Michael Jackson had two albums in the works at the time of his death, Billboard magazine has reported.

The singer was collaborating on a pop album with singer-songwriters Claude Kelly and Akon, and another collection of classics.

Kelly said: “He was the King of Pop, the biggest to ever do it, and the one thing you never lose - whether known by the whole world or just 10 people - is your love for music. That never goes away and it never went away for him amidst his troubles.”

Akon (pictured) said: “My fans are still there. They still love me. They’re alive … His kids are like his first priority, and they had never seen him perform live. He was trying to create the most incredible show for his kids.”

Jackson was also working on an instrumental album, collaborating with composer David Michael Frank. “He had two demos of two pieces he’d written, but they weren’t complete,” Frank reportedly told Billboard.

“For one of them, he had a whole section of it done in his head. He had not recorded it. He hummed it to me as I sat at the keyboard in his pool house and we figured out the chords - I guess this recording I made is the only copy that exists of this music.”

Further compositions were also in the pipeline, a jazz track among them. “He mentioned more instrumental music of his he wanted to record, including one jazz piece,” said Frank, who hopes the Jackson family will decide to record the music as a “tribute and show the world the depth of his artistry”.

Meanwhile, Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am earlier this week said Jackson had recordings of new songs the pair had worked on together. “He had all the hard drives because I didn’t want to be responsible for that.”

Source: Splash News

A Michael Jackson spam storm has infiltrated websites around the world.

In Sydney, cyber-criminals hacked into a web server that services Beatz Radio, a weekly dance music show on FM 99.3. The hackers allegedly used the site to host a file claiming to provide previously unseen videos and pictures of Jackson.

The file was in fact a password-stealing trojan. Links to a fake YouTube clip were then sprayed out across the world as part of an e-mail spam campaign that sought to exploit the outpouring of grief after Jackson’s death last week.

Beatz Radio chief Tim Little had no idea what had happened until he was contacted by the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team. It informed him some security groups and search engines had blacklisted his site, he said. He has now removed the malware.

“Our site has been hacked twice and it has only just gone live today,” Little said. “The first time it got hacked they actually put pictures of dead babies and it was all in Turkish, which was quite concerning - but luckily the site wasn’t open to the public.”

Jay Liew, security researcher at WebSense security labs in the US, which discovered the Australian link in the Jackson spam campaign, said cases of innocent websites being hijacked by cyber-criminals were frighteningly common.

“If you’re an independent radio station … you wouldn’t have a huge budget to manage your security, so unless you’re really technical and know how to lock down your server, you’re susceptible to all these attacks from bad guys,” Liew said.

Jackson had key scenes set in a cemetery to remind fans of his pioneering 1983 video for his hit Thriller.

But now the video - expected to be ready for screening next month - will instead have a spooky, emotional impact for fans as Jackson is scene in the cemetery.

Asked about the video, Jackson’s close friend Miko Brando said: “True.”

Asked when the video would be released, Miko - the son of late acting legend Marlon Brando - said: “That’s a good question. We’d love to see that. I would think soon, hopefully.”

The video was produced by Robb Wagner and filmed a Culver Studios, which 70 years ago was the set for the classic film Gone With the Wind.

The cemetery scenes are one of four sets in the video.

Besides the cemetery, one set featured an oversized portrait of Jackson in his Thriller werewolf costume, another was a jungle, and the fourth a construction site.

Source: Splash News

Kanye West will be happy the weather forecast is sun for the UK’s Wireless Festival, his protege Mr Hudson has revealed.

The rapper’s British protege Mr Hudson, 28, said that Kanye, 32, is not a fan of the rain.

He said: “I’m so pleased that it’s looking to be a warm sunny day as Kanye can’t cope with rain. If it drizzles he would be calling it a thunderstorm and be like: ‘Man it’s so cold.’ It’s quite funny.”

The star, whose real name is Ben Hudson, joined Kanye for a bike trip around Amsterdam recently.

