Abstract: When working on new material for his 1987 album Bad, Michael Jackson wrote a song about the experience of fame, the media and the pressures of being a successful show business professional. Called, appropriately, “The Price of Fame,” a demo of the song was released in 2012 on the 25th anniversary reissue of Bad. […]
In Episode 82, our Anniversary episode, Elizabeth and Karin discuss the essay Michael Jackson’s Gesamtkunstwerk: Artistic Interrelation, Immersion, and Interactivity From the Studio to the Stadium by Sylvia J. Martin. REFERENCE AS: Merx, Karin, and Elizabeth Amisu. “Episode 82 – Gesamtkunstwerk” Podcast, Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation, 12 no. 4 (2025). Published electronically […]
Abstract: Many fans of Michael Jackson collect books about the pop icon, wanting to read as much as they can about his life and career. Referencing titles from her own collection, MJ Studies Today columnist Kerry Hennigan finds that biographies presenting a factual portrait of the King of Pop are a rarity. Similarly, critical analysis […]
In this episode, Karin and Elizabeth talk about their experiences as exhibitors on KingVention ranging from 2016 till 2025. They discuss the first event and how fantastic that was with the big Dangerous Cover, the people they interviewed and remember Nicole, the student who did the course Michael Jackson Studies and who passed away not […]
Abstract: This month, MJ Studies Today columnist Kerry Hennigan considers the importance of Michael Jackson’s song “Stranger In Moscow” in the context of what happened to the artist that prompted him to write agonising lyrics like “Armageddon of the brain” and “here abandoned in my fame.” At a time in his life when he was […]
In this episode Elizabeth and Karin discuss the essay by Philipp Dominik Keidl where he explores how Michael Jackson fans responded to the sexual abuse allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland. The focus is on a phenomenon Keidl terms “forensic fandom,” where fans produce counter-documentaries and online […]
Abstract: This month, MJ Studies Today columnist Kerry Hennigan relates personal memories of the time hundreds of Michael Jackson fans gathered on New Year’s Day 2011, in Guangzhou, China to attend the unveiling of a specially commissioned bronze sculpture of Jackson at the Guangzhou Sculpture Park. “Hold My Hand,” Jackson’s posthumously released duet with Akon, […]
In the second part of the book review Unfinished Business by Judith Hamera, Elizabeth and Karin discuss how Hamera writes about Consuming Passions, Wasted Efforts and Michael Jackson’s Financial Melodramas. One of the important questions they ask is why using Michael Jackson and compare his dancing and financial gains and losses as deindustrialised. They ask […]
Abstract: This month’s MJ Studies Today column highlights a Michael Jackson demo recording of a song called “Fall Again.” Written for Jackson by Walter Afanasieff and Robin Thicke, “Fall Again” was never finished, and was subsequently recorded by other artists. It featured in a Hollywood movie, and became a hit for Kenny G. Nevertheless, columnist […]
Abstract: In this episode, Elizabeth and Karin talk about Judith Hamera’s powerful book, Unfinished Business: Michael Jackson, Detroit, and the Figural Economy of American Deindustrialization, the concept of virtuosity in relation to Michael Jackson’s labours and the labour of factory workers. They also explore the cultural and historical context of Michael Jackson’s music and the potential for future opportunities […]