Below is an excerpt from a chapter in my book Xscape Origins: The Songs & Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind. To read the full story, along with the stories of seven other previously-unreleased Michael Jackson songs, simply click here and order your copy of Xscape Origins – available in both physical and digital formats. Thank you for your support.
The Grammy Awards is perhaps the most prestigious annual awards ceremony the music industry has to offer. Each and every year, the who’s who of music—singers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and record executives—gather to honor the industry’s greatest talents, with a chosen few earning the highest possible accolades in their respective fields and categories.
Michael Jackson was all too familiar with the ceremony, and the accolades for that matter, having won thirteen Grammys throughout his four decades in entertainment. Jackson made a mark on the music industry like no other before him, taking home an astonishing eight awards during the 1984 Grammys at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California—seven of which were for his record-breaking Thriller album; the eighth for his contributions to the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook.
Fifteen years after Jackson’s historic Grammys domination, the Shrine Auditorium yet again played host to the star-studded ceremony, with the biggest names in music flocking to L.A. to attend The 41st Annual Grammy Awards on February 24, 1999.
But as the industry toasted the close of a century, its brightest talent was less than eight miles away, holed up in a Hollywood recording studio with his sights set squarely on the new millennium.
Jackson had been working hard for almost an entire year by the time the 1999 Grammys rolled around, focusing on crafting brand-new songs for what would be his next (and ultimately final) studio album. During the week of the awards ceremony, he was using Marvin’s Room—an iconic studio on Sunset Boulevard, founded as Marvin Gaye Studios and owned by Gaye from 1975 to 1979 before being foreclosed on, sold, renamed, resold, and ultimately restored and renamed again by record executive John McClain, who purchased it in 1997—to collaborate with talented songwriter and producer Elliot Straite; better known in the music industry as “Dr. Freeze.” McClain, who was managing Jackson at the time, orchestrated the collaboration between the pair.
Jackson’s record label, Epic Records (owned by Sony Music Entertainment), was hoping to release the singer’s work-in-progress album at some stage before the new millennium. However, after several postponements, it became apparent that Jackson was not at all concerned with meeting their desired deadlines. As of early 1999 the label had not heard any of the new material he’d recorded over the past year. But that was about to change.
Cory Rooney, Senior Vice President of Sony Music Entertainment at the time, remembers being invited to the studio by Jackson for a rare listening session with some of his fellow executives from Sony Music and Epic Records.
“Michael invited us to the studio to listen to some music because we were all out there (in Los Angeles) for the Grammys,” recalls Rooney.
The prospect of hearing what Jackson was working on was mouth-watering for the executives at the label.
“For Michael to want to unveil some music, that was a big treat for us because he never did anything like that,” Rooney explains. “You would rarely get the chance to hear what he was working on.”
Naturally, the Sony/Epic team, including Rooney, took Jackson up on his extraordinary offer and attended the Marvin’s Room studio, where Jackson was set to debut the music for them.
“It was myself, Tommy Mottola, John Doelp, Polly Anthony, and David Glew—all the top Sony Music and Epic Records people,” recalls Rooney. “So we walked in the studio and he played one record. Just one record.”
The song Jackson showcased during the listening session was the Dr. Freeze-produced “Break Of Dawn”—a track that would ultimately be released on the Invincible album two-and-a-half years later.
Although they went in expecting to be shown more than just one song, the executives were thrilled with what they heard. Tommy Mottola in particular commented that if the rest of the record was as good as “Break of Dawn,” they had a guaranteed smash hit album on their hands.
Mottola’s appetite had been whet [and] he wanted to hear more. Jackson indicated that he would oblige Mottola before long, with Rooney recalling that “Michael promised us that he would send another record a few weeks later.”
During their flight home from Los Angeles to New York, Mottola proposed that Rooney—who had been achieving huge success producing hits for a host of other artists—should write and produce a song for Jackson to record. Rooney jumped at the chance, getting straight to work the moment he arrived home from L.A.
