King of Pop set for comeback
'Final curtain call'
Last Updated: Thursday, March 5, 2009 | 2:52 PM ET
CBC News
Michael Jackson has announced that he will perform a series of concerts at London's O2 Arena in July. (Danny Moloshok/Associated Press)It's official: Michael Jackson will return to the stage.
The King of Pop confirmed Thursday, in an appearance at London's 02 Arena, that he will perform a series comeback concerts at the arena in July.
He said the concerts will be his "final curtain call."
Fans of the singer started gathering outside his London hotel Wednesday night, and posters have appeared in the London Underground over the past few days advertising that he is booked for 10 shows.
Jackson's last tour was 12 years ago, and his last live performance was in 2006 at the World Music Awards, also in London. But he disappointed fans at that event by singing only a few lines of We Are the World, the famine-relief song he wrote with Lionel Richie in 1985.
A former child prodigy and one of the most idolized recording artists in the world in the 1980s, Jackson, now 50, has kept a low profile since he was acquitted in 2005 on charges in California of child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser. Despite his acquittal, he was hit hard when friends and former associates testified against him.
The attention in recent years has been less than flattering, focusing on apparent cosmetic surgery, some of which he denies, and a decade of child abuse allegations.
On Wednesday, Jackson's company, MJJ Productions, sued a California auction house to halt the scheduled sale of thousands of his personal possessions. The suit claimed many of the items are "priceless and irreplaceable," and said the attempt to sell them was "malicious, fraudulent… and without any legal justification whatsoever."
Darren Julien, founder of Julien’s Auction House, said the lawsuit was a "total surprise to us" because Jackson’s manager had approved the sale.
In November, Jackson was scheduled to appear in a London court to contest an action for breach of contract brought by the king of Bahrain’s son. The dispute was settled out of court at the last minute.
Jackson made his show business debut in 1968 with four of his older brothers in the pop group Jackson Five. He went on to lead the group with his piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.
The Jacksons sold millions of albums before eventually breaking up as a family act.
Michael Jackson's 1982 release Thriller became the world’s top-selling album to date, with sales of more than 41 million.
Thriller was followed by Bad in 1987 with 20 million sold, and Dangerous in 1991 with 21 million sold.
Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994; she filed for divorce in January 1996. He wed Debbie Rowe, a 37-year-old nurse, in 1997, with whom he had two children. They divorced in 1999. A third child was born to an unknown woman in 2002.
With files from the Associated Press
