Tito and Rebbie Jackson announce new Michael Jackson tribute show

Michael Jackson's brother Tito and sister Rebbie have announced that they will be undertaking a 24-date tour in March 2012 in tribute to the late singer.

The tour, which is being put together with the help of family friend David Gest, will also feature singer Deniece Williams as one of the song's performers.

Much like the tribute concert taking place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in October, the tour, which has been called 'A Jackson Named Michael: Remembering A Legend', has been put together with the support of the singer's mother Katherine.

A new documentary, put together by Gest, which features over 50 interviews with Jackson's friends, colleagues and employees, is due for release on October 31.

The dates and venues for the tour have yet to be confirmed, but it has been announced it will call at the following cities and towns during March 2012:

London
Reading
Plymouth
Edinburgh
Blackpool
Hexham
Liverpool
Newcastle
Dublin
Glasgow
Wigan
Leicester
Birmingham
Cardiff
Belfast
Berwick
Durham
Brighton
Manchester
Bristol
York
Southampton
South Shields
Woking

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Michael Jackson siblings plan tribute tour
Michael Jackson's brother Tito and sister Rebbie will play series of dates in UK and Europe, teaming up with producer David Gest


Tito Jackson is taking part in the show. Photograph: Samuel Aranda/Getty Images
Members of Michael Jackson's family are to collaborate with the producer David Gest in a touring tribute to the late singer.

Jackson's brother Tito and sister Rebbie will play a series of dates in the UK and Europe next year. Gest said the spoken-word shows would feature stories about the singer and Q&As as well as music. The singer Deniece Williams, a Jackson family friend, is also taking part.

"The majority of the show will be reminiscences and stories about Michael that the public has never heard," Gest said.

The tour, A Jackson named Michael: Remembering a legend, will begin next March. Gest has also produced a documentary, Michael Jackson: The life of an icon, to be released on DVD next month.

October's Michael Forever concert in Cardiff, which will feature Christina Aguilera, has not been universally backed by Jackson's family.

Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, goes on trial this month charged with his involuntary manslaughter in 2009.


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Tito and Rebbie Jackson announce new Michael Jackson tribute tour


The show, titled A Jackson Named Michael, will also include five hours of unseen film footage from David's personal archives, a question-and-answer session, and a 30-minute onscreen interview with Jackson's mother, Katherine.
Gest said: 'The majority of the show will be reminiscences and stories about Michael that the public has never heard.'
Tito added: 'I am really looking forward to this tour and being close up with the fans. To see the four of us on stage will be a blast and we all have so many funny and wonderful stories about Michael that will leave the crowd laughing, crying and spellbound all at the same time.'
The shows are due to launch in March 2012 and David has also produced a new documentary, Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon, which is set to be released on October 31.

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David Gest, Jacksons plan tribute tour to Michael

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Producer David Gest, Tito Jackson and others close to Michael Jackson on Monday unveiled a singing and spoken-word tribute tour to the late King of Pop.

"A Jackson Named Michael: Remembering a Legend," kicks off in the United Kingdom in March 2012, and follows another tribute set for October in Wales that has caused some controversy among fans of the "Thriller" singer.

Gest's show will feature Tito, a member with Michael of Motown singing sensations The Jackson 5, along with another sibling Rebbie Jackson and friend Deniece Williams singing tunes and telling tales about Jackson's life and career. Plans call for a question-and-answer session with audience members.

"The majority of the show will be reminiscences and stories about Michael that the public has never heard," Gest said in a statement.

The tour also follows the October U.K. release of Gest's documentary film, 'Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon," which Jackson's mother and family matriarch Katherine Jackson called "a tremendous achievement."

"This is not my story, but the story of many of Michael's friends' recollections," she said in a statement.

Michael Jackson, who rose to fame in a family of singers before embarking on a solo career that included smash hits such as "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," died in June 2009 of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol which he used as a sleep aid.

His physician at the time, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial will start in September.

Katherine Jackson is just one of the family's members who has backed a one-night tribute planned for October 8 in Cardiff, Wales. But that tribute has caused some fans to cry foul over the singers who were invited, the charities benefiting from ticket sales and its timing during Murray's trial.

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