Paul Anka Demanded That Michael Jackson's Estate Pay Him When His Lost Track Was Released Months Aft

July 16, 2024

Highlights

Sony released a song by Michael Jackson, titled "This Is It," as a brand-new track without realizing it was co-written by Paul Anka in the 1980s.
Paul Anka demanded compensation from Michael Jackson's estate and Sony for the unauthorized use of his song.
Despite the controversy, "This Is It" and another co-written song, "Love Never Felt So Good," have helped keep Michael Jackson's legacy alive.

In the early 1980s, music legends Michael Jackson and Paul Anka came together to work on some material. Anka, once a teen idol in the 1950s, was not only a talented performer but a prolific songwriter. Songs such as Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and Tom Jones's "She's A Lady" were his creations. Jackson had not yet experienced his career-defining "Thriller" era when he requested to work with the seasoned Anka.

During their collaboration period, Jackson and Anka wrote and recorded a couple of demos together. One of these demos was entitled "I Never Heard', according to Entertainment Weekly. When Jackson passed away in June 2009, it was beyond shocking to fans, family, and friends. For Anka, it was even more shocking when one of the songs he wrote with Jackson decades before was released and marketed as a new unreleased Jackson track.

Why Did Paul Anka Demand Michael Jackson's Estate Pay Him For "This Is It"?

Michael Jackson passed away on June 25, 2009, while in the midst of preparing for a comeback residency. Jackson had not performed publicly in years, and was planning to return to the stage at the O2 Arena in London starting that July. Despite Jackson's questionable health and frail stature, he was energetic and excited for his "This Is It" residency.

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Jackson requested that rehearsals for the show be filmed for his personal records. The footage, never intended to see the light of day, became of great interest following Jackson's unexpected death. Sony, the owner of his label, saw a lucrative opportunity. Releasing at least some of the footage would provide fans with a look into what Jackson had been working on. More so, a film project could earn a potential crazy profit. In turn, a selection of footage was pieced together to create the concert documentary, Michael Jackson's This Is It.

While the documentary excited some fans, it was not without controversy. Members of Jackson's family, among certain fans, found it to be distasteful to release raw footage without Jackson's approval, according to Access Hollywood. Jackson was a perfectionist at heart. Nevertheless, Sony, through its Columbia Pictures studio, was adamant about releasing This Is It content.

When working on the documentary, Sony decided it would be best to release a companion album. Furthermore, it would be even more exciting if a never-before-released song could be the album's centerpiece. Fortunately for Sony and its Epic Records subsidiary, just the track was found, at least, so they thought. When going through Jackson's belongings, a tape was discovered. The song, which was eventually found out to be titled "I Never Heard", featured the lyrics "this is it." How convenient for the Sony team!

Unknowing and oblivious of the track's history, Sony released the song as "This Is It" and marketed it as a brand-new song written and performed by Jackson. In actuality, the song was from 1980 and was one of the tracks Jackson co-wrote with Paul Anka. Anka, as soon as he heard the new song, recognized something was terribly wrong.

According to Anka, he immediately got in touch with Jackson's legal team. "That's my song with Michael. We have a problem here, boys. This ain't going to fly; you've got about two, three hours to fix this", Anka told the lawyers, according to Page Six. Anka elaborated on his frustration:

"It was very simple. I said, 'I want half of everything or it's not coming out.' And we got what we wanted."

Not only was "I Never Heard" released as "This Is It" without Anka's approval, but the so-called previously unreleased song was actually released before. Safire recorded it in the early 1990s with Anka's consent and featured it on her "I Wasn't Born Yesterday" album. Jackson had the original demo tape of "I Never Heard" in his collection, because he allegedly stole it from Anka, according to Entertainment Weekly.

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To Anka's expectation, a deal was quickly made to give him writing credits and half of the royalties from the track. After Sony and the Michael Jackson Estate reached a deal with Anka ,the entertainer shared that "someone just innocently found this tape and did not know somebody recorded it with him." He elaborated by sharing that releasing "This Is It" without researching more about the song was "an honest mistake." Anka further articulated that Sony and the Michael Jackson Estate "realized the mistake. They apologized and they've given me rightfully what I own. It's 50-50, right down the middle."

"This Is It" accomplished its goal as a core centerpiece to the film's soundtrack, despite the challenges that emerged from its release. The song was new to many fans, and no one in the public had heard Jackson sing it before. Most individuals were not aware of Safire's version of the track. Even Anka himself capitalized on the song's popularity and released a duet version of the song with Jackson. He additionally began to perform it live in concert with Jackson's vocals.

Anka was not the only major artist Jackson collaborated with in the 1980s. For his "Thriller" album, Jackson teamed up with Paul McCartney, and eventually got into a feud with him.

Did Any Other Songs Michael Jackson And Paul Anka Write Together Get Released?

Michael Jackson's This Is It and its companion album proved to be a massive success despite the criticism it received. More so, it solidified to Sony that fans desired posthumous Michael Jackson content. In December 2010, Epic Records released the first full album of "new" material from Jackson. The album, entitled "Michael", featured previously unreleased tracks and re-workings of released demos.

"Xscape", Jackson's second posthumous album, followed in 2014. Its lead single, "Love Never Felt So Good", was co-written by Anka and recorded in 1980. When "Love Never Felt So Good" was released, Anka was named as a writer and was given royalties right from the beginning. The song was a massive success and put Jackson back on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

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Another Jackson-Anka track from their session was sampled in Drake's "Don't Matter To Me" in 2018, according to Complex. While Michael Jackson and Paul Anka's collaboration led to unforeseen challenges, "This Is It" and "Love Never Felt So Good" have helped keep Jackson's legacy alive and well to modern generations. Jackson and Anka's work has brought considerable joy to fans, amidst Jackson's untimely passing.

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