The posthumous 2010 album Michael proved a controversial release. As Rolling Stone reported, three tracks from the record — “Monster,” “Breaking News,” and “Keep Your Head Up” — may have been “sung by an impersonator.” According to TMZ, two of Michael’s kids — Paris and Prince — allegedly “stayed at [producer Eddie] Cascio’s family home for 4 months in 2007.” Paris was reportedly “adamant” that the vocals weren’t sung by her father, and Prince claimed the tunes sounded nothing like what he’d heard at “Cascio’s house.” According to TMZ, many people suspected the kids had been “manipulated” by Michael’s mother, Katherine.
Other family members questioned the authenticity of the vocals, too. As The Guardian reported, Michael’s brother Randy tweeted that he “immediately said it wasn’t his voice” when he first heard the songs. In November 2010, Sony Music claimed to have “complete confidence … that the vocals on the new album are [Michael’s]” (via BBC News).
In 2014, an MJ fan named Vera Serova filed a “class-action lawsuit” against the Michael Jackson estate, Sony Music, and other entities (via Variety). In August 2018, several articles reported that Sony admitted to using an impersonator, but Zia Modabber, a lawyer “representing both Sony Music and the Jackson estate,” confirmed that “no one has conceded that Michael Jackson did not sing on the songs.” On Aug. 28, 2018, both entities were “cleared” in the lawsuit (per Variety), but that still doesn’t “clear up” who actually sang on those tracks.
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