Multiple Michael Jackson songs pulled from streaming platforms

Three tracks from Michael Jackson’s 2010 album Michael have been removed from streaming platforms following claims that the late star never sang them.

'Monster' featuring 50 Cent, 'Keep Your Head Up' and 'Breaking News' are no longer available for sale or to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other platforms worldwide; Matthew Allen reported for The Grio.

A spokesperson for Jackson’s website confirmed three songs were wiped and stated that the removal “had nothing to do with their authenticity.”

“The Estate and Sony Music believe the continuing conversation about the tracks is distracting the fan community and casual Michael Jackson listeners from focusing their attention where it should be,” said the spokesperson, “on Michael’s legendary and deep music catalogue.”

The tracks have been part of an ongoing lawsuit involving Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, which alleges that Jackson never sang the three songs on Michael. In 2014, Vera Serova filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony and the estate over the three songs for violation of consumer laws, unfair competition, and fraud.

In the lawsuit, Serova claimed that three of the 10 tracks on Michael were part of an “elaborate artistic fraud masterminded by co-defendants Eddie Cascio and James Porte”.

Allegedly, the pair sold the ‘Cascio tracks’ to Jackson’s estate for millions after his death in 2009.

The back cover of the Michael album reads, “This album contains nine previously unreleased vocal tracks performed by Michael Jackson. These tracks were recently completed using music from the original vocal tracks and music created by the credited producers.”

Before Michael was released, several members of Jackson’s family said that they believed the songs were counterfeit.

In 2010, Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson said that “some of the tracks on the album are fake,” while his sister, LaToya Jackson stated “It doesn’t sound like him.” His nephew, Taryll Jackson, and son of brother Tito Jackson added that he was present when the songs were handed over to Sony.

“How they constructed these songs is very sneaky and sly,” tweeted Taryll Jackson. “I know my uncle’s voice, and something’s seriously wrong when you have immediate family saying it’s not him.”

In 2018, Sony and the estate were cleared from the case, and an appeal in 2020. The suit is currently in the California Supreme Court.

🚨BREAKING🚨 Looks like Sony is REMOVING the 3 FAKE SONGS they’ve falsely attributed to Michael Jackson for the past 12 years!

Breaking News, Monster and Keep Your Head Up aka the ‘Cascio tracks’ have been deleted from most streaming platforms around the world. 👀

INCREDIBLE🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/Ld0NhMp1wF

— Damien Shields (@DamienShields) June 29, 2022