John Branca Wins an Award (+ a Memory of Michael Jackson)

you read that John Branca receives the Grammy Service Award for his valuable legal services in the entertainment industry.

The ceremony was held yesterday in Los Angeles, where Howard Weitzman, the lawyer for the Michael Jackson Foundation, presented the Grammy Service Award to his friend and colleague, John Branca.

For many years, John Branca was Michael Jackson’s friend, trusted advisor, and main counsel, and the King of Pop appointed him to take charge of affairs after his death. Branca is also a partner at the legal advisory firm Ziffren Brittenham LLP and the former secretary of the board of MusiCares, the charitable foundation supporting musicians.

In his speech, Branca talked about his love for music, saying it led him into the legal world of the industry. He is a fan of Elvis Presley, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Barry Gordy, and the Backstreet Boys. He also remembers two events that influenced the course of his career.

The first event happened when he was working for the Backstreet Boys (the American rock group formed in 1961) and had to help them decide whether to keep Steve Love in the role of managing their schedule or remove him. Two members of the band, Mike Love and Al Jardine, were in favor of firing him, but Carl and Dennis Wilson were against it. The decision fell to the fifth person, Brian Wilson, who was in deep sleep. Branca asked him to hit the table once if he agreed to keep Love, and twice if he disagreed... Wilson hit three times, and in the end Branca was put in charge of persuading Steve Love to resign.

The second event was his first legal experience as Michael Jackson’s lawyer. Michael called him to issue instructions to do something that was extremely urgent. Branca says:

“I showed up at the phone with a pen and a notebook in my hand.”

What was Michael’s request? He needed his pinball machine to be repaired as quickly as possible.

Branca’s final remarks after thanking his family and colleagues were:

“In a world where music companies try to take everything under their umbrella, lawyers will remain an independent voice in artists’ lives, so that when the time comes, they can defend and support them.”

His words were met with standing applause from the audience.

Not long ago, Pierce Morgan conducted an interview with John Branca and Howard Weitzman, which you can read on this page. In that interview, Branca talked about the start of his relationship with Michael, Sony/ATV’s catalog, and the foundation’s activities.

Source: eMJey.com / billboard.biz