Janet Jackson on Performing ‘Scream’: Reflects on Michael’s Struggles

Janet Jackson reveals she still gets emotional while performing “Scream,” the song she released with her late brother Michael Jackson in 1995.

The single, from Michael’s ninth album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, was written in response to the media’s coverage of the child sexual abuse allegations made against him in 1993. Michael was not convicted and settled the case out of court.

Its lyrics include poignant lines like: “I’m tired of injustice, I’m tired of the schemes/ Your lies are disgusting/ So, what does it mean, damn it?/ Kickin’ me down, I got to get up/ As jacked as it sounds/ The whole system sucks, damn it.”

Janet Jackson has added this song to her setlist for her Together Again world tour, which will reach the UK in September this year. On stage, she performs alongside footage of her late brother.

Speaking to the BBC, the US star admitted it was still emotional “listening to [Michael] every night, seeing him, remembering us.”

“Mike and I wrote that song in New York, in his apartment,” she recalled. “[I relive] that whole journey, listening to him sing it and remembering what he was going through at that time.”

“And just me being his little sister, always by his side, and being that support system. That’s always been my role.”

The European leg of Janet’s tour will kick off in Paris on 25 September, before moving to Birmingham, London, and Glasgow. It concludes at the embattled Co-op Live arena in Manchester on 1 October.

“I cannot wait to see you guys, I miss you so much. We’ve had so much fun with this show, so can’t wait to come and have some of that fun with you guys,” she said in a video message announcing the tour earlier this year.

Michael Jackson died in 2009 from cardiac arrest, caused by a lethal combination of sedatives and propofol.

In June, court documents revealed that the pop superstar owed more than $500 million to various creditors at the time of his death.

The filing in the Los Angeles County Superior Court disclosed that the king of pop was under significant financial strain as he prepared to embark on his This Is It concert tour.

Despite the state of his finances, Michael was said to have remained flippant and continued to enjoy a life of luxury, splashing out on jewelry, new cars, art, furniture, and gifts, as well as accumulating monthly bills of around $2 million.

Source: BBC