The late Michael Jackson will forever be known as the King of Pop. Throughout his record-breaking music career however, Jackson very generously dabbled in rock and roll, collaborating with some of the genre’s musical elite in the process. Let’s take a look at some of those legends that were fortunate enough to work with Jackson before his untimely passing on June 25, 2009.
Kenny Loggins
In hindsight, it seems strange that a song featuring Michael Jackson wouldn’t be released as a single. But that’s what happened with ‘Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong,’ a deep cut from Kenny Loggins‘ ‘Keep the Fire,’ on which Jackson’s background vocals are distinctly heard in the chorus. The album’s big hit was ‘This Is It,’ which features background vocals from another star, five-time Grammy winner Michael McDonald.
Paul McCartney
One of the few people whose fame arguably eclipsed Jackson’s was Paul McCartney. The former Beatle penned ‘Girlfriend’ for 1979′s ‘Off The Wall,’ marking the beginning of what was once a good friendship between the superstars. McCartney later appeared on the ‘Thriller’ track, ‘The Girl Is Mine,’ while Jackson reciprocated the favor, duetting on ‘Say Say Say,’ from the latter’s 1983 album ‘Pipes of Peace.’
‘The Girl Is Mine’ climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983, but ‘Say Say Say’ topped the chart. Perhaps most surprisingly about ‘Say Say Say’ is that it ranks as Michael Jackson’s biggest hit on the Billboard charts.
The friendship between Jackson and McCartney would suffer irreparable damage when, a year later, Jackson outbid McCartney for ownership of the publishing rights to more than 250 Beatles songs. Jackson drew further ire from McCartney in 1987 when he licensed the Beatles song ‘Revolution’ to be used in a commercial for Nike.
After Jackson unexpectedly passed away in June 2009, McCartney was gracious and forgiving, described his former song partner as a “massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul. I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael,” he said.
Dave Mason
Best known for his 1977 hit, ‘We Just Disagree,’ as well as his time in Traffic and guitarist-for-hire, Dave Mason duetted with Jackson on 1980′s ‘Save Me.’ The funky track, which appeared on Mason’s album ‘Old Crest on a New Wave,’ only got as high as No. 71 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
SEE MORE: http://ultimateclassicrock.com/michael-jackson-rock-history/
Source: ultimateclassicrock /
Recent Comments