In the 13 months following the untimely death of Michael Jackson in June 2009, there have been rumors of everything from unreleased albums and Jackson 5 reunion tours to a Jackson inspired Cirque du Soleil and even a video game.
None of these projects have come to fruition just yet, but Rolling Stone reports that could soon change. According to a rep for the Jackson estate, a collection of 10 previously unreleased songs from the Jackson vault is set for release this November. Though details stop there, Jackson’s manager Frank DiLeo told Rolling Stone that the aforementioned vault included more than 100 completed and unreleased songs, including collaborations with Akon, Will.i.am, and Ne-Yo.
The news comes just days after producer Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, who worked with the Jackson on his 2001 album Invincible, announced plans for his own collection of unreleased Jackson material.
“I’m about to work on an unreleased project that we’re talking about doing right now,” Darkchild explained in a recent interview with VladTV. “It’s definitely going to come, but it takes time. You got to do a lot of the red tape but there’s definitely going to be an unreleased Michael Jackson album. There’s definitely going to be stuff to come and hopefully I’ll be a part of that.”
It is not known if these two projects are related, but any album put out by Jackson’s estate would serve as the first in a 10-project, seven-year deal the Jackson estate agreed to with Sony Music in March 2010, reports Rolling Stone. Also in the works are reissues of Jackson’s classic albums, new greatest hits sets, a DVD collection of all Jackson’s music videos, as well as the previously mentioned video game and Cirque du Soleil show.
More details as they become available, but as we’ve learned time and time again, when it comes to Michael Jackson, no one – not even R. Kelly – knows what they’re talking about.
