London shows may be Jackson tribute

Jul 1 2009

Michael Jackson's tour promoter has said the dead star's ill-fated London show could be turned into a tribute gig featuring his family.

Randy Phillips, president of AEG Live, also said Jackson had personally requested Dr Conrad Murray as his personal physician in the months before his death.

In a TV interview, Mr Phillips denied Jackson was suffering from stage fright, saying AEG Live would at "some point" be releasing footage of the rehearsals.

Mr Phillips told Sky News the show was going to be "beyond anything", adding: "At some point the world needs to see this production and I would imagine it could be done as a tribute with the family, with the brothers performing, some sisters, and the stars that were influenced by him.

"The world needs to see this production. It would have been, which is the tragedy here, one of the most amazing shows ever, so at some point we want the world to see that. We are discussing with the family so the sooner, the better."

Describing the night of Jackson's death, Mr Phillips went on to say he would be thinking about the fear on Jackson's children's faces for the rest of his life.

When asked if AEG had lost a lot of money over the cancelled shows at the O2, he said: "I lost one of my closest friends so it's not about money necessarily. When you're in business you take risks and in Michael's case, his brilliance, we thought it an acceptable risk. We, probably, will be fine financially from this."

Later on Tuesday, the lawyer for Michael Jackson's family said a will for the late pop star had been presented and was to be filed in court.

Attorney Londell McMillan said his clients were now aware of the will, and the late singer's advisers were looking for additional documents. A court filing is expected.

The existence of a will, and the likely appointment of an executor, could complicate a petition by Jackson's mother Katherine to become the administrator of his estate.