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YOU ARE NOT ALONE

MICHAEL: THROUGH A BROTHERS EYES Jermaine Jackson

A Touchstone Book Published by Simon & Schuster New York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi

Touchstone A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Copyright 2011 by Jermaine Jackson All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein and secure permissions, the publishers would like to apologize for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgments in any future edition of this book. The following images their respective owners: Insert p.1 (bottom right) UK Press/ Press Association Images, p. 5 (top) and p. 7 (top right), Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images, p. 6 (top right) Olson/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, p. 8 (bottom) Richard E. Aaron/Getty Images, p. 9 (top right) PA/Press Association Images, p. 14 (top left) Eric Ryan/Getty Images, (top right) K Mazur/Wire Image/Getty Images, (middle) Retna/Photoshot, (bottom right) AFP/Getty Images, p. 15 (top left) Press Association Images, (top right) NPG.com. The following images Harrison Funk: Insert p. 4 (middle), p. 6 (bottom), p. 9 (top right, middle left, bottom), p. 10, p. 13 (first row left, first row right, third row left, third row right, fourth row left, fourth row right), p. 15 (middle left, bottom). Billie Jean 1987 Mijac Music (BMI). Words and music by Michael Joe Jackson; Allrights administered by Warner/Chappell North America Ltd. Used by permission. Smooth Criminal 1982 Mijac Music (BMI). Words and music by Michael Joe Jackson; All rights administered by Warner/Chappell North America Ltd. Used by permission. Word To The Badd Copyright 1991 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Ecaf Music, Green Skirt Music Inc., Black Stallion Music, Pebbitone Music, Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. All rights on behalf of Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC and EcafMusic administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Used by permission. First Touchstone hardcover edition September 2011 TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Control Number: #2011935899 ISBN 978-1-4516-5156-0 ISBN 978-1-4516-5159-1 (ebook)

I have built a monument more lasting than bronze and higher than the royal palace of the Pyramids. I shall not totally die, and a great part of me will live beyond death. I will keep growing, fresh with the praise of posterity. Horace, 23 bc

CONTENTS

Prologue2005

xi

THE BEGINNINGTHE EARLY YEARS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Eternal Child 2300 Jackson Street Gods Gift Just Kids with a Dream Cry Freedom Motown University Jackson-mania 3 12 36 56 75 94 118

THE MIDDLETHE HAYVENHURST YEARS

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Life Lessons Growing Pains Separate Ways Moonwalking Animal Kingdom 141 162 176 198 218

COnTEnTS

13. 14.

The Hardest Victory The Reunion Party

238 255

THE ENDTHE NEVERLAND YEARS

15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Once Said . . . Forever Neverland Body of Lies Love, Chess and Destiny Unbreakable 14 White Doves The Comeback King Gone Too Soon EpilogueSmile 279 294 313 331 352 372 390 413 431

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CHAPTER TwENTY-ONE
The Comeback King

I SAw THE PERfORMERS GLINT RETURN to Michaels eyes

around the fall of 2008the period when his life was back on track, his health was nearing peak fitness and he was physically preparing for the greatest comeback ever seen. He was, for the first time in a long time, just happy. I wasnt the only one who observed this rebirth: people who had worked with him for years saw it and they, like me, could detect when the creative flame had started to burn again inside him, lighting him up. The world has read that Michael was reduced to a frail old man in faltering health, forever broken by the trial, a performer physically unable to tour again, whose voice would never be the same, and the tabloid myth that he was slowly being killed by a drug dependency. None of that was true, as borne out by the sweat stains on the walls of his dance studio and the vocals hed been laying down on sublime, but unfinished tracks. The guesswork about his health, especially after his death, summed up the theme of Michaels life: gossip and wild interpretation warped the true picture. People point to a particular

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photograph, taken in July 2008, of my brother being pushed in a wheelchair, with captions like too weak to stand, looking frail and in no condition to perform . . . That was exactly what Michael wanted the media and his biographers to write because the man who was forever underestimated was fooling everyone. It was an act. He was in one of his disguises, making everyone think he wasnt ready or capable. He of all people knew the power of an image, and he was aware that everyone doubted he still had it. So imaginejust imagineif he bounced back and surprised the world, going from that state to this; from that before shot to this after. Michael was doing a Willy Wonka, walking out of the chocolate factory to greet the crowds with a crippling limp as everyone gasps with shockand then he stumbles . . . tosses away the cane, does a somersault and everyone cheers. Gotcha. Because no comeback is truly a comeback until the odds seem impossible. Michaels life had long been defined by indelible images that captured a myth: from oxygen chambers to surgical masks, from hotel balconies to whiter skin. This was him having the last laugh. I knew it. The people around himthe ones he trusted knew it. The rest of the world would find out in London. But the clues were always there because he was such a fiercely private man, knowing when to turn on and turn off the PR tap. He never, ever turned out in public unless pristine and immaculately dressed, and he did everything possible to cover his vitiligo, illnesses and self-perceived flaws because he didnt want the mask to slip; he wanted no one to see any imperfection or doubt his greatness. Yet in Las Vegas that private man chose to go shopping in public, with his children, in a wheelchair, wearing a red baseball cap, slippers and sky blue pajama bottoms? (Remember how mortified he was when forced to show up in court wearing pajamas?) Think about it. Michael was a master manipulator of image, knowing that the media and paparazzi would like to think theyd caught him off guard, looking frail, showing no sign of motivation. He wanted the ultimate vindication in the court of the world.

