R&B singer Mýa talked to PEOPLE magazine and recall the time Michael Jackson surprised her with a Birthday call in 2001.
After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Mýa was invited to join a supergroup of chart-toppers for Jackson’s “What More Can I Give” charitable single. As she recalls now, the recording process took place on her 22nd birthday, shortly before the track’s release in October 2001. Somehow, Michael caught wind of her special day.
“Lots of artists were invited to record at a specific studio in New York City, and the only day in between touring that I had available was the day I had marked off my calendar as off, which was my birthday,” Mýa says, noting that she had already performed for Michael Jackson at his 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden days before the World Trade Center attacks.
“I went back up to New York City for the first time since, very scary, because when Michael calls, you go,” she adds. “As I was walking into the studio, Luther Vandross was recording and just wrapping up and we met and we greeted each other. That was the last time I saw him in person.”
After her time with Vandross, Mýa got quite the birthday surprise from another music legend. “Michael called the studio. There was a hard line, a hard phone there with a cord, and it was at the left of the console,” she says.
“I was told that I had a call and no one told me who it was. He just started by singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ I was so nice of him. Of course, he’s a busy guy. I’ll never forget that moment. It means a lot.”
The call from the King of Pop came just a month after Mýa joined Usher and Whitney Houston on stage for a performance of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” dedicated to Jackson.
