Africa: Michael Jackson & Nelson Mandela

Great friends inspire others to do great things.... ♥

song: "What More Can I Give", by Michael Jackson & friends...
Written by Michael, and originally inspired by Nelson Mandela, a song he had planned to premier at his 'Michael & Friends - What More Can I Give' concerts in June 1999, staged in the South Korean capital, Seoul, and in Munich, Germany.

"In an earlier conversation I had this year with President Mandela," said Michael in 1999, "we discussed the concept of giving, and the words 'what more can I give' kept coming into my mind... we all have to do what we can, to help end the needless suffering in the world."

It was re-written by Michael, following the '9/11' terrorists attacks in America on 11th Septmeber 2001 - recorded as a charity single with a host of stars, including Beyoncé Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Luis Miguel, Tom Petty, Carlos Santana, Usher and Luther Vandross.

It was completed on 19th October 2001, premiered two days later at the 'United We Stand - What More Can I Give' concert at Washington DC's RFK Stadium, in front of 46,000 people. The concert was edited and aired on ABC TV on 1st November.

"I'm not one to sit back and say, 'Oh, I feel bad for what happened to them'," said Michael. "I want the whole world to sing, to bring us together as a world, because a song is a mantra, something you repeat over and over. And we need peace, we need giving, we need love, we need unity."

A promo short film premiered at the Radio Music Awards in 2003.

A Spanish language version, entitled Todo Para Ti, was also recorded - featured contributions from Michael, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Ricky Martin and Jon Secada.

Serious disagreements between Michael and Sony Music meant both charity singles went unreleased - however, 200 promo copies were distributed to the artists involved and music industry representatives involved with the project.

It was made available as a download single in October 2003 - no other official release.
source: http://mjtunes.com/modules/mydownload...

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