“So I got home, went in my house, and I wrote this song,” recalls Rooney. “I did the music at my house, then I brought the musical track to the Sony studios to work on the demo.”
When working on the lyrics for the track, Rooney took inspiration from a conversation he’d recently had with one of Jackson’s collaborative partners—prolific songwriter Carole Bayer Sager—who urged him to write a song that tells a story. “[Michael] loves to tell a tale,” Bayer Sager told Rooney, so putting that advice into practice, Rooney went about writing a story for Jackson. That story became a song called “She Was Loving Me.”
Rooney had barely finished piecing the track together at Sony Studios when Mottola heard it for the first time.
“Tommy (Mottola) came in the studio with Danny DeVito,” recalls Rooney. “It’s funny; Danny was intrigued. He loved the track so much he was like, ‘Play that again, play that again. Oh my god, this is amazing!’”
Mottola was impressed as well, and insisted that Jackson hear the track as soon as possible.
“Tommy took a very, very nasty, rough, scratch demo, and he said, ‘Man this is a great song. I’m sending it to Michael right now.’ And he sent it to him, just in its rough stage.”
Initially Rooney was apprehensive, concerned that sending Jackson his incomplete demo may deter him from wanting to record the track.
“I was actually like, I don’t know if that was a good idea,” recalls Rooney, “because, you know, if he’s gonna hear it in its rough stage, then I might have blown my opportunity.”
Mottola sent Rooney’s rough demo to Jackson that night, a Thursday. Jackson, who was still in Los Angeles at the time, got it the next morning.
“Tommy sent it on the Thursday; Michael heard it on the Friday; and I promise you, by that Monday, [Jackson] was in New York,” recalls Rooney. “He called my house and he said, ‘I’m ready. I’m prepared. I’m ready to sing the song.’ And he was ready. I was blown away.”
Despite already being an accomplished songwriter, producer, and record executive, the opportunity to work with the King of Pop was a humbling honor for Rooney.
“I’d already had so much success in my career with Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Mary J. Blige, and Destiny’s Child,” says Rooney. “Then all of a sudden you’ve got Michael Jackson calling you and saying, ‘I love your song.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
The Hit Factory recording studio at 421 West 54th Street in New York City would become Jackson and Rooney’s home for nearly a month, between late March and mid-April 1999, during which time they recorded Jackson’s vocals and worked further on the track.
Rooney was anxious about what the experience might be like with Jackson, and what the King of Pop’s creative process was when recording other people’s songs… Read more!
The above is an excerpt from a chapter in my book Xscape Origins: The Songs & Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind. To read the rest of this story, along with the stories of seven other previously-unreleased Michael Jackson songs, simply click here and order your copy of Xscape Origins – available in both physical and digital formats. Thank you for your support.
Follow Damien Shields on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date with Michael Jackson-related news.
Brilliant article – I hope the song surfaces!
Wow. A track no one knew anything about has essentially become the most anticipated unreleased track! I can’t wait to hear it! Legendary. Thank you, Damien!
Amazing article!!!
Damien,
Wow. Just wow. This is by far your best article so far IMO. MJ fans are so lucky to have someone so connected to Michael’s collaborators writing about him. You give so much valuable detail and insight into his recording process and art. Thank-you SO much for writing this article. I can only hope that fans get the opportunity one day to hear the track in a positive way that Michael would have wanted. Amazing. Makes you wonder how many little gems are out there that Michael recorded that we don’t know about…
Jamon
Damien..
Is the Number 1 source for MJ related news..
This is without doubt your best article yet!
