I Have This Dream
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"I Have This Dream" is the given title of a possible future single by Michael Jackson and other recording artists. The single, whose release date is still not set, is intended to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The single's release has been repeatedly delayed, and as such, whether or not it will eventually be released is unconfirmed.
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[edit] Song information
In September 2005, Jackson's publicist, Raymone Bain, announced that Jackson was busy working with various recording artists to produce a single dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, in order to raise funds for relief. Hoping to rekindle the success of "We Are the World", which raised millions for aid to Africa, the single would be released on a hitherto unknown label, 2 Seas Records, which is owned by Sheik Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the son of Bahrain's king. According to Sheikh Abdullah, Jackson enlisted the involvement of other recording artists to help him record the single. Snoop Dogg, R. Kelly, Ciara, Keyshia Cole, James Ingram, Jackson's brother Jermaine, Shanice, Shirley Caesar and The O'Jays were among the artists reportedly taking part in the recording of a song titled "I Have This Dream". According to other reports, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz also agreed to participate. Jackson would be the lead singer, songwriter, and executive producer.
All proceeds from the sale of the single have been pledged to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is not clear if Jackson planned to use existing agencies to disburse the funds, or whether he would set up a foundation similar to USA for Africa (which in the 1980s distributed the earnings from "We Are the World.") It is also not clear that "I Have This Dream" would in fact be the final title of the song.
Various tentative release dates have been unofficially announced, over the course of many months. The deadline has been pushed back many times, with few if any tangible signs that any work has been done, although the public has been assured that extensive recording sessions are in fact underway. Over a year later, the Katrina Charity Single still remains unreleased.
At one point, when asked if the song's release was a harbinger of a new Jackson album, Prince Abdullah, the Prince of Bahrain, told the Associated Press "I will just say we've been very busy.... he's getting ready to come out with a lot of bells and whistles. He's so energized. It's explosive."
In mid-May 2006, 2 Seas appeared in the news again: Jackson had just signed a contract with the label to release an untitled album in late 2007[1], a deal which has since been broken after Jackson left 2 Seas Records a few months later. The song may be released on Jackson's 2007 album or a single alongside it.
[edit] A Much Earlier Reference to "I Have This Dream"
In a 1999 interview with the American magazine TV Guide [2], Jackson made a passing reference to a song he was working on entitled "I Have This Dream," which he predicted would be "totally different than what I did before." He said he cowrote the song with Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster, and he described it as "a millennium song about the world and the environment."
No song entitled "I Have This Dream" appeared on his subsequent album, Invincible, which was released in the fall of 2001. Sager did get a writing credit on one song on the album, but Foster's name was entirely absent from the credits.
Neither Bayer's nor Foster's names have turned up amongst the long lists of guest stars mentioned in conjunction with the "Katrina single" and the new album.
[edit] References
- All info taken from Associated Press unless noted otherwise.
