Siedah Garrett talks Michael Jackson, writing 'Man In The Mirror'

theGRIO Q&A - TheGrio sat down with Siedah Garrett to talk about the process of making ‘Man In The Mirror’, the impact that it’s had on her fans, and Michael Jackson’s spirit...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

What was MJ’s reaction on the first time he heard “Man in the Mirror?” 

He loved it. I wasn’t with him the moment he heard it but when I met him, he shared with me how he felt about the song. He loved my voice and he was quick to share that with me when I first talked to him. It was kind of weird because I gave the song to Quincy that night Glen and I finished the demo, and it was too late to turn it in to Quest Music Publishing because it was Friday evening. I knew I couldn’t wait until Monday to turn in this song so I had to call Quincy and you heard Michael talking in the background and…he puts Michael Jackson on the phone.

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with all of my sisters and cousins [and we all] had a Jackson husband. My husband was Michael, so to me in my mind I’m on the phone with my husband. I’m freaking out in my mind like, “No he did not just put Michael freaking Jackson on the phone!” But MJ was sweet. “How can I help you?” Michael said. “I love your voice and I love your song,” and then he starts telling me what he would like to say in the next few lines of our song. I’m listening to him and all I know is I have to come up with the next few lines so he doesn’t have to. I came up with six different stanzas and the one he choose is “You gotta get it right; while you go the time cuz when you close your heart then you close your mind.”

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During that very important time within Michael’s life, was there anything that you witnessed on tour or something that he did backstage that most people didn’t know about Michael?

I’ll tell you what I found most interesting about him that I didn’t know. When he appreciates what you did, he really honored the best and relished in what the best did well. He looked at anyone whom he admired and respected and took what they did and did his whole little twist on it. When Quincy presented the demo to him, the key was one step higher than he was comfortable with. He asked if I would sing the song in the new lower key and I said sure. As I’m singing the song in the new lower key, Michael takes out a video camera and he starts filming me singing this demo.

I remember asking him, “What are you doing? Why are you filming me?” and he said, “Because I want to sing the song like you do. I just love the way you sing the song.” I looked at him and was like, “Great Mike, all my friends are really gonna believe me when I tell them you wanted to sing the song just like me. Thanks.” He was a sponge and he wanted to absorb everything that you did and flip it and make it his own.

Do you see any glimpse of super stardom that would even close to MJ in this current generation at all?

Yes there are many that try to emulate his style and many that are influenced by his music and dance movements, like Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber.

But is there anyone who has that Michael ‘It’ factor?

I don’t know if the ‘it’ is there to be ‘got’ at this point. The way the music industry is, there’s no way anyone is ever going to sell as many records as he sold. That is just not possible anymore because of the way music is sold and distributed. That album came at a really unique time when you actually had to buy the record.

Any final words about MJ’s character?

He was the ultimate perfectionist and he honored the creative artistry in others. He respected that and wanted to flip it and make it his. A lot of the dance moves he does was Fred Astaire, but no one of my generation or the generation after have even heard of or witnessed what Fred Astaire did. Michael studied it. Michael had all of his films and would study all of the choreography, and he would take a move of Fred’s and make it his own. I was with him the day Fred died and when Michael found out that Fred was gone, that was the end of our day. He went into the studio and just wept, they were friends. When I toured with him, we were in countries where we didn’t know what he did on our days off. We didn’t know what he did until we picked up the papers the next day when he was at the children’s hospital or the orphanage. We didn’t know the things that he did until after they were done. I appreciate the fact that he did what he did and no one knew what it was until he died.

You can check out Kyle’s musical coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at@HarveyWins.

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