This topic was debated a bit in the WMA's thread about MJ, so I thought I would take the debate a step further and start a topic about it. It's interesting to hear people's opinions on the matter. I'll give links to a few videos that show MJ singing live and you all can decide if you think he can or cannot sing. What makes people think he can't sing is that he hardly ever sings live and they think he is trying to hide something. I doubt that is the case because the videos below show him singing live and doing an amazing job at it.

MJ singing live
Killing Me Softly (mid 1970s) - http://www.youtube.com/wa...idGBdnR_xI (great)
Dirty Diana (1988 Bad World Tour) - http://www.youtube.com/wa...9v0ZkrWZi4 (awesome)
She's Out Of My Life (1992 Dangerous World Tour) - http://youtube.com/watch?v=nfqkRY20_B8 (beautiful, amazing)
Jackson 5 Medley (2001 30th Anniverary Concert) - http://www.youtube.com/wa...zxXGZ-bfXk (pretty good)


If anyone else who knows of videos of MJ singing live, please post a link. So start debating, if you think MJ can't sing, back it up because his live performances and studio recordings tell a different story.

Is this about whether he can still sing NOW or if he ever could? Of course he had a killer, AMAZING voice for years & years. I would imagine it's still very VERY good. I just haven't heard the bitch sing LIVE in years b/c he choses not to put forth the effort. And the latest clip you posted is 5 years old, but I could only make it through 28 seconds of that bullshit

I dunno, "Butterflies" is some beautiful shit. His studio voice will probably always be fantastic but in live situations he's too busy shaking that gut & saying, "I love you too!" to just sit his ass down on a stool & SANG

DarlingDiana said:

Well he certainly was off-key. when he was singing "We Are The World" with those childen a couple days ago.

?????

CalhounSq said:

Exactly.
I think it is a combo of a few things:

1)Lack of Effort - Michael clearly does not have that "fire in his belly" as one author put it. It is like he is not interested in performing and making music as he once was as much as he once was. He has a family now and I imagine that is his main concern, as his career was 10-15 years ago.

2)Age - Michael is almost 50 years old. Your voice does change as you age. And performing does get harder with age. He can't be reliving his Motown 25 performance at 90 can he? Seriously. Michael is only human and sometimes people's expectations of him are treated way above that. (Maybe the public holds him to this high standard because the bad press, or the tribute/interview shows he puts together about himself to keep his ego happy. Either way, he is getting older.)

3)Dancing - Try doing a few spins in your room and then singing your best. Yeah you aren't Michael Jackson, but it gets tough for everyone. Even the org's darling Justin, or even P himself probably couldn't do what Michael does "dance" wise and still sing like they just walked into the studio and sipped on tea.

4)Michael just looks tired and perhaps he is. I remember watching the 30th Anniversary special when it came on TV back in 2001, and I was pumped about it. However, Michael just looked so tired/loopy/weak/frail that it was sad for me as fan. I remember after I watched it, I watched a copy of the HIStory tour on VHS. And I wished with all my heart, he would have sang and more importantly looked, as happy and ALIVE as he did during those shows. Look:http://www.youtube.com/wa...=1&t=t&f=b
" target="_blank"> http://www.youtube.com/wa...=1&t=t&f=b
(Yeah some of the singing isn't THE BEST, but compared to the 30th Anniversary stuff, it is night and day.)

Tell me Michael doesn't look tired, and I'm gonna bop you one. I love Michael. My room is more or less a shrine to the man. But he looked TIRED






The most interesting thing revealed during that crap documentry in 2002 wasn't about the "so called accuser" but for me, Michael's sleeping habbits. He said something like he never sleeps and then crashes for a day or something. That isn't good. I hope he has changed those in recent years.


Now all that being said, I'm not saying Michael still isn't a dynamic performer with heart and talent like nobody else. I think this picture was from 2002, and it reminds me of why I got into Michael back in 1992 in the first place. In a word: Wow.



[Edited 11/18/06 9:08am]

Not NEARLY as good as he once could!

All those nose-jobs got his voice sounded all kinds of nasal & fucked.
[Edited 11/18/06 10:57am]

I wonder why Mike never made a live album (not including the jacksons live lp).

TotalAlisa said:

I'll say this, that live version of Dirty Diana is better than the album version.

JasonStar said:

I love MJ but this is exactly what I was thinking when I heard the Invincible album. To me, it sounded as though he was just going through the motions.

BTW, Who is that girl in the above pic with him?
[Edited 11/18/06 11:27am]

His vocal performances as a child were the best IMO. From "Whose Loving You" on the Ed Sullivan show to the Medley featuring "Killing Me Softly " his vocals were raw and wonderful. However, I believe as he got older the dancing became more important than the singing. Therefore being a singer, first and foremost and more of a dancer, that has obviously effected his voice since he doesn't utilize or use his voice as much as he once did.
[Edited 11/18/06 11:40am]

iconsweat said:

but even that one is basically Michael Jackson Live, because he sings lead on pretty much ALL of it, and they did a lot of songs from Off The Wall.

