2009
June 23 : Michael calls Deepak Chopra to informally help him with lyrics for an environmental song he is working on.
May 22 : Fans hear Michael recording a new song from a building in the back of Michael’s Holmby Hills estate. Michael tells them he is working on the lyrics and has not chosen the title yet.
Late April : Michael invites composer David Michael Frank to his home to discuss the compositions of Michael’s unfinished classical album.
2008
November : Michael sets up a recording studio in his Bel Air Hotel suite to work on tracks with his longtime musical engineer Michael Prince. Michael records vocals on “Days In Gloucestershire”, “Best Of Joy”, “I Was A Looser” ou “Hollywood Tonight”.
Rod Temperton has a meeting with MJ at his hotel suite during which MJ plays Rod several songs. Some of the songs already had lyrics, which MJ wanted to improve. Others were instrumentals without any lyrics at all. The songs MJ plays for Rod are Best of Joy, Hollywood Tonight, The Loser, The Way Your Love Me, Beautiful Girl, Dark Lady, DIE, and Can’t Stop Loving You.
June : Michael and producer Neff-U start working on songs at this 2710 Palomino Lane home studio in Las Vegas. They work on a new version “A Place With No Name”. Michael calls Ne-Yo, inviting him to collaborate on songs for his future album.
May : Michael works with producer RedOne in a Las Vegas studio.
Early January : Michael offers radio hosts Big Boy and Fuzzy a preview of “Thriller 25th” in the Las Vegas recording studio The Palms in the presence of Blanket, Will I Am and Peter Lopez.
2007
December 20 : Unable to afford the Green Valley Ranch Hotel, Peter Lopez arranges with George Maloof to put up Michael and the kids for free. They check in at the Palms. Later that night Michael has a studio session with Akon to work on the song “Hold My Hands” and the remix for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” among others.
Late September : Michael meets Kayne West at Lyor Cohen’s house (the president of Def Jam Recordings) in NYC. They talk about Kayne’s upcoming remix on Thriller 25.
February 18 : Michael and Will I Am work on music together.
2006
October 15 : Michael agrees to let US journalist Billy Bush from Access Hollywood visit him at the Grouse Lodge residential recording studios in County Westmeath where he is working on new music with producer Will I AM.
September 29 : Michael who is still in Ireland with Grace and the kids has recently met with hip hop producer Ron Feemster & his uncle/manager Charles Stanton to discuss possible collaboaration on his his album. He also asked Teddy Rilley and Will I AM from the Black Eyed Peas to work on new songs for him.
March 13 : Michael has dinner with Prince Abdullah, DJ Whoo Kid & John Legend and they discuss musical collaborations with 50 Cent & Kayne West.
2005
November 8 : Michael calls president of fanclub “Michael Jackson News International” (MJNI) Gloria Haydock to express his thanks for the fans during their campaigns of support, both in-person and online. He also mentions that he will be recording a song entitled “You Are So Beautiful” in dedication to his fans.
October 27 : While in Barhain, Michael coordinates the recording of I Have This Dream in Los Angeles with artists such as R Kelly. The O’Jays, Snoop Dogg, Ciara, Shirley Caesar, James Ingram et Babyface.
September 23 : Michael arrives in London. During this three week stay in London, Michael makes several visits to Metropolis Studios in Chiswick to record his part in the Hurricane Katrina single now renamed “I Have This Dream”.
September 13 : Music’s biggest names to join Michael on Katrina song/ Washington, D.C.. “Michael Jackson is pleased to announce that Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, Lauren Hill, Mary J. Blidge, Yolanda Adams, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, James Brown, Snoop Dogg , the O’Jays, and Ciara, are among the artists joining in his hurricane relief song, where all proceeds will be donated to victims of Hurricane Katrina. As previously announced, the working title of the song is, “From the Bottom of My Heart,” which will be released on 2 Seas Records, owned by Prince Abdullah Hamad Alkhalifa of Bahrain. This project is in response to the widespread devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, and because of the human suffering taking place in the Gulf Region of his country. Mr. Jackson is continuing to reach out to artists who would like to work with him in this project, which he humbly hopes will make a tremendous difference to all individuals who have been affected by this tragedy.
September 6 : The following information was released by Michael’s spokesperson, Raymone K. Bain via his official web site, MJJ Source : “Within 24 hours, Mr. Jackson will be reaching out to other recording superstars asking that they join him in this project to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. Washington, D.C. ……. In response to the widespread devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Recording Superstar Michael Jackson has been moved to pen a song, with the working title, “From the Bottom of My Heart.” Hoping to rekindle the success of “We Are the World,” which he wrote and produced, and which raised millions of dollars for aid to Africa, Mr. Jackson will be enlisting, within the next 24 hours, the involvement of other recording superstars to join him in this project. It is his intention to record this record within the next two weeks. “It pains me to watch the human suffering taking place in the Gulf Region of my country,” says Mr. Jackson. “My heart and prayers go out to every individual who has had to endure the pain and suffering caused by this tragedy. I will be reaching out to others within the music industry, to join me in helping to bring relief and hope to these resilient people who have lost everything.”
