Jackson called Bahrain home, gradually emerging from his reclusive shell to mix with locals and shop in malls, badly disguised in a woman’s abayaīefore his arrival Jackson was defending himself in a California court against charges of intoxicating and molesting Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. For nearly a year the singer lived in Bahrain, struggling with his mental health and staving off bankruptcy while making plans for a comeback album and indeed recording some of it, though the demos – some of the most sought-after Jackson rarities – have yet to see the light of day. It was crazy.”īoth are accurate words to describe the time when Jackson lived on an archipelago off the Saudi Arabian coast.
“There are so many adjectives to use,” Shaheen says of what was to unfold. The request came from Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, who asked Shaheen to set up a state-of-the art recording studio on his grounds in anticipation of the star’s arrival. “It is a pinch-yourself kind of moment when you get a call to say you’re going to be working with someone who you idolise and is the biggest superstar of all time.” “It was totally out of left field,” he says.
In early 2005 the young Bahraini was driving when he received a surreal job offer: the chance to work with Michael Jackson.
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