You may recall that back in 2010, in the aftermath of pop superstar Michael Jackson’s death, Epic Records and Sony Music released a posthumous album titled, Michael.
The collection debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart with respectable first-week sales of 228,000 units.
But, at the time, some fans weren’t convinced all of the lead vocals on the tracks were recorded by the ‘King of Pop,’ including Jackson’s mother.
And so it came to be that in 2014, Jackson fan Vera Serova filed a Class Action lawsuit against Jackson’s longtime friend Eddie Cascio and Angelikson Productions LLC alleging some of the songs were not voiced by Jackson.
A co-writer on twelve of the songs, James Porte, was also named in the suit.
Serova detailed what she called “inconsistencies” and even brought in a forensic audiologist, Dr. George Papcun, who wrote up a whopping 41-page report indicating three songs – ‘Breaking News,' ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Monster’ – were not recorded by Jackson.
Among some of the issues were the absence of the singer’s iconic finger snaps and foot taps.
In defending itself, Sony called on Porte and Cascio to provide alternate takes of the songs by Jackson. But the duo claimed all the other takes had been deleted.
Ruh-roh.
Eventually, in December 2016, even Sony got a sense that perhaps the vocals weren’t authentic.
In court, the lawyer for Jackson’s estate and Sony attempted to put the blame on James and Eddie “failed to disclose to Sony or the Estate that Michael Jackson did not provide the lead vocals.”
The judge wasn’t having it and ruled against them.
Fast forward to August 21, 2018, where the California Court of Appeal heard oral arguments where Sony Music admitted that the three songs ‘Breaking News,' ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Monster’ were actually performed by an impersonator, Jason Malachi. and not Michael Jackson.
According to EDM.com, the 3 judges on the panel have 90 days to decide the matter.