The song will be recorded on 2 Seas Records, a label owned by Prince Abdulla Hamad Alkhalifa of Bahrain. All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
2003
June 27 : Michael records “One More Chance” at Marvin’s studio in L.A.
2002
December : Michael records “All in Your Name” with singer Barry Gibb in Miami, Florida, at Middle Ear Studio.
2001
October 22 : Michael records a Spanish version of “What More Can I Give” titles “Todo Para Ti”.
October 15 : Michael completes the recording of “What More Can I Give”. Many artists have recorded their parts including Justin Timberlake, Usher, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Aaron & Nick Carter, Luther Vandross, Boys 2 Men, Gloria Estefan ect…
September 21 : Michael records the song “You Are My Life” with John Mac Lain in Los Angeles and he likes it so much that he decides to add it at the last minute to the tracklist of “Invincible”!
September 16 : Michael annouces that he is going to record the song “What More Can I Give” with many artists for the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York . The song is produced by Marc Schaffel for Neverland Valley Entertainment.
July : Michael goes to Miami with Bruce Swedien to complete the final mixing of Invincible. He records the last song of the album “You Are My Life”.
June 28 : Michael gets on stage at the end of the Summer Jam Concert festival in Long Island to hug rapper Jay-Z with whom he has just done background vocals For his song Girls, Girls, Girls.
June 12 : At the Hit Factory Criteria studio in Miami, Michael & Bruce present the new album called Invincible to Sony excecutives. The album is not 100 % completed. He wants the song “Unbreakable” to be the first single but Sony insists for the song “You Rock My World” and Michael accepts. He starts to work on the short film with director Hype Williams.
May : Michael, Frank, Grace & the kids check in the Sheraton Bel Harbour in Miami Beach where Michael completes the recording & mixing of Invincible with Bruce Swedien, Rodney Jerkins & Teddy Riley.
Michael meets comedian Chris Tucker through Gavin Arvizo. Michael & Chris become friends and record a new version of “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” for the soundtrack of Rush Hour 2.
April : Michael, Grace & the kids spend 2 weeks at Teddy Riley’s home in Virginia where he & Michael work on Invincible. Then they go back to NYC and check in the Plaza Athénée Upper East Side.
2000
November 21 : Michael presents 6 songs from his new album to Sony Music excecutives in New York.
November : Michael, Frank, Grace & the kids go back to NYC and check in the Four Seasons Hotel. Michael resumes recording sessions for his new album in NYC.
Early September : Michael resumes recording sessions on his new album in L.A and asks Teddy Riley to work with him.
March : Michael stops the recording sessions and leaves for Europe with Grace, Prince & Paris. They spend time with the Chaplin family in Switzerland.
Mid January : Michael leaves his townhouse in Manhattan and after a few days of vacation at Neverland, he resumes the recording sessions in Los Angeles with Bruce Swedien.
1999
Early August : After a few days at Neverland, Michael resumes the recording sessions of his new album in New York City .
Late March : Michael starts working on new songs at the Hit Factory in NYC with Cory Rooney (“She Was Lonving Me”) and the Darkchild Team.
February 24 : Michael invites the Top Epic Records Executives (Cory Rooney, Tommy Mottola, John Doelp, Dave Glew & Polly Anthony) to the Marvin’s Room in Hollywood for a listening session and he plays only one song : “Break Of Dawn” produced by Dr Freeze.
February 21 : Michael, Dr Freeze and Brad Buxer work on “A Place With No Name” at Record One.
Michael asks Carole Bayer Sager to work on his new album and she introduces him to Rodney Jerkins,
Rodney, his brother Fred and friend LaShawn Daniel (the Darkchild Team) join the MJ Team at Record One and start working on songs for MJ.
1998
October 16 : Michael records additional lead vocals on ” A Place With No Name’ at the Record One Studio with Dr Freeze. He also starts working with Brad Buxer and Michael Prince on the songs “Speechless” and “The Lost Children”.
September 8 : Michael records his lead vocals on “A Place With No Name” at Record Plant Studio in LA.
August 25-26 : Michael starts recording news songs such as “A Place With No Name”, “Break Of Dawn” and “Blue Gangsta” at the Record Plant Studio in L.A with producer Elliot Straite aka Dr Freeze and sound engineer Michael Prince. Michael is also working on song ideas with 3T for their upcoming album.