Hope this track doesn’t leak, I want it to be officially released
AB
it has. good thing it’s only a week till the albums out. they can’t pull it this close to release
Amazing article. Nice to hear insights to Michael’s professional career. I heard about another “great” song he recorded a long time ago, when he was a teenager, a song called “Buffalo Bill”, that was supposed to be a big hit but never got released. I’m sure there are enough unreleased songs he at least finished the vocals to that could be made into a gold album – with the right producers and arrangers. Maybe his estate can get a project like that in motion. In the mean time, Happy Birthday, Michael! Fan for life.
Bravo Damien bravo. What a supurb article to release on Michael’s birthday. Thankyou so much for sharing this story and details with us through your website! Hearing, not only about his music, but the way we worked, and interacted with people, that insight into HIM and how he approached his art, is such a treasure. Well written again, my thanks to you!
Phenomenal article Damien! The only downside is reading your last few paragraphs which heavily suggest that you’ve heard the song. Lucky man!
Great article, thanks! I do hope we hear the track some day.
wow…awesome damien you rock always with your articles 🙂
thank you so much for giving us the insight of the song She was Lovin me..on Micheal’s Birthday..
Wish we all could hear the song someday..:)
great article, Invincible was a lost hit in terms of the marketing, while the same core fans listened to it back to back all day and all night potential new costumers didn’t even know that MJ had a new album out, shame for shame…don’t get me started on the never filmed videos…
thanks, great story………
They will do it again like the way they did to the 2010 MICHAEL album
with duets…
I really don’t like they way estate / $ony does to mj stuff.
Thank u DAMIEN, i forgot to say thanks 🙂
Like your article…
The duets idea is probably now a stupid one – the only duets that Jackson fans want are the ‘Llama Recordings’ – considering the backlash to the leaked ‘Slave 2 The Rhythm’ with Justin Bieber and the general distaste to a duets album with artists Michael never or rarely worked with (e.g. Madonna), Sony will probably not release a duets album. Also, will.i.am has refused to release his duets with Michael, and the only other artists that Michael properly worked with were – no one! Although I suppose Janet Jackson, N*SYNC and Slash come close…
Great article once again Damien. Always a pleasure reading what you have written. Yes it is a shame about the ‘Invincible’ album not getting the marketing it deserved, though Michael did a great job on his own. I do remember the album coming out here in Australia and me buying it, and hearing the single ‘You Rock My World’ on the radio played quite often when it first came out, but nothing much more than that here, and I am a hard core fan! Not one video here to go with the album!
As for the song ‘She Was Lovin’ Me’, it would be great to hear one day, provided they keep it true to Michael.
Thank you again!
I hope Rooney is smart enough to never give it to Branca.
The picture this excellent article paints is that “She Was Lovin Me” is a masterpiece.
If the MJEstate get it, they’ll probably get some irrelevant producer to dilute it into a Katy Perry remix.
I enjoy this site. It’s so nice to read about Michael the ARTIST crafting his work for a change.
#MJForever.
this song sounds like a truly mesmeric classic from michael, i truly hope it is released some day and they stay true to michael’s wishes that it won’t just end up on some compilation by sony. it deserves to be the first track from a new album for sure and i hope the estate don’t lose this opportunity to bless the world with this track.
What a pleasure reading this! Thank you Damien and of course mr. Cory Rooney for sharing what fans love to hear!
AAArrggg…I want to hear that song with fingersnapping, feetstomping, talking and all!
You know what’s too funny?
Ashley Adkins aka “Kingofthedancefloor” who is a scammer claimed (among other BS) to actually own this song, take a look yourself:
http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1618877#post1618877
“Im quite surprised to see this online for sale as ive just purchased a “Money” Acetate just last friday i didnt know more were about great to see though gives more fans the chance to own them.Demos are the best and real intresting to hear.
