At 24 years old, Orianthi has already experienced what most aspiring musicians only dream of. She’s opened for her hero (Steve Vai), backed an Idol (Carrie Underwood), traded solos with a legend (Carlos Santana) and shared the stage with the King of Pop (Michael Jackson). What’s left to conquer? The world stage, for one, and this guitar wunderkind has her sights clearly set on the road ahead. Check out the interview she recently gave with the site LP33.tv:
Be sure to check out WatchMojo’s 2-part series on Michael Jackson which might give you a little more insight into the King of Pop. Here’s more on MJ and Madonna from NineMSN:
Michael Jackson and Madonna would have made a sweet couple in the 90s - that is, if Jacko was interested!
Taped coversations with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach are the basis for new book The Michael Jackson Tapes, where details about the late King Of Pop’s life are laid bare - including his diss of the veteran pop diva.
“I think she (Madonna) likes shock value and she knows how to push buttons on people,” Michael said in the 2001 conversation, where he spoke of the time he and Madonna went on several dates a decade earlier.
“I think she was sincerely in love with me and I was not in love with her. She did a lot of crazy things. I knew we had nothing in common.
“She is not sexy at all. I think sexy comes from the heart in the way you present yourself.”
MJ said Madonna was also jealous of his fame at the time. “They admire you and know you are wonderful and great because they are jealous, because they wish they were in your shoes.
“Madonna is one of them. She is jealous. She is a girl, a woman and I think that’s what bothers her… I get the fainting and adulation and she doesn’t.”
So who set MJ’s heart on fire, then? Elizabeth Taylor! He confessed he’d considered dating the Hollywood legend but was scared that the media would make fun of their 27-year age gap.
“I know that if we ever did anything romantically the press would be so mean and nasty and call us the Odd Couple,” he said. “It would turn into a circus and that’s the pain of it all.”
He said the late Princess Diana was his ideal woman: “I thought she was very special - very feminine and classy. She was my type for sure, and I don’t like most girls. There are very few I like who fit the mould. It takes a very special mould to make me happy and she was one of them.”
In the book, Michael is quoted detailing the brutal beatings he received from his father, as well as his fear of aging.
“I don’t want to grow old,” he said. “I never want to look in the mirror and see that.”
Throughout his life and career, Michael Jackson was the subject of countless rumors. Talk of plastic surgery, child molestation, and homosexuality dogged him for years. Most importantly, before his death, Michael Jackson was not healthy – physically or emotionally. Author Ian Halperin penned the first book about the King of Pop after his death. His research for the book involved gaining undercover access to the pop star, and as such Halperin was privy to information about Jackson the public may not have known. In this video WatchMojo speaks with Halperin about Jackson’s plastic surgery, his health before he died, and his sexuality.
Pretty cool I guess:
Epic/Legacy Recordings proudly celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the world’s biggest-selling album of all time, with a newly expanded deluxe edition of the phenomenal record-breaking pop culture touchstone, available in the U.S. on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. The album will be available worldwide the week of February 11, 2008.
The Michael Jackson Thriller 25th anniversary celebration kicks off in December 2007 with the release of a new single and continues throughout 2008 with a multi-faceted global marketing campaign featuring high-profile television, radio and online events around the world.
The Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition will include the original album in its entirety as well as eight bonus tracks and a DVD featuring Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking short films from Thriller (”Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean”) and the artist’s Emmy-nominated breakout performance of “Billie Jean” from the legendary “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” television special (first broadcast on NBC on May 16, 1983).
The newly expanded version of Thriller premieres five tracks previously unreleased in any form: a new Kanye West remix of “Billie Jean”; a new 2008 version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” with Akon and will.i.am; will.i.am remixes of “The Girl Is Mine” and “P.Y.T.”; and “For All Time,” a rare unreleased cut from the original Thriller recording sessions, newly mixed and mastered by Michael Jackson.
Additional bonus material on the Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition includes “Someone In The Dark,” “Carousel,” and Michael Jackson’s original demo recording of “Billie Jean.”
The deluxe Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition packaging contains a personal greeting from Michael Jackson to his fans penned exclusively for this special release.
Originally released in the US 25 years ago on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson’s sixth solo album and second with producer Quincy Jones, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international superstardom. Introducing the “robot” and the “moonwalk” into the international lexicon of clubland dance moves via the pulsing sounds of Thriller, Michael Jackson revolutionized all aspects of mainstream pop culture — from radio airwaves to the newly emerging art form of music videos — becoming the world’s most popular entertainer in the process.
The original Thriller spent an astounding 80 consecutive weeks in the American Top 10, 37 of those at #1. Seven of the album’s original nine tracks became Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 while Individual singles from Thriller reached #1 chart positions in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.
Thriller made history as the first and only record to be America’s top-selling album two years running (1983 and 1984).
Thriller has been certified 27x platinum by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond Award status in the US. In addition, the album has achieved Diamond or Multi-Platinum status in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time, an achievement which remains unsurpassed to this day.
In February 1984, Michael Jackson held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight, which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone in a single year. Seven of Michael’s Grammys that year were for Thriller: Album of the Year; Record of the Year (”Beat It”); Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (”Thriller”); Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical (Thriller); Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (”Beat It”); Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (”Billie Jean”); Best R&B Song (”Billie Jean”). (Michael’s eighth Grammy that year was in the Best Recording For Children - Single or Album, Musical or Spoken category for “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”). That same year, Michael Jackson took home eight American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” took home the Best Video Album trophy at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.
Named the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time” by the Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop culture. He was named the World Music Award’s Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist in 2001.
TRACKLISTING
Thriller: Original Tracklisting
1. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” - (#5 Hot 100, #5 R&B)
2. “Baby Be Mine”
3. “The Girl Is Mine” (with Paul McCartney) - (#2 Hot 100, #1 R&B, #1 Adult Contemporary)
4. “Thriller” - (#4 Hot 10, #3 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks)
5. “Beat It” - (#1 Hot 100, #1 R&B)
6. “Billie Jean” - (#1 Hot 100, #1 R&B, #9 A/C)
7. “Human Nature” - (#7 Hot 100, #2 Adult Contemporary)
8. “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” - (#10 Hot 100)
9. “The Lady in My Life”
Bonus Material
10. Vincent Price
Previously Unreleased Tracks For 25th Anniversary Edition
11. The Girl Is Mine 2008 with will.i.am*
12. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008 with Michael Jackson and will.i.am*
13. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008 with Michael Jackson, Akon and will.i.am*
14. Beat It 2008 with Fergie*
15. Billie Jean 2008 with Kanye West*
16. For All Time (unreleased track from original Thriller sessions)*
Bonus DVD
The Videos
1. Thriller
2. Beat It
3. Billie Jean
4. Billie Jean performance from Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever
PLAY
