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A Lost Michael Jackson Tune...and His Final Concert?

E! News obtains recording of 2001 version of "Shout"; meanwhile, AEG reportedly planning on selling CD/DVD of singer's comeback rehearsals

By Breanne L. Heldman Jun 29, 2009 3:17 PMTags
Michael JacksonKevin Mazur/AEG via Getty Images

Michael Jackson never got around to recording that long-awaited comeback album, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of material.

E! News has obtained the King of Pop's recording of "Shout"—the first of what will likely be a slew of posthumous recordings unearthed in the next few years.

The tune, which puts a distinctive Jackson twist on the Isley Brothers' seminal 1959 hit, was cowritten by the New Jersey-based team of Samuel "Cyph" Hoskins and Carmen Lampson and recorded in the fall of 2001 at Sony Recording Studios in New York City, but was never released.

"After the recording was done, we could see him dancing to the song," Cyph, who was introduced to the star by producer Teddy Riley, tells E! News. "He really was feeling that record, but, unfortunately, the record got rail roaded by politics within the album and the dispute between M.J. and Tommy [Mottola], so it got released as a maxi single to R. Kelly's "Cry." No one's heard "Shout" in the U.S."