| NEWS | HOME | ART | FANS | MJ-PHOTOS | MJ-FUN | MJ-MISC | US | TRIAL | Our Youtube | My Articles On MJ |
~ Scroll Down For All ~
In response to media requests, the following statement is being released, By Raymone Bain regarding the late “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, today being the 30th Anniversary of his historic album, “Thriller:”
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2012
"Quincy (Jones) said to me during our
sessions that the key to being a wonderful
writer
and
performer is you just get out the way and leave room for God to walk in the
room…and that’s exactly what I did in
creating ‘Thriller’ with Quincy…I let God walk
into the room."
Michael Jackson
Ebony Magazine
2007
Washington, DC……“On Tuesday, November 14, 2006, Michael Jackson and
I walked
into the London world offices of the Guinness Book of World Records
where he was
being honored for his historic album, “Thriller,” being named as the
biggest-selling
album off all time, and the “Thriller” video being named the
best-selling music video
of all time. As the
elevator carried us from the street up to Guinness offices, he looked
at me and his eyes swelled with tears. He said it was one of the best days of his
life
in a long time. This ceremony was the launch of the 25th Anniversary of ‘Thriller.’
Today, five years later, we commemorate the album’s 30th Anniversary…but without
him; and today, my eyes swell with tears, because regrettably he is
no longer here with us.
“It was Michael
Jackson’s spiritual awareness of the importance of ‘Thriller’s’ place in
history that, despite the
fact he hated photo shoots and conducting interviews,
he agreed to do so. And,
much to his surprise, he enjoyed it because for the
first
time in many years, the focus was on his tremendous and profound
accomplishments.
“When Mr. Jackson was asked what made ‘Thriller’ so successful, (this
during his first
major interview in more than 15 years to commemorate the classic
work’s 25th
Anniversary; and what sadly
and subsequently ended up being his last major interview,)
he told Ebony Magazine’s editors Joy
Bennett and Bryan Monroe, the same as he had
told me, in quoting his
longtime friend and mentor, Quincy Jones, Michael
said, ‘Quincy said to me during our sessions that
the key to being a wonderful
writer
and
performer is you just get out the way and leave room for God to walk in the
room…and
that’s exactly what I did in creating ‘Thriller’ with Quincy…I let God walk
into the
room.’
“On that November day in 2006, what seems as if it was yesterday,
as
Craig Glenday, Editor-In-Chief of Guinness World Records, Ltd.,
read the
long list of Michael’s record-breaking accomplishments, he
whispered to me
and said, ‘Do you think anyone else will be able to break this
record?”
The night before, Michael reminisced with me in a historic walk
down memory lane
for him, his stories of creating and recording “Thriller,” his relationships with
Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien and Walter Yetnikoff, and how music had
changed
from that time, the internet’s influence now in shaping music; and,
how he
-2-
was going to show a new generation of fans just who he was, while
making his
longtime fans proud.
“We went on to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of “Thriller” by releasing
a
commemorative 25th Anniversary CD, with featured new
remixes with will.i.am,
Kanye West, Fergie and
Akon; and, his sitting for the
previously mentioned
Ebony Magazine interview. Mr. Jackson took great pride in reading the
Magazine’s cover, “Michael, 25
Years After Thriller- Exclusive: The
King of
Pop talks God, Creativity, Fatherhood and
Music, 104 Million Copies of
Historic Album Later, How The World &
The Artist Have Changed.”
He was humbled that Ebony’s Chairman,
Linda Johnson Rice, would
honor him in such a positive way as he seriously worried about
whether the
headline would be a negative one. Earlier in the month, to also commemorate
the album’s 25thAnniversary, he conducted
another historic photo shoot for
L’Uomo Vogue (Italian Vogue) with his
longtime friend and renowned
photographer, Bruce Weber. He worried about that headline too, but it
also made him proud.
“As I look back, so many people tirelessly supported
Mr. Jackson in helping
to make the commemoration of ‘Thriller’s’ 25th Anniversary, five years
ago,
a happy time for him…a time which also produced tangible products
which
he personally participated and which now his fans and others can
always have
to reference. In addition
to his own personal staff and team of
professionals …I am sure he would personally want to thank Andrea
Finkelstein,
Steve Berkowitz, Jim Parham, Roger Mentz, Lyn Koppe, John
Ingrassia, Adam Block,
Charlie Walk, Al Quaglieri, Debra Lee, Stephen Hill, Cathy Hughes,
Linda Johnson
Rice, Rushka Bergman, Bryan Monroe, Harriett Cole, Sylvia
Flannigan, Quincy Jones,
Broderick Morris, the Late Peter Lopez, Steve Harvey, Jamie Foster Brown, Flo
Anthony, Rob Silverstein, and so many others for helping him to leave the legacy
of "Thriller" in a very
meaningful, impactful, and
positive way.
“ ‘God walked in the room’ again on June 25, 2009 to call Michael
Jackson home,
but his greatness,
innovation, cutting-edge, trend-setting creativity, talent, and
mesmerizing brilliance, will continue to live on… in infinity… and
fifty years from now,
listeners will share in this brilliance as they continue to listen
to ‘Thriller.’ May God
bless his children and his family.“
###
Raymone K. Bain was Michael Jackson’s longtime spokesperson and
general manager.
------------
Source: Raymone Bain / MJ-Upbeat.com