Brace yourself and your wallets. It’s going to be King of Popalooza!
As Billboard reports, Michael Jackson left a legacy of over 100 unreleased songs on personal hard drives. The material, largely comprised of his recent work with producers and hit-makers will.i.am, Ne-Yo, and Akon, is now said to be in the possession of LaToya Jackson, the late King of Pop’s elder sister. A spokeswoman for will.i.am said that the producer does not have copies of the material he recorded with Jackson, suggesting that the hard drives might contain the only digital recordings. Frank DiLeo, Jackson’s manager, also hinted that the drives contain numerous tracks from the 1980’s, including offshoots from Bad.
Immediately after Jackson passed away on June 25th, 2009, the Jackson clan descended on his Holmby Hills mansion to claim his possessions. DiLeo claims that LaToya took a number of hard drives from Jackson’s personal computer, which contained the veritable treasure trove of unreleased material. Their wherabouts is unknown, although the Jackson family home in Encino is a safe bet.
“They backed up trucks, removing everything,” DiLeo said. However, the ”estate lawyers will send out letters,” as they are legally required to log the contents of the hard drives and the remainder of Jackson’s possessions. Michael Jackson left 40% of his estate to his mother, Katherine, but the estate battles are destined to continue for a long, long time. This is just the latest in a series of developments centered around the future of Jackson’s children and his considerable assets. When the songs are to be released is another matter altogether.