Michael Jackson’s Shocking Betrayal of Paul McCartney’s Trust

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Vintage musical collaboration and betrayal with a piano, sheet music, and iconic vinyl records in a dimly lit room.
  • Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney collaborated on iconic tracks.
  • Friendship shattered after Jackson bought Beatles’ publishing rights.
  • McCartney attempted to reclaim his songs but faced stumbling blocks.
  • Jackson’s financial struggles led to him selling part of ATV to Sony.
  • McCartney eventually regained control of The Beatles’ catalogue.

A musical bond that quickly turned into rivalry.

The Epic Collaboration That Turned Sour Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney were once musical giants shaking hands over one of the biggest collaborations in music history. They first teamed up back in 1978 when McCartney penned ‘Girlfriend’ for Jackson’s breakthrough album, Off the Wall. Fast forward to 1982, and they were the dynamic duo behind ‘The Girl is Mine’, a top hit from Jackson’s legendary album, Thriller. It seemed like a friendship for the ages, but the plot thickens like a good custard when in 1983 they worked together on ‘Say Say Say’, and the seeds of betrayal were sown, even if they didn’t know it yet.

How friendship turned into a bitter betrayal.

The Shocking Moment of Betrayal During this very recording, things got a little dicey. McCartney, ever the good-hearted friend, suggested Jackson invest in music publishing. A little nugget of advice that led Jackson to mischievously remark, “One day, I’ll own your songs.” All in good fun, right? Wrong. In 1985, disaster struck when Jackson went ahead and bought the rights to a massive chunk of the Beatles’ back catalogue from ATV for a whopping $47 million. To say McCartney was blindsided would be an understatement. Here was a friend who, to put it mildly, did a real number on him. McCartney later confronted Jackson’s move, declaring, “I think it’s dodgy to do something like that,” which really puts a fine point on the whole mess.

A legal battle that leads to musical justice.

The Long, Rocky Road to Reclamation Shockingly, Jackson remained tight-lipped about all this, aside from the quip that nothing could be placed on the value of those precious songs. Pretty rich coming from a guy who swooped in to swipe McCartney’s livelihood, right? In the ensuing years, their relationship stayed frosty. McCartney even went public on The Howard Stern Show about his attempts to buy back the songs he wrote – only to be met with extortionate price tickets that felt akin to buying a Bentley when all you need is a comfy second-hand car. As luck would have it, after Jackson’s passing in 2009, Sony took control of the entire Beatles music collection. McCartney, however, didn’t take it lying down. After a legal tussle in 2017, he was granted the right to reclaim his masterpieces thanks to the US Copyright Act of 1976, proving that sometimes the long battle can end with a silver lining, provided you’ve got some patience.

In a tale that exemplifies how quickly friendships can fade amidst the sweet strains of music, Michael Jackson’s unexpected moves brought his and Paul McCartney’s camaraderie to a crashing halt. What began as a collaboration filled with promise turned into a saga of betrayal as rights to classic songs slipped from McCartney’s grip. Fortunately, time and the law have squared things away, allowing McCartney to regain ownership and, in a way, re-establish his legacy in the musical cosmos of The Beatles.

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