(Legal) Career Killers: Michael Jackson v. Sony and the People of the State of California.

https://victor-li.com/michaeljacksoncareer/#more-19709

In retrospect, it defies belief that Michael Jackson’s career didn’t end after his 1993 child molestation scandal. He was already showing signs of commercial decline and the music scene had changed radically post-Nirvana, making acts like him look passé. And when he paid a then-astronomical $23 million to his accuser to settle a civil lawsuit and ensure his non-cooperation in the related criminal probe, it really should have been the nail in the coffin.

Instead, he weathered the scandal and even found some success during the mid-to-late 90s. HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, his 1995 part-compilation/part-studio album, sold 22 million copies worldwide, and his 1997 remix album, Blood on the Dance Floor, became the best-selling remix album of all time.

But there was no question that his star had faded and that a large portion of the population, particularly in America, considered him to be a tabloid joke at best and a toxic, depraved predator at worst.

Nevertheless, as 2001 hit, he seemed on the verge of major comeback. Thanks to popular bubble gum acts like NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears paying tribute to him, he was relevant again.

So he took advantage by staging two sold-out 30th anniversary concerts at Madison Square Garden that doubled as his big comeback. On September 7 and 10, 2001, big time pop stars like Usher, Whitney Houston, Marc Anthony, Britney Spears, Liza Minnelli, 98 Degrees, NSYNC, and others paid tribute by singing their versions of MJ’s songs, while Jackson performed with his brothers for the first time since the end of the disastrous Victory Tour in 1984.

He closed both shows with debut performances of “You Rock My World,” the lead single from his upcoming album, Invincible. The shows got mixed reviews (later on, there were rumors he was high during both concerts), but were, otherwise fairly well-received. Indeed, it seems like phase one of his comeback would be successful.

And then everything changed.

The next day, America woke up to a terrorist attack, and the resulting feelings of rage, trauma and fear would permanently change the character and trajectory of the country, to say nothing of the rest of the world.

So, Jackson did what a lot of musicians do when faced with a tragedy of such magnitude — he decided to spearhead the recording of an all all-star charity single.

Having been largely responsible for one of the most iconic and successful such singles of all time, Jackson certainly knew what he was doing. And he thought he had the perfect post-9/11 song: a piece he had been working on for years that had gone through many iterations and causes (it started as a song about the L.A. Riots and, at one point, was going to be recorded to raise awareness for the plight of Kosovar refugees) called “What More Can I Give.”

Musically, it’s your typical benefit single. There are lots of showcase spots for the bigger names and the chorus gets repeated ad nauseam in order to hammer home the central conceit of the song (“Feed the World!” “We are the World/ We are the Children.” “We’re sending our love down the well!”), as well as to give the various singers who did not merit a solo spot something to do.

The biggest strike against it is that it doesn’t quite fit the mood of the country in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. For instance, the song isn’t really patriotic and doesn’t focus on things like standing tall, being resilient or preserving the American way of life. Instead, it’s a song all about children in need and loving one another — important things, but not where many vengeance-minded Americans were at the time.

Nevertheless, Jackson set a goal of raising $50 million, and used his star power to recruit A-list stars like Carey, Celine Dion, NSYNC, Beyoncé, Reba McIntyre, Carlos Santana, Tom Petty and members of Boyz II Men and the Backstreet Boys. He even put on a benefit concert in Washington D.C. in October 2001, and unveiled the song at the end of the show with many of the night’s performers, including Usher, Carey and Billy Gilman.

But then two things happened that seemed to indicate his golden touch had turned to pyrite. First, the concert was a flop and was widely criticized for lackluster performances, no-shows and poor planning (the venue ran out of food, for instance). In contrast, a separate benefit show in NYC was widely lauded and featured a show-stealing set from The Who.

Then, “What More Can I Give?” sat on the shelf and went unreleased.

Ostensibly, the reason was the song’s producer, F. Marc Schaffel. When it came out that Schaffel had produced and directed several gay porn films, Jackson’s label, Sony, seemingly got cold feet and decided not to release the song.