Michael Jackson May Lose Neverland Ranch To Debt

He was once the King of Pop and ruled over the musical landscape. Following commercial slumps and a criminal trial, his dominion was reduced to a mansion and theme park called Neverland Ranch. Now, the final vestige of Michael Jackson's unironic reign is reportedly on the verge of being taken away, after MJ defaulted on a $23 million loan. Jackson was given ninety days starting October 22nd to repay his debt or risk losing the ranch, which had been shuttered and its employees dismissed since he was accused of using the park as a lure for young children (or since he failed to pay the employees' salaries and insurance). The ranch was used as collateral for Fortress Music Trust when they loaned the beleaguered pop star $20 million, and after failing to sell another company Jackson's debt, Fortress is eager to recoup their losses. If we were Jackson, we'd rush up the release of the Thriller reissue. The star still faces a $7 million lawsuit brought forth by Prince Abdullah of Bahrain after MJ reneged on a recording contract, but kept the upfront money. With all this talk of debt, it's easy to forget that Jackson is still rich. He owns a 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, including the Beatles catalog, which has an estimated value of $600 million. If Jackson were to declare bankruptcy, however, that stake would be liquidated and auctioned to the highest bidder. But seriously, won't somebody please think of the llamas.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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