When Michael Jackson Revealed the 6 Music Legends Racist People Destroyed in Golden Age Music

Michael Jackson's 40 years inside the American music industry as the King of Pop gave him direct observational access to six Black musical legends who were destroyed by racist executives, thieving managers, and industry systems designed to take everything from Black artists and leave them with nothing. His July 6th, 2002 speech at Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem, where he publicly named Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola as devilish and connected his own treatment to the pattern that killed the legends who came before him, finally broke the silence he had been carrying for decades. The video traces the destruction of six of the greatest Black musical artists in American history, from Frankie Lymon's 1956 debut through his 1968 death at 25, through Chuck Berry's 1955 Maybellene copyright theft by Alan Freed, through Little Richard's $50 rights sale of Tutti Frutti to Art Rupe, through James Brown's 15-year King Records exploitation by Syd Nathan, through Sam Cooke's Allen Klein catalog theft and December 11, 1964 death at the Hacienda Motel, and into Marvin Gaye's April 1, 1984 shooting by his father one day before his 45th birthday. What's covered in this video: Frankie Lymon's 1956 breakthrough with Why Do Fools Fall in Love on Gee Records, Morris Levy's mob-connected Roulette Records theft of his publishing rights that continued for 42 years, Herman Santiago's uncredited co-authorship, and Lymon's February 27, 1968 death from heroin overdose on his grandmother's bathroom floor in Harlem at age 25. Chuck Berry's May 21, 1955 recording of Maybellene at Chess Records, Alan Freed's third-of-royalties songwriting credit theft in exchange for playing the song on WINS radio in New York, Russ Fratto's uncontributed writing credit, the 1959-1960 payola scandal that destroyed Freed's career, Berry's 1961 Mann Act arrest and 20-month federal prison sentence, and the 1986 restoration of Berry's sole songwriting credit. Little Richard's September 14, 1955 recording of Tutti Frutti at J&M Studio in New Orleans, Art Rupe's Specialty Records contracts that gave Black artists no publishing ownership in exchange for $50 per song, Pat Boone's Dot Records cover version that white radio stations played instead of the Black original, Pat Boone's millions covering Fats Domino and other Black rock and roll pioneers, and Little Richard's May 9, 2020 death at age 87. James Brown's February 1956 King Records debut with Please Please Please, the 15-year King Records contract that gave Nathan ownership of every master and publishing right, Brown's 300-nights-a-year touring for two decades, his self-financed 1963 Live at the Apollo recording, Brown's decades-long fight to reclaim his own catalog, and his December 25, 2006 death from congestive heart failure at age 73. Sam Cooke's September 1957 secular debut with You Send Me after six years leading The Soul Stirrers, his songwriting of Chain Gang, Wonderful World, and A Change Is Gonna Come, his 1963 signing with manager Allen Klein whose Tracey Ltd. structure took ownership of Cooke's masters, his 1963-1964 SAR Records project to give Black artists ownership over their masters, and his December 11, 1964 shooting death at the Hacienda Motel in South Los Angeles by night manager Bertha Franklin under contested circumstances. Marvin Gaye's 1961 signing with Berry Gordy's Motown subsidiary Tamla Records, his marriage to Berry Gordy's sister Anna, Berry Gordy's rejection of the 1971 What's Going On album that Marvin fought to release, Marvin's IRS troubles and 1979-1981 European tax exile, his 1982 Columbia Records comeback with Sexual Healing, and his April 1, 1984 shooting by his father Marvin Gay Sr. at 2101 South Gramercy Place in Los Angeles at 1:01 PM the day before his 45th birthday. Mentioned in this video: Michael Jackson, Frankie Lymon, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Herman Santiago, Morris Levy, George Goldner, Alan Freed, Russ Fratto, Leonard Chess, Art Rupe, Pat Boone, Fats Domino, Syd Nathan, Allen Klein, Bertha Franklin, Berry Gordy, Anna Gordy, Marvin Gay Sr., Tammi Terrell, Tommy Mottola, Al Sharpton, The Teenagers, The Soul Stirrers, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Gee Records, Roulette Records, Chess Records, Specialty Records, Dot Records, King Records, RCA, SAR Records, Columbia Records, Sony Music, Motown, Tamla Records, ATV Music Publishing, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Maybellene, Ida Red, Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Good Golly Miss Molly, Please Please Please, Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, I Got You, Live at the Apollo, You Send Me, Chain Gang, Wonderful World, A Change Is Gonna Come, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Let's Get It On, Sexual Healing, What's Going On, Midnight Love, Thriller, National Action Network, Apollo Theater, WINS Radio, Hacienda Motel, Mann Act, payola scandal, Old Hollywood Golden Age. #MichaelJackson #GoldenAgeMusic #HollywoodSecrets