Ever since I was a little boy, I would study composition. And it was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky that influenced me the most. If you take an album like Nutcracker Suite, every song is killer, every one. So I said to myself, 'Why can't there be a pop album where every...' - People used to do an album where you'd get one good song, and the rest were like B-sides, they'd call them 'album songs' - and i'd say to myself 'Why can't every one be like a hit song? Why can't every song be so great that people would want to buy it if you could release it as a single?. So I always tried to strive for that. That was the purpose for the next album. ~Michael Jackson on influences, Ebony Magazine December 2007.

I always wanted to do music that influences and inspires each generation. Lets face it, who wants mortality? ~Michael Jackson on how he creates memorable music…

The industry, It's at a crossroad, There's a transformation going on. People are confused, what's going on, how to distribute and sell music. The internet kind…

Lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons. ~From a statement released soon after his arrest, November 2003.

What do you think of Puccini? [ Britten: 'I think his operas are dreadful.' ] No, Ben, you are wrong. He wrote marvellous operas, but dreadful music.

Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.

Bon Dieu; la voila terminee, cette pauvre petite messe. Est-ce bien de la musique sacree que je viens de faire, ou bien de la sacre musique ? J'etais ne pour l…