Gasp! Sony Admits To Fake Michael Jackson Vocals On Album...Sort Of

(Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)

Some Legal Strategy Makes A Messy Case Even Messier

Michael Jackson fans everywhere might have their feelings in shambles if they enjoyed his posthumous 2010 album Michael. Court news has developed saying the vocals for three tracks on that album may or may not be his.

According to The Guardian, Sony tried to persuade a judge in a U.S. court this week that they should not be a defendant in a lawsuit over the three songs. They conceded the possibility that Jackson was not the main singer on the tracks “Monster,” “Breaking News,” and “Keep Your Head Up.” Even with this admission, Sony argued that they should still be able to sell the music under Michael’s name.

There is a twist to Sony’s action, however.

In a counterintuitive legal strategy, Sony seems to have conceded that the songs weren’t sung by Jackson, but they emphasized that the admission is “only for the purposes of this motion” and they reserve the right to take a different stance outside of the appeal case.

Thus, in a separate statement, Sony said that they DID NOT concede that Jackson’s voice wasn’t “on” those songs.

Now we’re left with the possibility that Jackson’s voice might be on those songs or they might not. Or they could be on one snippet of the song, but not on other parts.

This whole case came about back in 2014 when fan Vera Serova filed action against Jackson’s longtime friend Eddie Cascio and his brother’s production company, Angelikson Productions LLC, accusing them of producing fake songs and then selling them through Jackson’s estate and Sony Music Entertainment.

Cascio and Angelikson have denied claims of fake Michael Jackson vocals and at one point, they even went on the Oprah Winfrey Show where Cascio said, “I can tell you that it is Michael’s voice.”

The current case Sony is involved in is apart of an appeal as to whether they should stay as defendants in Serova’s class action lawsuit. Again, their admission that Jackson did not sing the vocals is for the purpose of a legal argument, and they said they weren’t aware of the false vocals at the time of the album’s release and they could not be expected to have known. If it was anyone’s fault, Sony was pointing the fingers at Angelikson’s team. If Sony wins their appeal, they can continue selling the Michael album.

Well again…

This is a mess.

We’ll continue to keep you posted if any major updates surface.