Michael Jackson Read online

  ALSO BY J. RANDY TARABORRELLI

  THE SECRET LIFE OF MARILYN MONROE

  ELIZABETH

  JACKIE, ETHEL, JOAN:

  Women of Camelot

  ONCE UPON A TIME:

  Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Ranier

  Copyright

  First published in 1991 by Birch Lane Press.

  A revised, expanded, and updated hardcover edition published in 2003 by Sidgwick & Jackson, an imprint of Pan Macmillan.

  An updated paperback edition published in 2004 by Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd.

  Copyright © 1991, 2003, 2004, 2009 by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Grand Central Publishing Edition

  Grand Central Publishing

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue

  New York, NY 10017

  Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.

  www.twitter.com/grandcentralpub

  First eBook Edition: August 2009

  Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  ISBN: 978-0-446-56568-4

  This book is dedicated

  to the memory of

  Michael Joseph Jackson

  1958–2009

  Why not just tell people I’m an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They’ll believe anything you say, because you’re a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, ‘I’m an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight,’ people would say, ‘Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He’s cracked up. You can’t believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth.’

  Michael Jackson to J. Randy Taraborrelli, September 1995

  Contents

  Copyright

  Also by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  Prologue

  PART ONE

  Introduction

  Joseph and Katherine

  Early Days

  Joseph Hits Michael

  Climbing Mountains

  ‘My poor, poor family’

  Rebbie Marries

  The First Record Deal

  The Jacksons Sign with Motown

  ‘Hollywood Livin'’

  Creating The Jackson 5's First Hit

  Michael Moves in with Diana

  Success!

  PART TWO

  ‘ABC’ and ‘The Love You Save’

  ‘It just kept gettin' better…’

  Joseph and Katherine Buy an Estate

  Michael's First Solo Record

  Growing Up in the Public Eye

  Tito Marries

  Groupies

  ‘Rockin' Robin’ and ‘Ben’

  Katherine Files for Divorce

  The Downslide

  Jermaine Falls for the Boss's Daughter

  PART THREE

  Jermaine's and Hazel's Wedding

  Las Vegas

  Jackie Marries

  Michael's Private Meeting with Berry

  CBS Offers the Jacksons a ‘Sweet Deal’

  Joseph to Jermaine: ‘Sign It!’

  What's in a Name?

  The Jacksons Leave Motown

  Jackson Family Values

  Losing to Motown

  PART FOUR

  Tatum

  ‘Why do people think I'm gay?’

  Michael and Joseph Meet with CBS

  The Wiz

  A Rendezvous with Destiny

  The Wiz is a Flop

  Transition

  Off the Wall

  Michael Turns Twenty-one… and Gets His Own Lawyer

  Joseph's Secret

  Katherine is Pushed Too Far

  Jane Fonda

  PART FIVE

  The First ‘Nose Job’… and Other Freedoms

  An Indirect Conversation

  Katherine Tells Joseph to ‘Get Out!’

  Did Michael Get His Way?

  Thriller is a… Thriller

  Hayvenhurst

  Michael Meets with Berry, Again

  Yesterday, Today and Forever

  The Man and the Moon

  ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Beat It’ Videos

  Managerial Trouble

  Son vs. Father

  Putting Pressure on Michael

  Another Bombastic, Attention-getting Melodrama?

  PART SIX

  Michael Gets Burned by Pepsi-Cola

  ‘I never smile when I dance’

  The Grammys

  ‘Believe me, trouble's ahead’

  Another Nose Job, and Katherine's Party

  Michael Meets the President

  ‘Their last shot’

  The Misery of the Victory Tour

  Jackson vs. Jackson on the Road

  Janet Elopes

  ‘Michael is not gay’

  PART SEVEN

  Michael Buys the Beatles' Songs

  ‘We Are the World’

  A Prank That Didn't Work

  More Plastic Surgery

  Duets Gone ‘Bad’

  The Hyperbaric Chamber

  The Elephant Man's Bones

  Jackie, Jermaine and Janet

  How ‘Bad’ Can It Get?

  The White Man Won't Let Him…

  Buying Neverland

  PART EIGHT

  Enter the Moonies

  ‘But what about Michael?’

  ‘Attack him – with love’

  LaToya Gets Naked

  A Million-dollar Bounty on Michael’s Head

  Michael Fires Frank Dileo

  Michael’s Mother Gets the Reward Money

  LaToya’s Drama

  ‘I want more money than anyone else…’

  David Geffen Influences Michael

  The Still-Struggling Jacksons

  Losing Count of the Plastic Surgeries

  A Maddening Decade, An Uncertain Future

  PART NINE

  Michael Meets Jordie Chandler

  Have You Seen His Childhood?