He added: “I rode in front while Kanye rode behind rapping and thinking up new ideas. It started to drizzle and he just kept moaning: ‘Hudson, it’s so wet and cold.’

“He ended up being distracted by expensive designer shops we rode past so he insisted we gave up and went in there instead.”

But despite having worked with Kanye and R&B star Estelle, Hudson admitted he hasn’t been flashing the cash.

He said: “I followed Kanye around the shops while he splashed out. I don’t want to tempt fate by going crazy with money, especially as it’s not really mine to spend.

“At the minute I’ll stick to window shopping.”

Source: Splash News

* Video of the Year: Beyonce Knowles - “Single Ladies ”
* Best Male R&B Artist: Ne-Yo
* Best Female R&B Artist: Beyonce Knowles
* Best Male Hip-Hop Artist: Lil Wayne
* Best Female Hip-Hop Artist: M.I.A.
* Best Group: DAY26
* Best New Artist: Keri Hilson
* Viewer’s Choice: T.I. feat. Rihanna - “Live Your Life”
* Best Collaboration: Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain - “Blame It”
* Video Director of the Year: Benny Boom
* Centric Award: Jazmine Sullivan
* Best Gospel Artist: Mary Mary
* Best Actor: Will Smith
* Best Actress: Taraji P. Henson
* Best Male Athlete: LeBron James
* Best Female Athlete: Serena Williams
* Humanitarian Award: Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean
* Lifetime Achievement Award: The O’Jays

Janet Jackson joined the stars of hip-hop, RnB and soul in paying emotional tributes to the King Of Pop at the BET Awards in Los Angeles last night.

In her first public appearance since her brother’s death, Janet thanked fans around the world for their outpouring of support.

The Black Entertainment Television Awards show held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles was completely overhauled and turned into a tribute to the King Of Pop in just three days.

Janet said: “My entire family wanted to be here tonight but it was just to painful. So they elected me to speak to you.

“To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family. He will forever live in all of our hearts.”

“On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love, thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much.”

Jamie Foxx kicked off the event with a moonwalking tribute to Michael Jackson.

He said: “No need to be sad tonight. We want to celebrate this black man, he belonged to us and we shared him with everyone else.

“They talk about how he looks in the media but it don’t make a difference what he looked like.

“It was all about what he sounded like. It didn’t make a difference what his nose looked like – I liked the old nose, I liked the new nose. I loved the Afro and I loved the jerry curls.”

Stars including Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Chaka Khan, Sean Diddy Combs, Tyra Banks, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Queen Latifah all offered condolences to the Jackson family as they performed on the show.

The mother of Michael Jackson’s two children is reportedly poised to take full control of them in the wake of the superstar’s death.

Debbie Rowe was understood to have given up her parental rights to Paris and Michael Joseph Jr. after a custody battle in 2005, saying the music legend was a great father.

But it’s now emerged that a technicality during the court proceedings meant that she never officially handed over those rights.

It comes despite widespread speculation that Jackson’s mother Katherine would take custody of the pair.

According to TMZ.com, retired Judge Stephen Lachs, who presided over the hearing, had initially ruled that Rowe’s rights were terminated.

However, he later reversed this decision because the American nurse had not undergone a parental fitness investigation.

Lance Spiegel, the lawyer who represented Jackson, told the website that legally, the Department of Children and Family Services must conduct such an inquiry before a person can have their parental rights terminated.

It means that under California law, Rowe is now presumed to be the person who will get custody of Michael Jnr, 12 and Paris, 11.

The only way she can be denied custody is if a court determines that this would be “detrimental to the children”.

It’s reported that Rowe intends to apply for custody, although she is likely to have a fight on her hands.

If a bid is successful, she is expected to receive hefty child support payments from the tragic musician’s estate.

Jackson, who died aged 50 on Thursday, also has a third child, Prince “Blanket” Michael II, who was born via a surrogate mother.