I was in New York and I got a call from Saudi Arabia that America was being attacked. I dicho 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 mostrar the night before, prior to the explosion showed the loyalty of fans, were banging on the windows, running down the calle 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, mostrar 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, tu hear one line and know who it is. Nat King Cole, great stuff. Marvin Gaye, Sam Cook, they are all ridiculous.
What do tu 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 tu are drenched por 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 baloncesto o golf. If I’m going to do some kind of sport, if tu want to call that a sport, tu have to laugh. I want to laugh. baloncesto tu get very competitive and so is tennis, makes tu angry. I’m not into that I like to laugh, have fun, laugh with it. That’s what it should be, fun, therapeutic. I amor that. I also like to go to amusement parks, animals, things like that.
How involved were tu in selecting the artists to perform in your 30th special?
I wasn’t involved at all.
How were tu able to let go of something so big and so special?
Trust.
Is there still a fantasía that tu 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 día and a Father’s día but there’s no children’s day. I really would I would mean a lot. It really would. World peace, I hope that our siguiente generation will get to see a peaceful world, not the way it’s going now.
At what point in your life did tu realize that tu were different, a visionary?
I never thought about, I just always accepted it from the heavens and dicho 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 canto ever stop being fun and become work?
It’s always been fun, unless I get physically sick, it’s always fun. I still amor it.
What is your financial status?
I’m taking care of fine.
Michael, don’t be embarrassed, when I think about camioneta, van Goug, Bach, Beethoven, Elvis, tu are an innovator, your work as changed the face of music, changes the face of videos setting a standard that still stands, no one has come close to what tu have accomplished, where does Michael Jackson go from here?
Thank you, thank you. I have deep amor 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 tu looking at scripts?
Yes, but nothing has been finalized yet.
Are tu writing?
Uh huh.
Are tu ever lonely?
Of course. If I’m on stage, I’m fine there. tu 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 tu think very young children today are as excited about tu 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 favorito! 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?
tu don’t force it. Let nature take its course. I don’t at the paino and think, “I’m going to write the greatest song of all time.” It doesn’t happen. It has to be dado to you. I believe it’s already up there before tu 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 fuente through which it comes, the channel, really, honestly. Sometimes I feel guilty putting my name on the songs written por 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 tu 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 amor Curly, he kills me. I my brothers we amor Curly, we just amor him. I amor 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 amor 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 tu would like to say to VIBE readers?
I amor Quincy. I mean, I really do. I think he is wonderful soul and a beautiful person. And I think tu should tell the readers, don’t judge a person por what they hear o 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 tu 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.
