Michael Jackson's Promoter Pete Bennett Talks Openly About Late Star (VIDEO)

Pete signed the Jackson 5 with Epic Records in 1976. This is Part-1 of a special 4-Part Series.

Photo courtesy: Pete Bennett

(MONTREAL) - When rock band promoter Pete Bennett was named "World's #1 Promotion Man" by Billboard Magazine, it forever locked in history the legacy of a man who successfully managed and promoted the best musicians the world has ever heard of, and still does.

Pete Bennett & Tim King 2008

From Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and The Beatles, to The Who, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and many names in between, Pete Bennett is a living legend and a person who can speak at length about a close friend of his named Michael Jackson who recently passed away from cardiac failure at the age of 52.

Pete first met the legendary performer Michael Jackson when he was a young boy, just finding his way in the music business along with his brothers. Pete knew the Jackson family well, Michael in particular; he predicted he would go far, and he was right.

But along the way there have been a consistent series of mishaps and problems for Michael Jackson; things of a personal nature and events that were tragically accidental.

Over the hardest bumps in the road, Pete was there to lend a hand and he talks in our interview about afternoons at the Jackson house in Encino, California where he and Michael Jackson would sit by the pool and share long talks.

He talks about Michael Jackson's humble and shy personality, and how difficult the pressure of a professional music career was on his psyche. He compares Michael's reaction to extreme pressure to John Lennon's' a person Pete knew equally well if not better.

Few people can offer the insight into the life of a star like Michael Jackson the way Pete Bennett can. The interview below is the first of four parts that are being launched each day consecutively beginning 7-1-09.

• Here is the link to Part 1:
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• Here is the link to Part 2:
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• Here is the link to Part 3:
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• Here is the link to Part 4:
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