Yesterday would have been Michael Jackson’s 60th birthday and there was a lot of exciting news to celebrate the occasion. First, producer Mark Ronson shared his take on some of the singer’s biggest hits with the release of “Michael Jackson x Mark Ronson: Diamonds are Invincible.”
“It was such an amazing, awe-inspiring and insanely intimidating task to put this together, although you'd need hours and hours to fit all of Michael's classic tunes into one track,” Ronson shares. “I wanted this to feel like being on the dance floor at a sweaty, wild NYC club getting down to as much MJ as possible in five minutes. And I can't wait for you to all hear the extended version coming soon." Check out a clip of the compilation to the right.
In other Michael Jackson news…
- IMAX announced it will be digitally re-mastering the “Thriller” short film, and will release it on IMAX 3D for the first time ever on September 21st. The showings will run for one week.
- Four tribute singles to Jackson will be released over the next ten months by 769 Entertainment. The first track, “Let’s Shut Up and Dance,” will feature Jason Derulo, with future songs coming from K-pop boy band NCT 127, and Lay Zhang, a member of the K-pop band EXO. So far no official date for the songs release have been announced.
- Following a special performance of “Michael Jackson ONE” Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas last night, a Diamond Birthday Celebration took place at the Daylight Beach Club at Mandalay Bay, featuring appearances by Paris and Prince Jackson, plus his brothers Jackie and Tito, and other celebs. It also featured a DJ set by Ronson.
- Finally, a panel of three judges ruled that Sony and the Jackson Estate are exempt from a class action lawsuit brought by a fan who claimed the posthumous Jackson singles, “Breaking News,” “Monster,” and “Keep Your Head Up” were not actually recorded by Jackson. The ruling suggested that because both parties didn’t actually know for sure if it was Jackson singing, they aren’t to be held accountable under commercial speech and are protected under the First Amendment.