CinisterCee said:

I agree but its like Bono said regarding releasing another ocncert dvd ..people are tired of Rattle and Hum the movie

there's a lot more MJ only material since 81
[Edited 11/18/06 12:48pm]

I think Michael's dancing was more important to him than singing.

Would we love videos like "Beat It", "Thriller", "Bad", "Smooth Criminal", "Remember The Time", "Billie Jean" without the dancing?

Krytonite said:

You can still do all that without neglecting your singing. As I said if you look at his early performances the dancing was always iimportant, but never as important as the singing. He could sit on a stool in the middle of a stage and sing live; he could take a song to the audience. He can't seem to do that anymore. He mimes the fast songs that have lots of dancing and he mimes the slower songs too, or if he does sing, he seems to struggle; But, then again what does one expect when he neglects his main asset.

yes, he CAN sing. that's even evident on some of his more recent releases. but more often than not, he chooses to spit out his lyrics rather than sing them.

JasonStar said:

Do her pits stink? He looks like he's vomiting

DarlingDiana said:

WAS THAT THE BEST livePERFORMANCES YOU COULD FIND WITH MICHAEL?

The Killing me softlyperformance and Dirty Diana are great but I've seen many better performances of She's out of my life and Michael was not his old self on MSG. His vocals on I'll be there wasn't good. He had a dreadful vibrato on that one when he sang the verses.

Here are some better examples IMO:

I wanna be where you are (J5 1972) - incredible vocals by MJ and Jermaine's bassline is marvelous. http://www.youtube.com/wa...3DKh1iVK5c

Ben (Jacksons/Triumph tour 1981) - Michael was at his peak as a performer during the Triumph tour IMO. Too bad the Jacksons never put this out on official video. http://www.youtube.com/wa...tlJXObJvu4

You were made especially for me (J5 1975) - This is raw talent (Marlon and Jackie also show some talent here) http://www.youtube.com/wa...JG3Kaw4EqU

Rock with you - live in the early 80s, totally feel good http://www.youtube.com/wa...UfPjOZpdQI

Heartbreak Hotel (Jacksons/Victory tour 1984) - listen to the ad libs by Michael and Tito's solo is pretty cool too... http://www.youtube.com/wa...JmmAgCDPPI

Another part of me (live from Bad tour) - he was still amazing in the late 80's http://www.youtube.com/wa...UfPjOZpdQI

And if you want to hear I'll be there live sung by the adult Jacksons and with good vocals not only from Jermaine but also Mike http://www.youtube.com/wa...LL4xaCq4-M
[Edited 11/18/06 17:25pm]

http://www.youtube.com/wa...wIfs5vI94Y

A clip of MJ singing live at a Sammy Davis's 60th birthday party. He sounds wonderful live.

I can't believe that we are even talking about this. Of course he can sing live.

illimack said:

Yea, that was the late 80s, up to them he still sang live, very well. But from the early 90s, when the dance conmpletely took his voice has gone down the hill, it doesn't mean he can't sing it just means he can't sing as good as he once did.

How about this???? That´s not that long ago.
Elizabeth, I love you

http://www.youtube.com/wa...w4NIdFfdI0
BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Of course, he can sing!!!!
[Edited 11/19/06 6:36am]

dag said:

of course he could sing, but can he still deliver live? that's the question really


Anyways...he used to be incredible...this performance is one of the best I've heard with him as an adult...

http://www.youtube.com/wa...I6tXujU7Ow
http://www.youtube.com/wa...33aklcF6is

manthevan said:

But that was live, wasn´t it? And it ain´t even that long ago.

dag said:

that performance is lovely but it is almost 10 years ago

Sure Mike can sing. But probably not as good as before. You have to factor in his age and all the stressful situations he's been through. Then he probably hasn't worked with his voice coach in awhile.

"Speechless" is one of the most beautiful MJ songs in recent years, and the acapella start is the best part.

JasonStar said:

the controversy is about if he's able to do it live still so speechless or Butterflies etc is a non-argument

http://www.youtube.com/wa...epV7fo8mE8

This is another great vocal performance. What I like about this performance is the way he improvises and the way he and the brothers gets the audience involved in the song. They took the song to the audience, something Michael rarely does has a solo performer.
[Edited 11/19/06 11:45am]

whatsgoingon said:

Watching this almost makes me wish Thriller had never happen.

whatsgoingon said:

YES I agree, he was a natural...since the 90's it has often been to calculated IMO.