  ‘A place where boys have rights’

  ‘Never do that again, Jordie’

  Either Jordie’s Mom Trusts Michael… or She Doesn’t

  Michael Meets Jordie’s Father

  Dirty Minds

  The Secret Tape Recording

  Michael Feels Betrayed

  Jordie’s Confession

  PART TEN

  Michael Meets with his Accusers

  Unsuccessful Negotiations

  Jordie Sees a Psychiatrist

  ‘Jordie will never forgive me…’

  The News is Out

  Enter: Lisa Marie Presley

  Elizabeth Taylor to the Rescue

  Michael Proposes to Lisa Marie

  ‘You’ll all be fired’

  Chaos and Rehab

  Michael Stands Naked

  LaToya in Madrid

  Michael Pays Up

  The Last Word on the Matter

  PART ELEVEN

  Michael and Lisa Marie Become Lovers

  Michael and Lisa Marie: Happily Ever After?

  Going Public

  Lisa Marie Wants to Know Why Michael is ‘So Selfish’

  Michael Goes on the Record

  Enter: Debbie Rowe

  Lisa Marie Confronts Michael in Hospital

  Debbie is Pregnant

  Michael’s New Family

  Lisa Marie has a Change of Heart />
  Lost Love

  The Martin Bashir Documentary

  HIStory, Blood on the Dance Floor & Invincible

  Justin and Britney

  ‘Everyone wants to be crazy’

  Fathers and Sons

  Michael’s World Caves In… Again

  Explaining Away His Pain

  The Way He Wants It

  Michael’s Latest Accuser

  Denials All Around

  Booze, Naked Women… and Michael Jackson?

  Family Dysfunction

  Jesus Juice and Jesus Blood

  The Time Line

  ‘Not Debbie too.’

  Coda

  THE FINAL YEARS

  What If?

  Memories of Santa Maria

  ‘I don’t recall seein’ any head lickin’’

  Debbie Rowe’s Testimony

  An Odd Defence

  The Verdict

  Aftermath

  Turning Fifty

  Gone Too Soon

  The Man in the Mirror

  Illustration

  Personal Acknowledgements

  Source Notes

  Bibliography

  Prologue

  I first met Michael Jackson when we were both children. The Jackson 5 had just appeared at the Philadelphia Convention Center on Saturday evening, 2 May 1970, their first performance subsequent to signing with Motown Records. It was a heady time for the boys; Michael was a very young eleven-year-old trying to come to terms with it all. I remember him then being happy, so full of life. Something happened along the way, though… we both grew up, but in very different ways.

  When I moved to Los Angeles at the age of eighteen to begin my career as a writer, I regularly interviewed Michael for magazine features. I clearly remember the day I wrote ‘Michael Jackson Turns 21.’ Then, there was ‘Michael Jackson Turns 25.’ ‘Michael Jackson Turns 30,’ and so many other articles about him in celebration of milestones along the way, and those of his talented family members. As he grew older, I watched with mounting concern and confusion as Michael transformed himself from a cute little black kid to… what he is, today. As a journalist and frequent chronicler of Michael's life, I had somehow to make sense of what was happening, putting the pieces of the puzzle together to see how they fit in with the Michael I had known of yesteryear. Thanks to my many encounters with him, I am able to quote at first hand his intimate reactions to so much of what has taken place during his life and career.

  In 1977, when I was at the Jackson home in Encino, California, to interview the family, Michael wandered into the room with bandages on his face; he was nineteen at the time. I remember being dismayed. I thought then that rumours his father, Joseph, was beating him might be true, and that bothered me for many years. Actually, as I later learned, he had just had the second of many plastic surgeries.

  In another interview, conducted after Michael had just returned from making The Wiz in New York in 1978, he mentioned to me that he had certain ‘secrets’ he didn't wish to reveal to me, adding that ‘everybody has deep, dark secrets’. I never forgot his words, especially as the years went by and he became stranger, his behaviour more opaque and incomprehensible to many people.

  Why are we still so fascinated by Michael Jackson after all of this time? Is it because of his awe-inspiring talent? Of course, that's part of it. The voice is instantly recognizable, and the dance moves are his and his alone. Just as he had been influenced by trailblazers before him, such as Jackie Wilson and James Brown, he has influenced a generation of entertainers. When you watch Justin Timberlake perform, does he remind you of anyone else?

  Michael is also an important touchstone for many of us, personally. Since he's been famous for more than thirty years, some of us can mark moments in our lives by certain achievements in his. Many of us are old enough to remember how impossibly adorable and prodigious he was as lead singer of The Jackson 5, and we can remember where we were at when the brothers first became famous. We may recall the first time we saw him glide across a stage or screen doing the magical ‘Moonwalk’; we remember the day we first saw the ‘We are the World’ video, in which he led an all-star cast in the first charitable effort of its kind in the United States; we remember his amazing concert appearances and groundbreaking videos.

  To say that Michael has succeeded spectacularly in his career is to state the obvious. However, as record-breaking and historical as his artistry has been, it is his private life that has kept many of us on tenterhooks.

  We probably also remember the first time we saw each of his new physical ‘looks’, and wondered what on earth that boy was doing to his face.

  Did you ever wonder if he was straight? Or gay? Or asexual?

  What did you think when you first heard that he had been accused of being a paedophile?

