In the 12 months after his death, Jackson sold mor Essays

In the 12 months after his death, Jackson sold more than 8.2 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide, making him the best-selling albums artist of 2009. [334] [335] He became the first artist to sell one million downloads in a week in music download history, with a record-breaking 2.6 million downloads of his songs. Three of his albums, Thriller , Number Ones and The Essential Michael Jackson , sold more than any new album, the first time a catalog album has ever scanned more sales than any new album. [336] Jackson also became the first artist in history to have four of the top 20 best-selling albums in a single year in the United States. [334] Following this surge in sales, Sony extended its distribution rights for Jackson's material, which had been due to expire in 2015. [337] On March 16, 2010, Sony Music Entertainment , spearheaded by its Columbia/Epic Label Group division, signed a new deal with the Jackson es tate to extend their distribution rights to his back catalogue until at least 2017, and release ten new albums of previously unreleased material and new collections of released work. [338] On November 4, 2010, Sony announced the first posthumous album, Michael , released on December 14, with the promotional single, " Breaking News ", released to radio on November 8. [339] Sony Music paid the Jackson estate $250 million for the deal, plus royalties, making it the most expensive music contract pertaining to a single artist in history. [337] [340] Video game developer Ubisoft announced a dancing-and-singing game featuring Michael Jackson for the 2010 holiday season, Michael Jackson: The Experience ; it was among the first games to use Kinect and PlayStation Move , the motion-detecting camera systems for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 respectively. [341] On November 3, 2010, the theatre company Cirque du Soleil announced that it would launch Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour in October 2011 in Montreal, while a permanent show would reside in Las Vegas. [342] The 90-minute $57-million production combined Jackson's music and choreography with the Cirque's artistry, dance and aerial displays involving 65 artists. [343] On October 3, 2011, a compilation soundtrack album accompanying the tour, Immortal , was announced. [344] A second, larger and more theatrical Cirque show, Michael Jackson: One , designed for residency at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, was announced on February 21, 2013. This show began its run on May 23, 2013 in a newly renovated theater to critical and commercial success. [345] [346] [347] [348] In April 2011, billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed , chairman of Fulham Football Club , unveiled a statue of Michael Jackson outside the club's stadium, Craven Cottage . [349] Fulham fans were bemused by the statue and failed to understand the relevance of Jackson to the club. [350] Al-Fayed defended the statue and told the fans to "go to hell" if they did not appreciate it. [349] The statue was removed in September 2013 [351] and moved to the National Football Museum in Manchester in May 2014. [352] In 2012, in an attempt to end public family feuding, Jackson's brother Jermaine Jackson retracted his signature on a public letter criticizing executors of Michael Jackson's estate and his mother's advisers concerning the legitimacy of his brother's will. [353] T.J. Jackson, son of Tito Jackson, was given co-guardianship of Michael Jackson's children after false reports surfaced of Katherine Jackson going missing. [354] On May 16, 2013, choreographer Wade Robson alleged on The Today Show that Jackson sexually abused him for 7 years, beginning when Robson was 7 years old. [355] Robson had previously testified in defence of Jackson at the singer's 2005 child molestation trial. [356] The attorney for Jackson's estate described Robson's claim as "outrageous and pathetic". [357] The date for the hearing which will determine whether Robson can sue Jackson's estate was scheduled for June 2, 2014. [358] [ needs update ] In February 2014, the Internal Revenue Service reported that Jackson's estate owed $702 million, including $505 million in taxes, plus $197 million in penalties after the estate had undervalued Jackson's fortune. [359] On March 31, 2014, Epic Records announced Xscape , an