Michael Jackson’s posthumous single "Love Never Felt So Good" dropped last night at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, whose inaugural telecast aired on NBC.
Some Michael Jackson fans were understandably skeptical, even angry about a new "contemporized" posthumous album that might sully the artist’s legacy.
They might be pleasantly surprised after hearing "Love Never Felt So Good," Epic Records’ lead single from Xscape. Take a listen and decide for yourself:
With producers Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon manning the control board, the orchestration overpowers Jackson a bit at times.
On the flip side, the trio did an superb job of mixing Timberlake’s voice – did you catch it on the background vocals? – in harmony with the King of Pop’s.
The disco-heavy sound reminiscent of his breakthrough album Off the Wall is no shock, as Jackson initially wrote the song in with Paul Anka in 1983.
It’s not his best, but if this is indicative of what Michael Jackson left on the cutting room floor, it makes his untimely death in 2009 that much more tragic.
He clearly had a lot of memorable work ahead of him. Usher helped debut the song, dancing to it at the inaugural iHeartRadio Music Awards. Watch: