Believe it or not but the second Michael Jackson posthumous album ‘Xscape’ turned 10 this week!
It was released on May 9, 2014 with two official singles, “Love Never Felt So Good” and “A Place With No Name” and came in two versions, standard and deluxe. It was announced on March 31 produced by Timbaland and LA Reid.
Sony and the Estate went all out for this one with partnerships such as with Sony Xperia Z2, a hologram performance on Billboard Music Awards of “Slave To The Rhythm” and a video for “A Place With No Name” sponsored by Jeep and premiered on X formerly “Twitter”.
For fans at the time, it was a very exciting time with many events around the world. The Estate also launched different actions with the fans such as competition to win a “Xscape Plaque” for the most original project to promote the album. Chinese fan club won with a fan party. Promotion wise, Michael was everywhere! On Billboards, Magazines, buses, on the radio and TV ads.
And for us at MJVibe, we went also all in! We teamed up with HMV Oxford street to do an album launch, we created a promotional video for the album which was well received by the fans. You can watch the video below:
The album was #1 in its first week of release in worldwide sales. Xscape debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States. The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, “Love Never Felt So Good”, which includes a newly recorded version featuring Justin Timberlake. It reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, giving Michael Jackson his first posthumous top ten and his first since “You Rock My World” in 2001. Additionally, “Love Never Felt So Good” became Michael’s highest charting single on the Hot 100 since his final number one, “You Are Not Alone”, in 1995. A second single, “A Place with No Name”, was released later that year. Xscape received generally positive reviews and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Happy Anniversary Xscape!
