Michael in His First Interview After the Trial Ends: Working on a Katrina Song at Speed

In his first conversation with a reporter after the end of the proceedings into his charges, Michael announced on Saturday, September 17, that he is preparing a song at full speed—one he had promised some time ago in order to raise financial help for the victims of the devastating Hurricane Katrina. He said he feels that his creativity is flowing again.

Speaking about working on this charity song, he said: “I keep working on it.”

In this phone interview with a reporter from the Associated Press, he said that the trial into his charges was “the hardest stage of his life.” Michael also said that he and his children are still in Bahrain and are resting.

Raymon Bain, Michael’s spokesperson, also took part in the phone interview. He said that this phone call is not an interview, and Michael’s purpose in making this connection was only to thank the Associated Press for its fair coverage of the trial.

Michael flew to Bahrain on June 29 of this year—just a few days after being acquitted of the charges he faced—and stayed at the private property of the Bahraini prince, Abdulla... bin Hamad Al Khalifa. In describing his friend, Michael says: “He is great, very kind, and amazing.”

When asked by the Associated Press reporter about his physical condition, Michael said: “I’m fine.”

During the trial, Michael suffered from severe back spasms, and the pain even took him to the hospital, which is why one of his court sessions began late.

On June 13 of this year, after five months of continuous hearings in the Santa Maria court to review this case, he was found not guilty by the jury. After that, he did not appear in public until some time ago, when photos of him in Dubai—taken by Ben Saleem, the Arab rally champion—became available to the media.

Michael hopes that the success of this charity song, titled “From The Bottom Of My Heart,” can achieve the same success as the beautiful song “We Are The World,” which in 1985 was able to raise nearly $200 million for famine relief in Ethiopia and Sudan. Michael wrote that song with Lionel Richie and, along with forty-four other artists, recorded it at night in the studio. Quincy Jones was responsible for producing the song.

Raymon Bain, his spokesperson, said that so far many artists—including James Brown, Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz, and Jay Z—have announced that they are ready to participate in the charity song “From The Bottom Of My Heart.”

Source: MJJSource / BBC News / Associated Press