Im currently on the look out for more as i already have:
2 Bad Acetate
Scream Acetate
Jam Acetate
She was loving me Acetate”
What a story! I simply can’t wait to hear this one. It’s so disconcerting, really. The recording and entertainment industry is at once a brilliantly lit stage where one can shine like a newly minted star and at the same time, it can swallow one into a dark hole that seems impossible to resurface from. I always wondered about the details of the the Jackson/Mottola falling-out. Clearly, Invincible was his greatest body of work to date and Sony failed him big time in terms of promotion. After reading this great article about this song, we’re left to wonder just what incredible gems lie in the vault, unfinished, waiting to be nurtured and birthed. There are so many “if only’s”. It drives me crazy. Thank you, thank you, Damien!
I agree – we never really got to see what Michael wanted to do with ‘Invincible’ – we can only dream about what could have happened with a ‘Threatened’ short film and ‘Unbreakable’ & ‘Break of Dawn’ singles.
Please Cory Rooney, don’t give in to mediocrity. Keep this precious jewel under wraps until the proper time and medium reveals itself. It will astound.
This is our treasure! Wow…
Thank you for sharing these beautiful memories.
You have no idea how this story is so touching for us.
We love you, Damien! 🙂
Какая прекрасная песня. Я слушаю, слушаю и не могу наслушаться. Как жаль, что её не включили в альбом. Как трогательно её поёт Майкл, что мурашки идут по телу.
firstly, people shouldn’t want this track to be leaked.. because if it is.. then they’ll say ”why the hell they releasing leaked song’s???” it’d be your fault only.. not the estate’s. hypocritical. same situation with a place with no name. #LOGIC
this is going to be included on xscape….hopefully it won’t be a death by remix.
The track will also be released in its original form in the Deluxe edition.
See…this is the Michael Jackson album that needs to be released. A quadruple CD with unreleased songs like this one, Carousel, and countless others that MJ sung and are all sung.
btw…take a look at the giveaways on the best comments on my blog posts on TheBrianMethod.blogspot.com
Biggest dissapointment is “lOVE NEVER FELT SO GOOD” featuring Justin Timberlake? they done it again just like the Akon song. Bad idea. Micheal rarely featured people on his albums maybe Rap stars because they are in a different genre or guitarists not singers who want to sound like him. what happened to hearing Queen leader singer with Micheal? he did songs with such a great artist but he never released them. One wonders why release a Justin Timberlake version? it ruins the party. Then more bad news is that Mary J and D-Angelo sing on his album? i mean if this happens, i will return the cd i ordered to sony and request them to digitally erase anything with Mary J or D Angelo. It doesn’t just make sense. Here is a thing, if sony ruins this album, i will be in the forefront spreading the news to all fans across the world to dismiss the album and not to buy it. I ordered album so i see what they will do to preserve Micheal’s Legacy. If i was sony, i would look youtube and see his biggest fans and ask them more about what to release than today’s journalists or producers. Who is it? Stranger in Moscow, earth song or D.S were big songs to the fans but maybe not to billboard but sales don’t lie. The song Love never felt so good is a Pharrel like copy and it is a shame!
I have read this article again today and it is much more relevant to me as I have just heard from Amazon that Xscape will be delivered on the l2 May. I am so looking forward to hearing Love never felt so Good, aka Chicago Damien I just love your writings I think the Estate should hire you to do their PR.
there’s a leak of this now. it sounds like the music is sampled from a sega game.. decap attack or something…
I honestly don’t know what Rooney is on about, I just heard his version of ‘Chicago’ and it’s really nothing special. Even forgetting MJ was the man that gave us the biggest selling album of all time and so many classic tracks, this is just mediocre at best.
Something does not sit quite right with the original. Yes, it’s Michael and he sings wonderfully crisp. But the percussion and melody feels fairly bland and doesn’t bode well with the guitar strings. I assume it was an unfinished demo that was reworded by John McClain and Teryle Jackson. I wonder how this track sounded before MJ passed away?
Wow!!! 18 min short-film for Unbreakable. Imagine that!!!! So many “What if’s ” running through my head right now… :'(
Thanks for the article, though – always fascinating, reading about the Master in his “creation” mood.
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