Since the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994, fans have speculated that the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson worked on the game’s soundtrack. With the release of Sonic Origins, this rumor has surfaced once again, only this time with confirmation from the former head of Sega. Sonic creator Yuji Naka revealed the news on Twitter in celebration of the first game’s 31st anniversary. He also provided further proof of the musician’s involvement by tweeting an old picture taken on a helicopter tour of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.
Back in the 90s, it was not unusual for Michael Jackson to team up with Sega for a project. In 1990, Sega released Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker based on the film for the Sega Genesis. Jackson was also involved with the Space Channel 5 series, which even featured his own character named Space Michael. When Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came out, Jackson’s name could not be found in the credits, which is how the original rumor started.
To this day, the reason why Michael Jackson was not credited is unknown. Two possible explanations are the accusations of abuse against the singer, or the fact that Jackson was not happy with the final product. “At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music.” Brad Buxer, a keyboardist who worked closely with Jackson, mentioned this in an interview years ago.
Now that Sonic Origins has been released, has Michael Jackson been properly credited for his work? Actually, the tracks composed by Jackson have been swapped with tunes based on early builds of the third Sonic game. This is presumably because Jackson’s estate has made it difficult for Sega to secure the rights to his compositions. Yuji Naka seemed to express disappointment over the replacement of the tracks in his tweets. Despite this, Sonic fans now have an answer to the long-rumored tale of Michael Jackson’s involvement with the soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog 3.