#Paul mccartney and michael jackson full

“I wrote a couple of letters and I said, Michael, don’t you think that after 30 years of being successful to this company you now own, don’t you think I could have a raise?” McCartney told David Letterman in a 2009 interview. The purchase would go on to help Jackson maintain his already lavish lifestyle and by the late 1990s, McCartney believed it was time he received a raise for his part of the songwriting equation. “Paul and I both learned the hard way about business,” the King of Pop wrote in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk, “and the importance of publishing and royalties and the dignity of songwriting.” For his part, Jackson remained generally tight-lipped over the incident. “To be someone’s friend, and then buy the rug they’re standing on.” The rift was so great that McCartney and Jackson barely spoke ever again. “I think it’s dodgy to do something like that,” he once said of the purchase.

Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images McCartney called Jackson’s purchase ‘dodgy’ Paul McCartney poses with Michael Jackson, Michael Grant and Junior Waite of Musical Youth at the British Record Industry Awards in February 1983 While not the case, the negotiations continued until Jackson increased his bid to $47.5 million and on August 10, 1985, the deal was completed. Negotiations stretched into the following year with Jackson and Holmes a Court moving towards and backing away from the deal numerous times, with Holmes a Court’s lawyers initially fearful that Jackson was bidding for his friend McCartney. In late 1984 Branca made an initial offer on behalf of Jackson to ATV of $30 million, which would eventually be increased to $46 million. Jackson instructed entertainment lawyer and manager John Branca to purchase the catalog on his behalf.īranca reportedly approached McCartney and Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono to ascertain their plans, if any, regarding the proposed sale but was told neither would be bidding. ATV owned the rights to 251 Beatles songs, including “Hey Jude,” “Yesterday” and “Let It Be, as well as 4,000 other songs and a library of sound effects.

Jackson paid $47.5 million to own the Beatles’ catalogīy the mid-1980s the Beatles catalog had come under the ownership of company ATV, which was headed by Australian billionaire Robert Holmes a Court, who appeared ready to offload the prized collection to the highest bidder. McCartney believed his friend to be joking, but in 1985 the joke became a reality and the friendship fractured. Taking the information to heart, Jackson used to joke to McCartney that one day he would own the former-Beatle’s songs. Perhaps in an effort to regain some territory in the equation, McCartney had begun to acquire the rights to other artist’s catalogs (including Buddy Holly’s) and explained to Jackson the advantages of owning the rights to music already beloved by the public. “It meant that whatever the lion’s share of the songs we did were taken by someone else.” “Very early on we got managed into a little situation,” McCartney said about originally losing the rights during a 1989 interview.

#Paul mccartney and michael jackson full

Having penned many of The Beatles’ biggest hits, McCartney was understandably unhappy that he no longer received full and ongoing compensation from the catalog. It was during this period of mutually advantageous collaboration that McCartney reportedly explained to Jackson just how lucrative music publishing rights could be, especially in light of the fact that in the late 1960s, McCartney had lost his stake in Northern Songs, the publishing company he set up with fellow Beatle John Lennon. The two would eventually go on to have hits with the duets “The Girl Is Mine,” the lead single from Jackson’s hit album Thriller (1982), and “Say, Say, Say” that was featured on McCartney’s album Pipes of Peace (1983). McCartney and Jackson became friendly in the mid-1970s when they met to discuss possible songwriting collaborations. McCartney taught Jackson how lucrative it was to own other artist’s catalogs The Beatles singer/songwriter found himself to be on the wrong end of the above scenario when words of wisdom he imparted to friend Michal Jackson came back to haunt him over rights to the Beatles song catalog, which Jackson would acquire in 1985. When that advice comes back to bite the very person who offered it in the first place, well, it can be a cruel twist of fate. Offering helpful advice to a friend is often human nature at its best.