Left, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images; right, Joel Ryan/Associated Press Justin Bieber in concert this month and Michael Jackson at a news conference in March 2009.Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson were united in song over the weekend when a recording of Mr. Bieber singing along with vocals previously recorded by Mr. Jackson surfaced online, provoking a hailstorm of news reports and stoking a great deal of fan interest on social media. The track, “Slave 2 the Rhythm,†also aired on British radio, The Guardian reported.
On Friday and Saturday, Mr. Bieber posted somewhat cryptic messages about Mr. Jackson to his Twitter account, but did not refer directly to the song. On Friday, he wrote, “Excited for what is to come. MJ set the bar. Not only for music but for being an entertainer and how u treat the fans. Wish he was here…†He also posted a photograph pairing himself with an image of Mr. Jackson.
On Monday, however, YouTube videos and SoundCloud posts including the song were taken down. A notice on YouTube said that the video “is no longer available due to a copyright claim by S.M.E.†Sony Music Entertainment owns Mr. Jackson’s recordings. In 2012, Sony reported that some of Mr. Jackson’s recordings had been stolen from its Web site. Sony did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
