According to news reports, he had flown in from Europe with Abdulla, who would celebrate his 30th birthday the following day. #When did michael jackson bad album come out free#“But of course, in order to get Michael, there was also baggage that came with him.” (Numerous attempts to reach Abdulla to comment for this article via his record label, former legal team and London’s Bahraini embassy were unsuccessful.)Ībdulla spoke to Jackson several times during the trial, floating the idea of him living in Bahrain and making music there once he was free to travel, and on June 29th, 2005, just two weeks after his acquittal on all charges, a weary Jackson touched down at Bahrain International airport. The prince wanted to help Michael recover, says Ahmed al-Khan, a financial adviser hired by the sheikh to work with the singer. They spoke excitedly about plans for the future, exchanged numbers and, from then on, remained in regular contact.” “I put Michael on the phone to Prince Abdulla one morning on the ride to court. “I wanted to be free of debt’s burden,” Jermaine wrote in his memoir You Are Not Alone. In one lasting image, the then 46-year-old singer was rushed to the court in pyjama bottoms, clutching his bodyguards for support.Ībdulla, a big fan of Jackson’s who dabbled in songwriting, had recently been introduced by phone to the star through Jackson’s brother Jermaine, who was a regular in Bahrain since converting to Islam in 1989. News channels beamed daily footage of Jackson’s deteriorating health. Jackson called Bahrain home, gradually emerging from his reclusive shell to mix with locals and shop in malls, badly disguised in a woman’s abayaīefore his arrival Jackson was defending himself in a California court against charges of intoxicating and molesting Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. For nearly a year the singer lived in Bahrain, struggling with his mental health and staving off bankruptcy while making plans for a comeback album and indeed recording some of it, though the demos – some of the most sought-after Jackson rarities – have yet to see the light of day. ![]() It was crazy.”īoth are accurate words to describe the time when Jackson lived on an archipelago off the Saudi Arabian coast. “There are so many adjectives to use,” Shaheen says of what was to unfold. The request came from Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, who asked Shaheen to set up a state-of-the art recording studio on his grounds in anticipation of the star’s arrival. “It is a pinch-yourself kind of moment when you get a call to say you’re going to be working with someone who you idolise and is the biggest superstar of all time.” “It was totally out of left field,” he says. ![]() In early 2005 the young Bahraini was driving when he received a surreal job offer: the chance to work with Michael Jackson.
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