  Do you remember seeing the emotional speech from Neverland, during which he spoke of the police having photographed ‘my body, including my penis, my buttocks, my lower torso, thighs and any other areas they wanted’?

  And what of Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe, his mysterious ex-wives? Have you ever speculated about the true nature of their relationships with him?

  Now, he has children and makes them wear masks in public.

  ‘How does it feel when you're alone, and you're cold inside?’ Michael asked in his song ‘Stranger in Moscow’. Indeed, how in the world, we wonder, did he turn out as he has?

  Of course, fame twists everything. It's a strange phenomenon that no one but the famous can truly understand. However, ask yourself: if your entire life had been played out under heavy and unyielding scrutiny, made even more torturous by an abusive father, what would you be like? What if you were infantilized by an adoring public who celebrated you primarily as a talented youngster? Do you think you might, over time, be compelled to infantilize yourself? Out of frustration and desperation, might you revolt and begin to do whatever you wished without considering the logic of your decisions, the common sense of your choices, or the propriety of your behaviour?

  What if you also had an inordinate amount of wealth, giving you the power to redress your deepest insecurities and desires by any means at your disposal, no matter how extreme, and with no one around daring to challenge you? Don't like the colour of your skin? Fade it away. Never had a real childhood? Say hello to Neverland. Want to sleep in the same bed with boys? No problem, there. Don't like how you look? Change your face. Still don't like it? Change it to another face, and another and another.

  Why can't he see what's happening to himself? we ask about Michael. Why doesn't he understand? How does he see himself, anyway? As the King of Pop, a trailblazing, misunderstood musical genius whose career spans an entire lifetime? Or an insecure, basically unhappy adult with enough money and power to do whatever he likes and get away with it? Perhaps only one thing is certain: if you were an unfettered combination of both, chances are you would be like… Michael Jackson.

  PART ONE

  Introduction

  The bucolic town of Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County is a little more than a hundred years old. If a visitor wants a sense of the local history, Mattei's Tavern, built in 1886, is the place to go. One of many monuments to a by-gone era, it was a stagecoach stop where guests stayed overnight during their journeys, back when the only mode of transportation was horse-drawn carriage. It also became a stop-off point for the Pacific Coast Railway narrow gauge line, constructed in the 1880s when travel by land along the coast ranged from difficult to impossible. At its zenith, it stretched over seventy-five miles from what was once called Harford Wharf on San Luis Bay, south to Los Olivos. Passengers spent the night at Mattei's before taking the stagecoach to Santa Barbara, the next day. Today, the Carriage Museum is on this site, providing a visual history of the region. The original watering hole is now a charming eatery called Brothers Restaurant at Mattei's Tavern.

  One recent day, a strange-looking man came through the Museum with a boy, a girl and an infant. He was accompanied by two wo
men, senior citizens who tended to the youngsters, maybe nursemaids, one cradling the baby in a blanket. Also present was a male assistant who appeared to be in his early twenties. His eyes darted about, as if he was on high alert, vigilantly aware of his surroundings, of what others were doing in his presence.

  The older man, wearing a deep-purple, silk surgical mask, a fedora over ink-jet black hair and over-sized sunglasses, stood before one of the photographic displays. ‘Prince! Paris!’ he called out. ‘Come here. Look at this.’ The tots ran to his side. He pointed to the picture with one chalky, spindly finger – at the tip of which was wrapped a band-aid – and read the accompanying description, his high-pitched voice sounding instructive. In the middle of his reading, he admonished the boy to pay closer attention, insisting that ‘this is important’. The group moved from one display to the next, the masked man reading each narrative, beseeching the children to listen, carefully.

  After the day's lesson, the small group enjoyed a bite to eat in the restaurant. While there, they laughed among themselves, sharing private jokes, yet seeming closed off from their environment, never acknowledging the existence of anyone outside their miniature world. The masked man fed himself by lifting his disguise just a tad, rather than take it off. The locals tried to ignore the odd contingent. However, it was difficult not to stare, particularly since the children had been wearing masks, too – not surgical, though… just Halloween. They took them off to eat, and then put them back on, once again hiding their faces.

  In the early 1900s, a major new rail line was built thirty miles closer to the Pacific coast. Because Los Olivos had been bypassed by it, the population of the once-thriving town dwindled. However, it has since been rediscovered, thanks to an influx of tourists in the last twenty years. Now, there is an Indian reservation and gambling casino, as well as a number of spas and New Age healing centres. Small and locally owned art galleries, antique stores, gift shops, boutiques and wineries flourish in restored western-themed buildings.

  One afternoon, the masked man visited one of the art galleries. ‘Now, this one would be just perfect in the bedroom, wouldn't it?’ he said to his young assistant. He held up a small oil painting of two angels floating ethereally above a sleeping child. The assistant nodded. ‘Yoo-hoo,’ called out the masked man. ‘How much for this one?’ He and the curator conferred, privately. Then the man in the disguise walked over to his assistant and whispered into his ear. ‘Okay, very good,’ he finally said to the store-owner. ‘I'll take it.’