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Michael Jackson songs axed from Spotify amid claims he didn’t sing them

Three Michael Jackson tracks have been removed from streaming platforms, following claims he didn’t actually sing them.

Three songs from the 2010 posthumous album of Michael Jackson, titled Michael, have been pulled from Spotify and other streaming platforms, amid allegations that the late ‘King of pop’ didn’t actually sing them. The songs in question are Monster, Breaking News and Keep Your Head Up.

As reported by American Songwriter, the Jackson Estate disagree with this accusation, stating, “the removal of these three songs has nothing to do with their authenticity. The Estate and Sony Music believe the continuing conversation about the tracks is distracting the fan community and casual Michael Jackson listeners from focusing their attention where it should be – on Michael’s legendary and deep music catalog.”

michael-jackson
Credit: Ron Galella Collection

The decision to remove these tracks from streaming platforms is new one, but the theory itself is long-running. Back in November of 2010, Michael’s nephew, Taryll Jackson, Tweeted the following: “I KNOW my Uncle’s voice and something’s seriously wrong when you have immediate FAMILY saying it’s not him.”

He continued, “don’t you have to wonder why? I have strong, undeniable points. They can’t give me answers, yet continue to move forward with lies and deception. Sounding like Michael Jackson and BEING Michael Jackson are two different things.”

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Credit: David Baltzer / Zenit / IAIF / Redux

Michael’s nephew isn’t the only one with this belief. In 2014, a lawsuit was filed by die-hard Jackson fan, Vera Serova. The fan accused Sony, Michael’s friend Eddie Casico, and Eddie’s company Angelikson Productions of recruiting a Michael Jackson impersonator by the name of Jason Malachi.

And despite circulating press alleging that Sony in fact admitted to incorporating faux tracks on the record, the label put out an statement, declaring, “no one has conceded that Michael Jackson did not sing on the songs.”

michael jackson
Credit: Aaron Lambert / AP

Just recently, the Jackson Estate released info about their plans for a 40th anniversary edition of Thriller. Amid these ongoing speculations, they’ve reportedly stated that they’d rather not make the authenticity of the late singer’s posthumous album their primary focus, nor should it be the primary focus of the public and his fans.

What do you guys reckon? Could this potential fakery have been a deliberate money-making ploy orchestrated by Sony following the pop icon’s passing in 2009? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see as things unfold.