Michael Jackson's Unique Birthday Lesson

Michael Jackson would have turned 51 years old on Saturday, and the late King of Pop had a different way of looking at birthdays, according to his Invincible album music producer.

"I was turning 25 and he said, 'So you're going to celebrate your mother, correct?' -- and I was like, 'Huh, but it's my birthday!'" Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, currently a judge on MTV's reality series "Starmaker," tells ET.

"He's like, 'We need to celebrate your mother; she had you on your birthday,'" explains Jerkins. "And I had this big party and I celebrated my mother that day because Michael told me you should celebrate your mother on that day."

The Grammy-winning Rodney, who has worked such artists as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Gwen Stefani and Janet Jackson, adds that working in the studio with his idol Michael was a dream come true, and he was "probably the most creative, innovative human being I'd ever met." And although Jackson was "super shy," he was also "a perfectionist ... he doesn't settle for anything."

Working with Sean "Diddy" Combs and producer Mark Burnett on "Starmaker," Jerkins quotes Diddy when he describes how they'll fashion the next star entertainer: "They're diamonds in the rough; how can we turn them into diamonds?"

Watch the video for more with Jerkins and catch ET for more Michael Jackson news…

Posted August 28, 2009 4:01:00 PM

ET / Thanks Sheril