RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH
THE MICHAEL JACKSON TAPES
A TRAGIC ICON REVEALS HIS SOUL IN INTIMATE CONVERSATION (SEPTEMBER 2009)
by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
“I am going to say something I have never said before and this is the truth. I have no reason to lie to you…” – Michael Jackson to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
“I realized that the extraordinary things Michael shared with me in these conversations would fill the three giant holes left open by the media coverage: Who was the real Michael Jackson? What pain did he live with? And what moral lesson could be extracted from his tragic death that could bring redemption to a life senselessly cut short?” – Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
These are the words of Michael Jackson as he will never be heard again, an extraordinarily gifted yet conflicted human being—thoughtful, wounded, inspiring, and hopeful. This is the deeper side of Michael that he very much wanted to reveal to the public. Speaking candidly to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the man he trusted for advice and counsel, in conversations that were recorded with the express purpose of sharing them with the public and publishing them in a book, Michael related extensive personal information to communicate the truth of who he was and why he lived with pain that could not heal. During 30 hours of conversation, they discussed the mega-star’s childhood scars, the price of fame, his spirituality, married life, his love for his children, his demanding father, his thoughts about dying young, his deep fear of aging, racism, his closest friendships, and much more. Riveting, revelatory, and remarkable…here is the man behind the mask.
With Michael’s sudden and unfortunate death, Rabbi Shmuley was moved to fulfill his friend’s wish that his true self and heart be known to the public. Their talks are the foundation of THE MICHAEL JACKSON TAPES: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation (Vanguard Press; September 25, 2009; $25.95) by internationally bestselling author Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. The depth and sincerity of their discourse are sure to change the public’s perception of Michael forever.
In their wide-ranging conversations, some of which eerily foreshadow his early death, Michael revealed:
• His driving desire – Why he strove for perfection, success and fame;
• His father, Joe – The emotional scars left by his father’s coldness and repeated beatings, and Michael’s lifelong yearning for the smallest bit of affection from him;
• Faith – His questions about Christianity, his belief in the afterlife, and the reprimands from the Jehovah Witness church that that led him to order his “Thriller” master tape destroyed before its release;
• Dying young – His deep fear of growing old, something he said he could never face seeing in the mirror, and where he wished to be buried;
• His mission – Because he felt for all children who suffer, he tried to reach out to any child he knew who endured pain, to see if he could help;
• His power to heal – He believed he had a special power to heal people and could even have changed the heart of Hitler;
• Marriage – His dream to have nine or ten children;
• Women – His distrust of the sexual power women have over men and how his brothers’ wives separated the Jackson 5;
• Loneliness – As a mega-star in the midst of his “Thriller” fame, he was so deeply lonely he would ask people on the street in Encino to be his friend; he would set up mannequins to feel like he had human company;
• Personal relationships – His reflections on Lisa Marie Presley, Madonna, Katie Couric, Shirley Temple Black (she “saved my life”), Elizabeth Taylor (“my most loyal friend”), Brooke Shields, Fred Astaire, and Macaulay Culkin, plus encounters with Jay Leno, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Tatum O’Neal and others;
• Purity of performance – The energy, the “trance,” of being perfectly in the moment with an audience, playing off their response to him;
• The price of being a pioneer – As a black man and the most successful recording artist in the world, how he was attacked in the press with fabricated stories and lies;
• Racism – How he didn’t understand racism and hated anything that infers that the color of a person’s skin has anything to do with the “content of their character;”
• Food crises – When upset or stressed, he found it difficult to eat, to the point of losing consciousness;
• A debt of gratitude – Michael and his sister, Janet, paid care and living expenses for their tutor, Rose Fine, and her husband, feeling that Rose had acted as a loving mother figure when they were so often on tour;
• Inspiring parents to prioritize their children – Michael’s work with Rabbi Shmuley on their joint initiative to strengthen families;
• And much more.
At Michael’s request, Rabbi Shmuley also interviewed Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother, and a chapter is devoted to his conversation with her. They discussed a wide range of topics, from Michael’s sensitivity as a child, his core strength, and his spirituality, to his musical gift and dancing style and how she attempted to give him a sense of safety and security growing up.
Throughout their friendship, Michael and his children enjoyed many Jewish Sabbath dinners at Rabbi Shmuley’s home. Rabbi Shmuley has said, “A superstar whose life was frenzied and harried,
Michael welcomed the utter serenity of an evening where cell phones and TVs were off and the only sound was that of intimate conversation and gentle laughter. Michael and I always dreamed of introducing a national family dinner night, an evening when parents would prioritize their children without distraction.” Michael’s firm belief that children deserved to be a prime, affectionate focal point of their parents’ lives is a recurring theme in the book, and part of the proceeds from THE MICHAEL JACKSON TAPES will be donated to This World: The Values Network, with a specific focus on its national family dinner campaign, “Turn Friday Night Into Family Night,” a program designed to encourage families of every denomination, ethnicity, and persuasion to adopt Friday night as the time to focus exclusively on their children (FridayIsFamily.com)—turning the friends’ dream into a reality.
In THE MICHAEL JACKSON TAPES, Rabbi Shmuley does not in any way whitewash Michael’s shortcomings. Rabbi Shmuley examines the toxic effect of celebrity on the culture in general and on Michael in particular. He movingly explains how the tragedy of Michael’s life was to mistake attention for love, becoming more dependent on his fans and more alienated from his family. Rabbi Shmuley brings a searing honesty to a relationship that was incredibly meaningful in both their lives. Thoughtful and eloquent about his scarred youth, Michael Jackson looks at his life, a life Rabbi Shmuley believes serves as a modern morality tale that we as a nation ignore at our own peril.
“Michael was once a very special man, a man of deep faith, a son of considerable devotion to his parents, a pop star who eschewed the usual mix of hallucinogenic drugs and promiscuous sex with groupies and instead, visited hospitals and orphanages,” writes Rabbi Shmuley. But the story ends in terrible tragedy and Rabbi Shmuley brings unparalleled insight as he explains why. In THE MICHAEL JACKSON TAPES, he brings us into Michael Jackson’s inner circle. Part fascinating autobiography and part morality tale, it is the story of a spectacularly talented musical icon who wrestled to find the peace and contentment that was always just beyond his reach. Rabbi Shmuley’s book is a window into a brief opportunity in time when Michael Jackson might have found the path he was seeking, before fame—his drug of choice—and his rudderless life consumed him forever.