I was in New York and I got a call from Saudi Arabia that America was being attacked. I a dit no way. I turned on the news and saw the twin towers coming down and I said, “ Oh my God.” I screamed down the hallway to all our people. “Everybody get out, let’s leave now. Marlon Brando was on one end, our security was on the other end, we were all up there but Elizabeth was at another hotel. We all got out of there as quickly as we could. We didn’t know if our building was next. If it was domino effect. How they had girls that had been at the montrer the night before, prior to the explosion showed the loyalty of fans, were banging on the windows, running down the rue screaming, we couldn’t get out of the garage. They are so loyal. It was unbelievable. I was scared to death.
What artists past and present inspire you?
Stevie Wonder is a musical prophet. All of the early Motown. All the Beatles, I’m crazy about Sammy Davis Jr., Charlie Chaplain, Fred Astair, Gene Kelly, Bill Bojangles Robinson, the real entertainers, the real thing, not just gimmicks, montrer stoppers. When James Brown was with the Famous Flames was unbelievable. There are so many wonderful singers. Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, to Johnny Mathis, real stylists, toi hear one line and know who it is. Nat King Cole, great stuff. Marvin Gaye, Sam Cook, they are all ridiculous.
What do toi do for fun, for recreation?
I like water balloon fights. We have a water balloon forte here, there’s the red team and the blue team. We have slings and canons and toi are drenched par the time the game is over. There is a timer and whoever gets the most points in is the winner. I don’t do anything like basketball, basket-ball ou golf. If I’m going to do some kind of sport, if toi want to call that a sport, toi have to laugh. I want to laugh. basketball, basket-ball toi get very competitive and so is tennis, makes toi angry. I’m not into that I like to laugh, have fun, laugh with it. That’s what it should be, fun, therapeutic. I l’amour that. I also like to go to amusement parks, animals, things like that.
How involved were toi in selecting the artists to perform in your 30th special?
I wasn’t involved at all.
How were toi able to let go of something so big and so special?
Trust.
Is there still a fantaisie that toi maintain of something that you’d like to do in your career?
I’d like to see an international children’s holiday when we honor our children, because the family bond has been broken. There’s a Mother’s jour and a Father’s jour but there’s no children’s day. I really would I would mean a lot. It really would. World peace, I hope that our suivant generation will get to see a peaceful world, not the way it’s going now.
At what point in your life did toi realize that toi were different, a visionary?
I never thought about, I just always accepted it from the heavens and a dit on my knees, “Thank you.” Whenever I write a song and I know that it is musically correct, there are no laws to music, but when it feels right, I get on my knees and I say, “ Thank you.” I really do, I mean it. Because it drops into your lap just easy and magical with no effort.
Did chant ever stop being fun and become work?
It’s always been fun, unless I get physically sick, it’s always fun. I still l’amour it.
What is your financial status?
I’m taking care of fine.
Michael, don’t be embarrassed, when I think about van Goug, Bach, Beethoven, Elvis, toi are an innovator, your work as changed the face of music, changes the face of vidéos setting a standard that still stands, no one has come close to what toi have accomplished, where does Michael Jackson go from here?
Thank you, thank you. I have deep l’amour for film and to pioneer and innovate in the medium of film. To write and direct and produce movies. To bring incredible entertainment.
What kind of movies? Are toi looking at scripts?
Yes, but nothing has been finalized yet.
Are toi writing?
Uh huh.
Are toi ever lonely?
Of course. If I’m on stage, I’m fine there. toi can have a house full of people and still be lonely from within. I’m not complaining because I thin it’s a good thing, for my work.
Why do toi think very young children today are as excited about toi as if were here to witness your historical landmarks that took place before they were born?
They learn from there parents, they hear it. TV shows everything that I’ve done. They hear all the songs on TV, VH1 around the world, they are rediscovering it all over again. It’s not like they missed it, it’s always been there.
Tell me about the new CD Invincible. “ Speechless.”
You’ll be surprised. I had a big water balloon fight, I’m serious, in Germanym and what inspires me is fun. I was with these kids and we had big water balloon fight and I was so happy after the fight that I ran upstairs in their house and write “Speechless.” That’s what inspired the song. I hate to say that because it’s such a romantic song. But, it was the fight that did it. I’d had fun, I was happy, and I wrote it in it’s entirety right there. I felt it would be good enough for the album. Out of this bliss comes magic, comes wonderment, comes creativity. It’s about having fun, it really is.
“Break of Dawn.”
Freeze and myself wrote “Break of Dawn.” It’s just a beautiful, strolling in the park kind of song. There’s a good summer feel about it. It’s one of my favorites. It’s Denzel Washington’s favori song. He blasts it all the time.
“You Are My Life.”
Thank you. We all wrote that one.
Tell me about how your creativity normally comes to you?
toi don’t force it. Let nature take its course. I don’t at the piano and think, “I’m going to write the greatest song of all time.” It doesn’t happen. It has to be donné to you. I believe it’s already up there before toi are born and then it drops right into your lap, I it really does. It’s the most spiritual thing in the world. If people could witness what it feel like. When it comes it comes with all of the accompaniments, the strings, the bass, the drums, the lyrics and you’re just the source through which it comes, the channel, really, honestly. Sometimes I feel guilty putting my name on the songs written par Michael Jackson because it’s as if the heavens have done it already, I mean it. Like Michaelangelo would have this huge piece of marble from the quarries of Italy and he’d say, “Inside is a sleeping form. And he takes hammer and chisel and he’s just freeing it. It’s already in there. It’s already there.
What do toi collect?
I like anything Shirley Temple, babies, children, Shirley Temple, Shirley Temple, lots of Shirley Temple. Little Rascals, Three Stooges, a lot of Three Stooges. I l’amour Curly, he kills me. I my brothers we l’amour Curly, we just l’amour him. I l’amour Curly so much that I did a book on Curly. I got his daughter and she and I wrote a book on him. Women have a hard time with all the slapping and poking and stuff, guys l’amour that stuff. My mother loved Abbott and Costello, but we would say, “We want the Three Stooges.”
Tell me about your fashion selections.
It wasn’t conscious, it happens that way.
Is there anything that toi would like to say to VIBE readers?
I l’amour Quincy. I mean, I really do. I think he is wonderful soul and a beautiful person. And I think toi should tell the readers, don’t judge a person par what they hear ou even what they read unless they heard from the person. There is so much tabloid, sensationalism going on that’s totally false. Don’t fall prey to it, it’s ugly. I hate the tabloids. I’d like to take them all and burn them. I want toi to print it, don’t believe tabloid press, tell them that. Don’t believe tabloid press. Some of them try to disguise themselves but they are still tabloid press.
