A MUSIC TAPESTRY FOR THE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL SHOW

KICKING OFF LAST NIGHT

EXPERIENCE IMMORTAL AT MICHAELJACKSON.COM

New York, NY – On November 21, Epic Records in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson, will release IMMORTAL – the highly anticipated musical tapestry for Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour. IMMORTAL will be released as both a deluxe double disc version and single disc.

Led by esteemed musical designer, Kevin Antunes (Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Madonna) IMMORTAL takes a fresh, creative approach in redesigning and reimagining more than 40 of Michael Jackson’s greatest original recordings into a compilation that allows listeners to experience his music in an entirely new way.  After spending a year in the studio working with Michael’s original multi-track master recordings, Kevin created IMMORTAL which offers listeners a new soundscape to Michael’s artistry while preserving the power and familiarity of his unparalleled voice and his legendary tracks.

Kevin Antunes comments, “Michael’s legacy as the greatest entertainer of our lifetime is inspiring beyond words. It was clear from the start that Michael’s voice and overall musical essence was the sole/soul source of creative energy driving the project. From the studio to the stage, there’s an undeniable integrity and resolute truth in Michael’s vocal performances that are highlighted in the Immortal arrangements. It was built with love and respect for Michael’s music, his family, and his millions of fans around the world.”

IMMORTAL is sure to touch the hearts of passionate Michael fans as the album unfolds his musical legacy with redesigned versions of his hits, electrifying mashups and newly discovered outtakes fans have never heard before including an alternate take on the Jackson 5’s “ABC” and a choir that Michael recorded for “They Don’t Really Care About Us.”

To pre-order IMMORTAL, and view footage from Michael Jackson The IMMORTAL World Tour please visit www.MichaelJackson.com

The North American leg of Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour kicked off last night in Montreal, and will include an extended stay in Las Vegas in December. The epic show, which was written and directed by Jamie King – the leading concert director in pop music today –, is a riveting fusion of Michael Jackson music, choreography and Cirque du Soleil creativity that offers fans worldwide a unique view into the spirit, passion and heart of the artistic genius who forever transformed global pop culture.

IMMORTAL DELUXE ALBUM TRACKLISTING:

1.            Working Day and Night (Immortal Version)

2.            The Immortal Intro (Immortal Version)

3.            Childhood (Immortal Version)

4.            Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Immortal Version)

5.            Shake Your Body Down To The Ground (Immortal Version)

6.            Dancing Machine/Blame It On The Boogie (Immortal Version)

7.            Ben (Immortal Version)

8.            This Place Hotel/Smooth Criminal/Dangerous (Immortal Version)

9.            The Mime Segment: I Like The Way/Speed Demon/Another Part Of Me (Immortal Version)

10.        J5 Medley: I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save (Immortal Version)

11.        Human Nature/Speechless (Immortal Version)

12.        Is It Scary/Thriller/Ghost/Somebody’s Watching Me/Threatened (Immortal Version)

13.        You Are Not Alone/I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (Immortal Version)

14.        Beat It/Jam/State Of Shock (Immortal Version)

15.        Earth Song/Planet Earth (Immortal Version)

16.        Scream/Little Susie (Immortal Version)

17.        Gone Too Soon (Immortal Version)

18.        They Don’t Care About Us (Immortal Version)

19.        I’ll Be There (Immortal Version)

20.        Immortal Megamix: Can You Feel It/Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough/Billie Jean/Black Or White (Immortal Version)

21.        Man In The Mirror (Immortal Version)

22.        Remember The Time/Bad (Immortal Version)

IMMORTAL SINGLE ALBUM TRACKLISTING:

1.            Working Day and Night (Immortal Version)

2.            The Immortal Intro (Immortal Version)

3.            Childhood (Immortal Version)

4.            Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Immortal Version)

5.            Dancing Machine/Blame It On The Boogie (Immortal Version)

6.            This Place Hotel/Smooth Criminal/Dangerous (Immortal Version)

7.            J5 Medley: I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save (Immortal Version)

8.            Human Nature/Speechless (Immortal Version)

9.            Is It Scary/Thriller/Ghost/Somebody’s Watching Me/Threatened (Immortal Version)

10.        You Are Not Alone/I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (Immortal Version)

11.        Beat It/Jam/State Of Shock (Immortal Version)

12.        Earth Song/Planet Earth (Immortal Version)

13.        They Don’t Care About Us (Immortal Version)

14.        Immortal Megamix: Can You Feel It/Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough/Billie Jean/Black Or White (Immortal Version)

15.        Man In The Mirror (Immortal Version)

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is a major Québec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has 5,000 employees, including more than 1,400 artists from more than 50 different countries. Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 100 million spectators in more than 300 cities on six continents. In 2011, Cirque du Soleil will present simultaneously 22 different shows around the world. For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

The artwork for the Michael Jackson single, “Hollywood Tonight, today is revealed. This is the second single from the global Number 1 album, “Michael”, available now on Sony Music.

The Legendary Icon Continues His Worldwide Success shipping Platinum or Gold in 31 territories!

New York – The King of Pop showed once again that his music knows no borders as the Sony Music/Epic Records release MICHAEL – the first album in nine years of new Michael Jackson tracks – debuted globally at #1 in its first week of sales and shipped over 3 million units worldwide making it one of the biggest albums of 2010.

Hailed by TIME as “a carefully assembled recreation of his finest moments as a solo artist and a reminder of why we cared about him to begin with,” MICHAEL clearly has been embraced not only by his most passionate fans in virtually every corner of the world, but a new generation discovering his recent artistry, collaborations and poignant gems featured on MICHAEL. Wrote Neil McCormick, chief rock music critic for the London Daily Telegraph:  “It has the extraordinary confidence of a pop classic and presages an album that may well be Jackson’s best work since his Eighties glory days.” Today’s worldwide results underscore Michael Jackson’s prophetic vision in seeing the world as one territory and his fans part of a single community, which helped endear him to countless fans and make him the global icon and superstar he remains today. Some of the sales figures from across the world show the following:

• MICHAEL shipped Platinum in 14 territories including the United States, UK, Germany, France (2x), Italy (3x), Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belgium, Czech Republic (4x), Canada, Korea and the Middle East.
• The album debuted at #1 in Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden.
• And on top of the # 1 album chart entry in Germany, sales of MICHAEL broke the country’s 2010’s first-week record with over 85,000 units sold.
• Opening week sales of more than 113,000 in the U.K. scored the biggest opening week for a new Michael Jackson studio album since ‘Dangerous’ nearly 20 years ago.
• In Japan, the album is the fourth Michael Jackson album to ever debut in the top 3, joining Bad, Thriller and last year’s “This Is It” companion album.
• The album is in the top five in Belgium (#2), US (#3), Japan (#3), the UK (#4), France (#4), Denmark (#4). In the US, the album shipped platinum and debuted at #3 of the Billboard Album chart with just under 230,000 copies sold.
• The album went Gold in 17 territories on arrival in Japan, China, Australia, Ireland, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, India, Philippines and Taiwan.

The album marks another release under the new agreement between the Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music announced in March that continues the label’s 35-year relationship with Michael and his music. During that time, Michael sold hundreds of millions of records, had 13 #1 singles and released the pop culture phenomenon “Thriller,” which remains music’s all-time bestselling album with more than 100 million copies sold worldwide. Information on Michael can be found at www.MichaelJackson.com.

For Press enquiries please contact:

Dan Deacon – Dan.Deacon@outside-org.co.uk
020 7436 3633