April : The Sun reports that Michael and Pavarotti had written a song together called, “All I Can Give” which they planned to release in October 1998 after a concert in South Korea. The song is believed to have been confused with the song Michael wrote called “What More Can I Give”.
January : Michael records a demo version of “What More Can I Give”.
Michael records a demo of “People of the World”, a song for J-Friends, a recording group formed to raise funds for the education of children involved in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.
Michael records “We Be Ballin'” for a planned NBA compilation album; the album is ultimately cancelled due to the NBA lockout that year.
1997
Late November : Michael goes in a Los Angeles studio to record the song Children’s Holiday for Japonese group J-Friends.
Mid January : Michael goes to Montreux, Switzerland with Frank Cascio, to complete work on the “Blood On The Dance Floor” compilation. He stays at the Fairmont Montreux Palace and spends two weeks at the Mountain Studios recording the songs Blood On The Dance Floor and Elizabeth I Love You with Matt Forger. He also visits the Chaplin Family.
1996
October 3 : Michael arrives in London to complete work on the soundtrack for the “Ghosts” Short film.
1995
March 27 : The mastering of the HIStory album is completed in time for the Monday morning deadline.
March 25 : Michael records the full ad-libs for the end of “Earth Song”, recording into the early hours of the next day. He completes “Earth Song” from the original recording in 1990.
March 23 : Michael announces to his team that the mastering needs to be finished by the end of the weekend, and they camp at Record One to do the final touches.
1994
December 10 : Adrian Grant visits Michael in Chicago where he is recording songs with producer R Kelly.
December : Michael records extra vocals for “Scream” in Minneapolis, but it’s mostly his original vocal in October that’s the one ultimately used in the track.
November 5 : The Black & White magazine team (Laurent Hopman, Julien Derain and Christophe Boulmé) visit Michael at the Hit Factory Studio in New York and get to listen to three songs from the new album (“Earth Song”, “Stranger In Moscow” and “Smile”). They present an artwork to MJ. MJ show them the “History” teaser and album cover. They also get to interview Bruce Swedien who tell them that MJ & Janet are currently recording a duet together and Prince recently visited MJ in the studio.
Early November : Janet, Terry Lewis & Jimmy Jam go the Hit Factory in New York to work on “Scream” with Michael.
October : Michael writes and records the vocal for “Scream”, using one of the musical tracks created by Jam and Lewis for a Janet/Michael duet.
Prince & Lenny Kravitz visit Michael at his recording studio in New York and they spend the afternoon together talking and listening to music.
September 29 : Michael records Stranger In Moscow with a little Russian boy at the Hit Factory in NYC.
August 09 : Michael & Lisa Marie fly back to New York where Michael resumes the recording of his new album.
July : Michael directs a recording of “Christmas Star” from the “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” soundtrack with a children’s choir, decorating the studio with fake snow, a Christmas Tree, a sleigh, Christmas lights and endless decorations.
February 5 : Michael starts recording his new album at the Hit Factory Studio in New York City. He takes residence at the Helmsley Palace. Brad Buxer, Bill Bottrell, Matt Forger, Brad Sunberg, Rene Moore and Bruce Swedien join him to work on new songs.
January 17 : Recording sessions for Michael’s new album is scheduled to begin at Record One studio in Sherman Oaks but are canceled after the Northridge earthquake strikes that morning at 4:30 am causing devastation to the downtown Los Angeles area.
1993
September 14 : While in Moscow, Russia, Michael writes and composes the song “Stranger In Moscow” with Brad Buxer.
1991
October 29 : Michael & Bruce Swedien complete the mixing of the Dangerous album in Los Angeles.
August 22 : Michael, Bruce Swedien & Brad Buxer work on the song Will You Be There.
July 25 : Michael is filmed in the recording studio working on the song “Jam”.
June : Michael enlists the help of producers L.A Reid & Babyface which deeply upsets Jermaine who is also working with them.
February 1 : Michael records the song “Dangerous”.
1990
September : Teddy Riley joins the DECADE 1980-1990 project at the Larrabee Studio in North Hollywood. Michael records the background vocals for “Do The Bartman”, a song written by Bryan Loren; he also participates in creating the name of the song, and some of the lyrics.
June 25 : Michael starts recording the “Dangerous’ album at the Ocean Way/Record One Studio 2 in Los Angeles.
March 20 : Adrian Grant (the editor of fanzine Off The Wall) presents Michael with the “Off the Wall Appreciation Award”, a painting by British artist Vincent McKoy, in Los Angeles where Michael is working on new songs, one of which is “Men in Black”.
January : Michael’s recording team moves from Westlake to Record One studio in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles. DECADE 1979-1989 project becomes DECADE 1980-1990.
Jackson Dynasty 