Friendship and a Paintbrush: Interview with Michael’s Painter

David Nordahl is known for creating many paintings of the King of Pop—from 1988 to 2005.

Of course, he also had clients other than Michael—for example, Steven Spielberg.

David was both Michael’s painter and his friend. He spent a great deal of time with Michael and his children. He went on vacations with them and had many personal conversations with the King of Pop. In addition, he also offered ideas about designing Neverland Park and the amusement park to Michael.

He has always been reluctant to do interviews because he believes the media isn’t interested in hearing his stories about Michael’s goodness. He has never found anything bad about Michael. Now, in a warm conversation with the website Reflections on the Dance, he is remembering his longtime friend.

Michael, friendship, painkillers, and paid interviews

“I don’t know whether people make up these stories, or whether they’ve been paid to do interviews and say certain things (Mr. Nordahl was offered an interview in exchange for money, and he refused). They want to interview me as long as what I say suits them. They offered a lot of money. For example, Star magazine showed up with a bag full of money and went around this way and that.”

“I never saw Michael affected by drugs or alcohol. And I saw him at different times of day and night—early in the morning, after midnight… all the time. He was always completely normal, completely sober.”

“I don’t know if, in the last years, he had turned toward medications. So much false information is always given about Michael. I don’t trust what other people say—except for things that I personally believe. People are very eager to appear on television. I don’t know why, but they’re very enthusiastic about giving false information.”

“This Michael made him very angry—for example, he would say… ‘I saw an interview with my barber, and he (she) was talking about me. But that barber doesn’t know anything about me!’”

“He kept himself away from others. We were very good friends, and we talked about everything you can imagine. But he wasn’t like that with most people—just because he was afraid that people would go and tell someone else his words and private things. I never did that. I never agreed to interviews like that. He felt comfortable with me. He felt like he could talk to me and trusted that I wouldn’t share his words with others.”

Accusations, court, and insomnia

“In those days, I spent a lot of time with him—especially after the 2003 incident. He couldn’t sleep. He usually went to bed around 11 p.m., and sometimes he would fall asleep. But even if he did sleep, he would wake up again. That’s why he always asked me… ‘Is it okay if I wake you up?’… and I would say… ‘Of course not. Knock on my door.’… and he would do that, and he was always worried. He would say… ‘Oh, you can’t possibly sleep because of me.’… and I would say… ‘Well, if I’m really tired, I’ll take a nap in the afternoon.’… At midnight we would go out and walk until morning.”

Extortion

“Every year, Michael was targeted by people trying to extort him 50 to 60 times. Most of them were women who claimed they had children with Michael, and the other claims were also centered around music. They claimed Michael stole their songs or their music. But the court rejected all of these claims because there was no evidence or proof.”

Michael’s personality

“I’ve never seen anyone more balanced and more normal than him. He was a completely normal person—very intellectual, very sharp, and very normal.”

Fatherly

“He was definitely a legendary father. I’ve never seen a father as good as Michael—or better than him. Those children were pure joy and pure energy. I’ve never seen children like them in my life. I spent long periods of time with them. I never heard their crying. I never heard them beg for anything. I never saw them get angry and lose their temper.”

Kindness

“He was very pure, very warm, and very kind. Throughout the time I knew Michael—almost more than 20 years—I never heard his voice raised at anyone. It never happened. He was a very good person—inside, he was truly a good person.”

Humanitarianism, generosity, and humility

“Michael gave one-third of a billion dollars to children. He paid for their surgeries, built a hospital, built an orphanage, built a burn accident center, and so on and so on. He never talked about the good things he was doing. You always heard about his work from people around him—because Michael always believed that if you do a good deed and then talk about it and show off, all your good work is destroyed. So he never spoke about his deeds.”

His amazing love for children

“I asked him… ‘Michael, how can you do this? How can you spend time with these dying children, and then go on stage and perform such an incredible show?’… He said… ‘If these children want to see me, why can’t I? I know I’m not the important one, but it’s this Michael Jackson superstar who matters to them. And if I can do something so that a child lives one more month, or one more day, or one more hour, or one more minute—doesn’t that matter?’”

“Michael was always like that. If someone told him on the phone that a child was dying, he would take a plane and go. And then he would tell the child… ‘I’ll come back to see you in two weeks.’ And he delayed their deaths many times in exactly that way. He gave them motivation to keep living. We should admire that kind of behavior.”

Michael’s goal

“Michael told me… ‘We all came to this earth to do something. I came to help the children.’ And that’s what he did from the moment I first saw him. He was 29 years old. Helping children was his life—and until the day he died, he lived that way. Michael never changed. He had extraordinary empathy, especially for children who were ignored, injured, or sick. People who were hungry and homeless were always his first thoughts. And then, when he was accused of such horrifying things, it shut him down immediately. And then, when it happened again 10 years later, he was destroyed—literally.”

He never believed his own beauty

“Oh my God, no… We talked a lot about his appearance. He had that inner light within him, and he always considered himself very ugly. He said he wasn’t a handsome man… ‘That’s why I don’t do interviews and I don’t go on TV shows. I don’t have an interesting life. I work all the time’… and that’s what he did—working all the time, staying busy.”

Truly, he never realized he had an inner light

“I would sit and talk with Michael. I would look into his eyes, and I could see that light—so much of it. He had the most stunning eyes in the world. In films they show them very well, but it’s never like seeing them in person, when you’re sitting next to him and looking at him. Those eyes were unbelievable.

There were times when I’d freeze for a moment, and sometimes when I was beside him I would suddenly forget who he was—and then remember… ‘I’m sitting here next to Michael Jackson.’ I never really got used to that. Sometimes he would do these little dance moves with his feet—like lightning. He was really, really fast, very precise, and truly astonishing.”

