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The hits YOU want to see at The O2 this July
Ben Rogerson, Thu 5 Mar 2009, 4:09 pm GMT
Michael Jackson's just-announced summer shows at London's O2 Arena are sure to be a massive draw, but let's face it, the guy hasn't performed for a while, and a few star cameos certainly wouldn't harm his cause.
Fortunately, MJ has a well-stuffed contacts book on which to call. He's worked with some of the biggest names in music over the years – we've put together a setlist of collaborations that that would tear the roof off the venue formerly known as The Millennium Dome.
Jackson will need to get the crowd on his side from the word go, so what better place to start than this US number one from 1983? For absolute authenticity, Eddie Van Halen should be hauled on stage to recreate the guitar solo he performed on the original recording, though Slash has played this live, too (see below), and John Mayer took on axe hero duties when Fall Out Boy covered the song.
Siedah Garret may have sung on the studio version (allegedly, both Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston were offered the duet first), but when The King Of Pop toured 1987's Bad album, a young Sheryl Crow, who was on backing vocal duties, was required to sing the song. Getting her onboard for the comeback shows could be tricky, though, as could finding enough spray to make her hair this big.
She'd previously provided backing vocals on 1983's P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing), but this 1995 single represented the first full-on duet between Michael and his younger sister, who brought along regular production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to help out. If she did turn up at the O2, though, another 'wardrobe malfunction' must be avoided – that would just be plain wrong.