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The King of Pop turned Comeback King. Restored to the best and the greatest. Silencing every doubter and hater. And heres a fact to place alongside that wheelchair image: about two months later, he was engaged in a brutal choreography regime for a comeback tour that had not yet been revealed. He was dancing hard in fourhour sessions every day, even tiring out his choreographer LaVelle Smith Junior, whom hed hired to get him back in shape. LaVelle was a dancer in the video for Smooth Criminal, who then became my brothers trusted choreographer, which was why he was booked for private one-on-one sessions in Vegas. Michael got stronger and stronger, week by week, and he shed weight when I didnt think he had any more to lose. Again, some people point to this thinness as if it were a disturbing sign, but he had shrunk ever since the trial and his fitness regime made him skinnier. It was also normalafter each tour he ever did, hed lose three inches off his waist. Michael was simply shedding weight because of those daily four hours of dance. Not bad for a man who, according to one biographer, needed a lung transplant. In late 2008, he was so fit that, further down the lineeight weeks before he diedwhen he bumped into a friend in a doctors office, he lifted his shirt and said, Have you seen my six-pack? The private truth versus the public image. Those around Michael sensed he was warming up again when he started requesting CDs, just like old times. He was so obsessed about staying up-to-date with musical trends that every week he was sent the Top 10 from the Billboard Hot 100 burned on to one disc, plus four other discs with songs from the R&B, electro, dance and Euro scenes. He would listen to every track to determine what was hot and what was selling because he wanted to stay ahead of the curve. He hadnt done that for a while. As one of his inner circle put it, He was getting ready for his close-up again. He was writing songs, looking better, looking sharp, getting his act back together. He was at peace with himself. To me, this is both the beauty and the travesty: Michael was so excited about what the future held, and he had so many plans. He was buying a new property in Vegas and was determined to build a new Neverland,

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unstained by a police raid; he looked forward to a short residency tour so that Prince, Paris and Blanket could see their daddy on the road properly for the first time; he also knew that touring offered him the chance to regain control and make enough money so that he could, finally, clear his crippling debts. His outlook was positive again. His body was back in shape. His focus was the future. After his This Is It concerts were done, and hed had a few weeks off, he looked forward to performing spot dates in China. In 2011, he was eyeing the half-time slot at the Superbowl (the one that the Black Eyed Peas would end up doing) to repeat his legendary show of 1993. And then, some time before 2014, he had two more tours up his sleeve: the back by popular demand dates that no one knew about. Despite what everyone thinks, the comeback concerts in London were the beginning, not the end. I know what Michael said in March 2009: When I say this is it, it really means this is it . . . This is the final curtain call. That was his great tease: he was a master salesman, too, and if the world thought that London would be their last opportunity to see him perform, then they would rush to buy tickets. The rules of limited supply and big demand. Many misunderstood his commercial astuteness because he excelled at smoke-and-mirrors, mystery and big surprises. Admittedly, it wasnt all hype. He worried that the tickets might not sell, so the tour announcement was also a toe in the water, to test the temperature of the public moodhis confidence had been shattered by everything he had been through. Could he sell out five concerts, let alone 10? That was why he chose London, not America: he was concerned that America wouldnt accept him the way Europe would. Thats not a reflection on his fans: its an indication of how scarred he was by those years of child-molester headlines and the treatment he had received in his own country. It had made him doubt that his popularity had survived the allegations. Remember, it had been a long time since the HIStory tour, and he was 50 years old now. It was also why the O2 arena, with a seating capacity of 20,000, was chosen by a man who had

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once played to 180,000 people on Aintree racecourse in northern England. Start small with the rebuild. Ease yourself in. I think he needed to see the scale of the love before he believed that his fans hadnt turned against him. Come 2008, Michael was not only hungry again, he had a fiveyear plan sketched out. But to make sense of all this, and to understand how this secret future started to form, I first need to take you back to 2005 when he walked out of court, vowed never to live again at Neverland, and went to make music in Bahrain with Prince Abdullah.
THE MOMENT THE AUTHORITIES RETURNED HIS passport,

Michael headed east with the kids and Nanny Grace and explored the option of permanent residence. He viewed America as a great friend who had betrayed him and he wanted nothing to do with her for a while. But as some friends who didnt step up in his hour of need will know, Michael always came around. He needed time to decompress because he suffered bouts of depression after the trial, which I believe was a natural reaction to the stress. When he boarded that plane, he was a shadow of his former self and he was immensely grateful to the Bahraini royal family for providing him with sanctuary. I had initially worried about the outcome of everything out there: having been instrumental in setting up the framework for Two Seas Records, I found myself cut out of the equation. Suddenly it became a partnership between my brother and the Prince. In theory, I could have waved my signed contract but that was never an option because the last thing Michael needed was a lawsuit with himself stuck in the middle. Some grievances are not that important when measured against other priorities. What mattered was that Michael was having fun and everything seemed to be going well: the Prince paid for much of his lifestyle while he was in Bahrain. Such hospitality is often customary with the Middle Easts ruling families. Gifts are the norm, and that was why Michael, in good faith, considered the hospitality he enjoyed to be a gift; he didnt realize this was all part of his contract. He

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