He wasn’t the kind of person who says “me, me, me.” He always thought about others.

“I never, ever heard him complain about himself, his health, or anything else. All of his worries were about his children. Even when he faced the danger of prison in his last court case (the 2005 trial, in which he was acquitted)—whenever he talked about court, he was very worried about… ‘What will happen to my children?’… but he never even once said… ‘What will happen to me? So what will I become?’ He wasn’t the kind of person who says “me, me, me.” He always thought about others.”

Michael and the tabloid press

“I would tell him… ‘Why do you let them make up these lies about you?’… and he would say… ‘When you’re in this industry and you’re visible as much as I am, these things happen to you. No matter what you say, you can’t stop them.’ But beyond that, they caused his downfall because he didn’t speak up when it was needed.

They disrespected him, ignoring the fact that he is a human being and that he did good throughout his entire life. How could they do that to such a poor man?’”

Michael valued what he had and never treated it as unimportant

“Michael would say… ‘I’m very lucky that God chose me to have this talent, and I must use it properly.’ He always said… ‘I could have been a gas station worker.’ He was always in awe of his talent and felt grateful and blessed to have it, and he was very willing to use this gift in the right way and give it back properly—and he did. And he did it all his life.”

Neverland

“He was definitely in love with Neverland (the ranch where he lived in Los Olivos, California). It was a place he could go. It was 2,700 or 2,800 acres. We drove around it in golf carts. We walked in the forest without worrying about fans rushing toward him and him falling. He could be himself there, safely.”

Michael thought about everything—including the safety of the children who came to Neverland

“For the children who came to the ranch, wheelchair seats were available at the amusement park and everywhere. Everything was managed. The amusement park equipment was made safe. For the animals, extra cages were built so the children’s hands and hair wouldn’t get caught. He was concerned about safety. The amusement park employees would go to the city of Kansas every six months to receive the necessary training to ensure the safety of disabled children. Basic measures were taken. Even in the cinema hall there were two rooms with glass walls, and hospital beds were placed there so sick children could lie down and watch movies through the glass wall. He thought of everything.”

Vitiligo, makeup, and the media

“He didn’t wear makeup on his face, and that’s how I realized he had vitiligo (the condition that causes patches of skin to turn white). It was on the right side of his face, and on his neck and the back of his hands. I don’t remember which hand it was on. I don’t know how far it had spread on his arm because he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. But I noticed the vitiligo, and as more days passed, it became more and more and more. And when he had to appear in public or perform, it was difficult for him to get the right makeup because… his skin was white—not like white people’s skin. Like a refrigerator, like snow. At first, he used darker makeup. But later, when the vitiligo spread, it became harder and harder to match the white areas with the rest of his skin. So he had no choice but to use lighter and lighter and lighter makeup.

Of course, the media bothered him about this, saying he was trying to be white. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. Michael never wanted to be white. He was proud of the person he was and where he came from. But he had no other choice. The thing he never, ever did… he never complained about this situation—even though he had the right to.”

Children, his way of life, and masks

“His way of life changed as soon as he became a father. He was very concerned about the safety of his children. He always feared they would be kidnapped, or somehow harmed, or taken hostage for money.

When Diana (Princess) died in London, he was really upset. He called me and said… ‘This could have happened to me. We’re constantly being followed by paparazzi.’ He was very worried. He was worried that the children would be involved in severe car accidents. That’s why he wore masks on their faces—because he didn’t want anyone to recognize them.”

A moment of joking and a sense of guilt

“In Denver, I asked him… ‘Do you exercise?’… He said, ‘No, I have to—otherwise?’… He really felt guilty about it. I said… ‘Hey, whatever you do is exercise.’”

Laughter and fun

“Being around him was very fun. It wasn’t dark and gloomy. We laughed a lot. He had a great sense of humor. He enjoyed joking and teasing. We would walk, and he would start singing. But not like Michael Jackson. Like the men who sing in the shower. He would just sing. I hate that I had to watch these joys leave his life, because he was such a cheerful person. He was happy, and being with him was truly enjoyable and fun.”

First meeting

“He was wearing a red velvet sweater and black pants, and comfortable shoes that looked like they had been torn. Most of the times I saw him, he dressed like that—when he wasn’t in front of the public.

He lived very simply. He never had jewelry, rings, a belt, a watch… nothing like that. Never. Only when he was on stage did he use them. I was really impressed by his simple life.”

A Bentley and the real Michael

A cream-colored Bentley was a gift from the South Korean government to Michael. When David asked him whether he had ever driven it, he said… ‘No, no, no. I’ve never driven it.’…

‘It was very flashy. Michael wasn’t like that. He didn’t have that kind of style.’”

A painting, a storage room, and Slash

David was busy working on a painting for Michael.

“He asked if my work was finished, and I said… ‘It’s almost finished—I’m packaging it.’… and he said… ‘Can you bring it here so I can see it?’… I said… ‘Of course, I’ll do that.’… So I went to the recording studio. When I walked in, he grabbed me and said… ‘Come here.’… There was a place like a storage room. We stood inside the storage room, and he said… ‘Those men—blood was boiling in their veins because of me.’… I said… ‘What happened?’…

Slash and Jimmy Jam were there. These are top-tier musicians who are used to stopping work when they get what they want. Michael would keep them in the studio until 3 or 4 a.m., and he would do the same thing again and again and again. He would wear them down. Michael wouldn’t accept anything until he had discovered everything.

You had to understand whether there was a way to make the song a little better or not. He didn’t do it for himself. He did it for his fans. I’ve never seen anyone care about his fans this much. The shows he arranged, the concerts—they had to be the best they could be. He wanted people to enjoy it as much as the money they spent.”

Source: eMJey / reflectionsonthedance.com