Chris Brown was thrown a lifeline by Jermaine Jackson today when he announced that the disgraced R & B singer would star in an Austrian memorial concert for his famous brother later this month.
Convicted in June of assaulting his pop star girlfriend Rihanna, Brown will make his comeback at the Vienna tribute to Michael Jackson in the company of Natalie Cole, Mary J Blige and Akon.
German boy band US5, actress Angela Bassett and veteran American girl group Sister Sledge will also join him for the concert in the grounds of Schoenbrunn Palace on September 26.
Announcing the line-up today, Jermaine ignored worldwide condemnation of the February assault to praise Brown as the perfect performer to take part in the tribute to his brother, who died suddenly in Los Angeles on June 25.
“Michael was his idol and he (Brown) dedicated his first No 1 hit in the US to Michael. Chris is a very, very talented artist,” he said.
The tribute will put Brown back in front of a global audience, with CNN planning to beam the concert around the world, after close to seven months in the show business wilderness.
Jermaine is thought to have endorsed the singer because he stood by Jackson as his career spiralled downwards. Brown performed Thriller for the King of Pop at the 2006 World Music Awards when Jackson was famously unable to summon more than a few lines of We Are The World.
Brown wasn’t the triubte announcement’s only surprise – Madonna, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and a range of other high-profile performers strongly rumoured to be taking part were missing from the list.
But event promoter Georg Kindel said that there would be up to 25 artists performing, including Jermaine, and that further announcements would be made.
“This is not the final line-up — maybe some of the names you mentioned you will hear within the next couple of days,” he told reporters who asked about Madonna and Houston.
He said that more names will be unveiled later this week in London and Berlin.
The event, which will draw a 65,000-strong audience, is being billed as the world’s main tribute concert after promoters AEG failed to get an O2 memorial event off the ground last month.
Jermaine said he had chosen the Vienna venue for the tribute because his brother “loved castles”.
Jackson was buried in a private ceremony last week, more than two months after his death in Los Angeles.
His death has been ruled a homicide and several doctors who treated Jackson are under investigation.
9 comments
US5….
Isn't that the group Lou Pearlman put together before he went to jail? I heard their current label Triple M has their balls in a vice grip and is still milking them for everything they've got…Which isn't much.
yes, you're right. I don't know what they have to do there!? Like who cares about them?
US5 has the potential to do well, if they got away from the greedy bastards who control them. I don't know why US5 stays with people who will always screw them over.
Triple M on the other hand is a very corrupt record label in Germany who has teamed up with new managers that are just as greedy.
Several of the members of US5 has left the group because of the evil involved (Mikel, Chris Watrin, Vincent Tomas). With such a high turnover rate, questions should be asked.
The question is this, “WHAT THE HELL IS REALLY GOING ON?”
US5….
Isn't that the group Lou Pearlman put together before he went to jail? I heard their current label Triple M has their balls in a vice grip and is still milking them for everything they've got…Which isn't much.
yes, you're right. I don't know what they have to do there!? Like who cares about them?
US5 has the potential to do well, if they got away from the greedy bastards who control them. I don't know why US5 stays with people who will always screw them over.
Triple M on the other hand is a very corrupt record label in Germany who has teamed up with new managers that are just as greedy.
Several of the members of US5 has left the group because of the evil involved (Mikel, Chris Watrin, Vincent Tomas). With such a high turnover rate, questions should be asked.
The question is this, “WHAT THE HELL IS REALLY GOING ON?”
US5….
Isn't that the group Lou Pearlman put together before he went to jail? I heard their current label Triple M has their balls in a vice grip and is still milking them for everything they've got…Which isn't much.
yes, you're right. I don't know what they have to do there!? Like who cares about them?
US5 has the potential to do well, if they got away from the greedy bastards who control them. I don't know why US5 stays with people who will always screw them over.
Triple M on the other hand is a very corrupt record label in Germany who has teamed up with new managers that are just as greedy.
Several of the members of US5 has left the group because of the evil involved (Mikel, Chris Watrin, Vincent Tomas). With such a high turnover rate, questions should be asked.
The question is this, “WHAT THE HELL IS REALLY GOING ON?”