Pop megastar Michael Jackson is in advanced talks with concert organisers for a series of up to 30 live shows at London's O2 Arena this summer, British newspapers reported Saturday.
'King of Pop' eyes London comeback concerts
<cite class="auth">AFP - Sunday, February 22</cite>LONDON (AFP) - - Pop megastar Michael Jackson is in talks with concert organisers for a comeback series of up to 30 live shows in London later this year, a source close to the negotiations told AFP Saturday.
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The source, who requested anonymity, confirmed media reports that the 50-year-old "King of Pop" could be set to play his first major concerts since his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges. London's O2 arena is reportedly competing with resort hotels in Las Vegas in the US for the right to host the shows, which could net the fallen icon up to 150 million pounds, reports said. If the deal is confirmed, it would be a spectacular return to the limelight for Jackson, who dominated pop with hit albums like "Thriller" and "Bad" in the 1980s but has virtually vanished from public view since his trial.
"It will be the greatest comeback in the history of pop and there would be no problem selling out the O2 every night," an unidentified source told the Daily Mail newspaper. "No one is concerned about his reputation and people don't feel it is a risk. Organisers are confident people will come from all over the world to see him. There have been rumours about his health but that is not an issue." The star has reportedly hit financial difficulties and last year faced a seven million dollar lawsuit in London brought by a son of the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, over an alleged unpaid debt. Jackson and the sheikh settled eventually agreed a confidential out-of-court deal to resolve the matter. But he could be set to earn big bucks from the comeback concerts -- the Sun placed possible earnings at 150 million pounds, while the Times said that VIP packagaes at the 20,000 seat arena could go for 1,000 pounds.
Jackson has repeatedly said he is working on a new album, but so far nothing concrete has materialized. "Thriller", which was released in 1982, remains the world's best-selling album of all time and he has sold over 750 million records during his career. The last time he was in London was November 2006, when he appeared at the World Music Awards to accept an award for selling more than 100 million albums over the course of his career. Though it had been expected that Jackson would recreate "Thriller" at the awards, he instead sang only a few lines of "We Are The World" with a group of youngsters, prompting critics to slate the performance.
