Michael Jackson songs pulled from Youtube over authenticity claims
Three songs from Michael Jackson’s posthumous 2010 album Michael have been pulled from online streaming services amid allegations the king of pop didn’t actually sing them.
The songs in question - Monster, Breaking News, and Keep Your Head Up - are no longer available to buy or stream on global music services.
The tracks have been the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against Sony Music and Jackson’s estate, alleging that Jackson did not sing them.
In 2014, a fan of the late musician filed a lawsuit against Sony and the estate over the three songs for violation of consumer laws, unfair competition and fraud.
Sony and the estate were cleared from the case in 2018 and its appeal in 2020, and the suit is currently in the California Supreme Court.
Prior to the album’s release, doubts were raised by Jackson’s family members whether songs were performed by the Grammy-winner.
According to The Guardian, his mother Katherine claimed in 2010 that “some of the tracks on the album are fake”.
The musician’s sister, LaToya, told TMZ, “It doesn’t sound like him”.
Michael’s nephew Taryll tweeted at the time, “I KNOW my Uncle’s voice, and something’s seriously wrong when you have immediate FAMILY saying it’s not him.”
Despite the allegations, a spokesperson from Jackson’s website recently said the tracks being pulled “had 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 [sic],” the Jackson website spokesperson said.
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