A Michael Jackson impersonator thinks vocals he recorded may have been used on the singer’s ‘Michael’ album.
Ricky Galliano claims he was paid to copy the singer’s style on 21 tracks recorded secretly in a studio in the Swiss city of Lausanne, after the ‘King Of Pop’s death from acute Propofol intoxication last June.
Members of Michael’s family have also voiced concern vocals on the posthumous release are not genuine.
Italian-born Ricky told The Sun newspaper: “They were most insistent that I make my voice sound as much like Michael’s as possible – to mimic him exactly.”
He explained how he recorded the songs after being approached by a man, whom he thinks was from Bahrain, to record the studio sessions, and paid 2000 Euros per track.
Last week Michael’s youngest brother, Randy, said he doubted some of the vocals on the ‘Michael’ album in a series of posts on twitter, slamming record company Sony and the court appointed executors of Michael’s estate, John McClain and John Branca.
He wrote: “McClain went to work putting together the first album. Calling all over the place looking for music with my brother’s voice on it, from what I heard, he didn’t care about the quality or how complete the vocals were.
“Some of the songs are him, and some aren’t. I would be my life on that.”
The owner of the studio where Ricky cut the tracks, Mohammed Ben Salah, said he believed they were for a Michael Jackson tribute disc.
Sony have dismissed claims the singing on ‘Michael’ is not all the star’s work, saying they went to “extraordinary lengths” to ensure the vocals are genuine and six of the star’s producers and engineers have confirmed it was “definitely” his voice.