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Michael Jackson Opus to include unseen lyrics and pictures

The only new official Michael Jackson book is being compiled after weeks of legal wrangling. It will include lyrics never seen before, plus drawings and pictures from the singer’s personal archives.

The Michael Jackson Opus will be handbound in leather in a silk clamshell case and is being produced by the team behind several other Opus books, including one on Manchester United that changed hands this year for £1 million, making it the most expensive sports publication on record.

Plans to publish the book began before Jackson died. Last week a judge in Los Angeles ruled that the project could go ahead and a team of researchers has now started the huge task of going through his notebooks and boxes, as well as other material associated with him that is scattered around the world, with the agreement of his estate.

The 13in by 18in book is likely to be a huge hit with Jackson fans and will also feature handwritten lyrics that never made it on to any of his albums. The researchers are also hoping to find drawings that he did for his most famous albums, including Thriller.

The book will include a feature called augmented reality, with which a computer and webcam can be used to show 3D images emerging from the page.

Days before he died, Jackson was expressing his enthusiasm for the book, according to Peter Lopez, his entertainment lawyer. “There is no question that Michael was really excited about it,” he said. “He thought it was grand on a scale he had never seen before...
Read entire article at Times (UK)