Artists die, but their art lives forever. The same is true for ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson, whose legacy lives on through his music. The singer died in 2009 at the age of 50, but people still cherish him for his remarkable songs and iconic moonwalk. 16 years after his death, some of his unreleased music is set to be sold.
In December 2024, the late pop star made headlines when his unreleased tapes were found in a storage unit in the San Fernando Valley. Gregg Musgrove, a former California Highway Patrol officer turned stay-at-home dad, found 12 unreleased tracks of Michael Jackson in a storage unit that an associate recently bought in Van Nuys. As per The Hollywood Reporter, this unit once belonged to Bryan Loren, a music producer and singer.
“I’ve gone to all the fan sites. Some of [the songs] are rumored to exist, some of them have been leaked a little bit. A couple aren’t even out there in the world,” Musgrove told The Hollywood Reporter.
It was reported that the tapes had 12 unreleased tracks on which Jackson worked between 1989 and 1991, before the release of Dangerous album. One of the tapes is labelled ‘Michael Jackson. 9-15-89’ while another one is labelled ‘Bryan Loren- Master – To Satisfy You’ dated May 29, 1991.
Apart from the tracks, the tapes also include the creative process of the recording along with Michael Jackson’s conversations with Loren. Musgrove told the portal, “I’m listening to this stuff, and I would get goosebumps because nobody’s ever heard this stuff before. To hear Michael Jackson actually talk and kind of joke back and forth, it was really, really cool.”
Michael Jackson’s unreleased tracks will now be auctioned by Gotta Have Rock N Roll. The auction house plans to sell it to the highest bidder. The starting bid is reported to be $85,000 and the sale is expected to land somewhere between $150,000 to $200,000. However, before the auction, there has been a setback.
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Michael Jackson’s estate reportedly has issues with the auction. The estate feels that it’s a “sad attempt by an auction site to mislead the public,” as per TMZ.
The estate told the portal that the tapes that are being auctioned are just the copies of the original master recordings, which are owned by the estate. And therefore, whoever will buy the tapes through auction will not be allowed to play them publicly or reproduce them.
However, Dylan Kosinski, president of Gotta Have Rock and Roll, remains unbothered by the statement from the estate, Infact, he now believes that it will up the value of the cassettes that he is putting on auction. He told TMZ that those tapes are now “more valuable” as they can’t be reproduced or played in public. He further added that the fact that the estate has hoarded the master recordings in their vaults “makes this auction a bigger deal.”
Details of the unreleased tracks have been listed on the auction website. Gotta Have Rock and Roll, in its call for bids, writes that the tapes have “Incredible unreleased and unedited songs.”
Some of the unreleased tracks from Dangerous include Serious Effect, Son of Thriller, She Got It, Superfly Soul Sister, Work That Body, All the Truth You Need, and Call it Off.
“The lot also comes with an additional signed Michael Jackson photograph,” the website says.
