerts. “You cannot imagine the harm and ramifications of stopping the show now,” he said.
“I am not just talking about AEG’s interests here, but the myriad of stuff and lawsuits swirling around MJ that I crisis manage, and also his well-being.” Signing off as Randy he added: “It’s time to put out the fire, not burn the building.”
Harvey and partners AllGood Entertainment offered Jackson a Dallas 2009 comeback show, on the provision he went to rehab. But the singer chose AEG’s gigs in London.
It prompted a lawsuit with AllGood which they lost in 2010. But today Harvey claims AllGood plan to refile their £200million lawsuit against AEG for stealing the Thriller star from their grasp.
Harvey claims he spoke to Jackson in his last few weeks over the deal with AllGood.
He said: “It was part of the contract for Michael to get clean. His mother Katherine and father Joe knew that, and we made it clear to everyone close to him.
“For months we told Michael’s lawyer at the time Dennis Hawk, his managers Frank DiLeo and Dr Tohme Tohme he needed rehab.
“I told Frank, ‘He needs to get clean first’, but he didn’t want to know. It was an open secret in close circles that Michael had addiction issues.”
Harvey claims Jackson had agreed to do a one-off return gig in Dallas but was lured away by AEG execs.
Harvey, 53, who lives in Oklahoma, said: “Michael’s comeback was tailor-made for one show. He didn’t need to slug it out for 50 nights. The This Is It sales figures prove our formula – they made $200million from a rehearsal, so we would have made more – and Michael would have taken the lion’s share.
“There is a feeling that Michael’s death turned about to be a good business decision for AEG. It hurts me to say that, because people forget Michael was not just a commodity, but a troubled human being, with a lot still to offer, who was dedicated to his three kids. The only reason he did this was so that his kids could see him perform.”
AllGood, who have worked with stars such as Bon Jovi and Stevie Wonder, are set to refile their £200million law suit in the next few weeks.
“We feel there is a strong case,” said Harvey. “The company were not given access to the emails that have come up in this case.
“We have depositions from senior AEG executives, who insisted that Michael was healthy enough to do ‘100 shows’ in the days before the rehearsals. The emails in the Jackson case suggest they had knowledge of problems. People knew Michael had a long term drug condition.
“His employees saw him unable to walk after visiting doctors – it was even on the news, but no one stepped in. I think AEG will lose to Katherine Jackson.”
The Jackson family claim that as Jackson’s personal physician Dr Conrad Murray was responsible for administering the fatal anaesthetic, AEG should be held responsible as they were his employer. AEG deny responsibility.
Murray, paid £100,000 a month by Jackson, got four years jail for involuntary manslaughter.
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