How Michael Jackson Bought the Publishing Rights to the Beatles' Song Catalog at the Advice of ...
In 1985, the Beatle gave the King of Pop a business tip. What McCartney didn't realize is that Jackson would play him at his own game.
Offering helpful advice to a friend is often human nature at its best. When that advice comes back to bite the very person who offered it in the first place, well, it can be a cruel twist of fate.
Just ask Paul McCartney. The Beatles singer/songwriter found himself to be on the wrong end of the above scenario when words of wisdom he imparted to friend Michal Jackson came back to haunt him over rights to the Beatles song catalog, which Jackson would acquire in 1985.
McCartney taught Jackson how lucrative it was to own other artist's catalogs
McCartney and Jackson became friendly in the mid-1970s when they met to discuss possible songwriting collaborations. The two would eventually go on to have hits with the duets “The Girl Is Mine,” the lead single from Jackson’s hit album Thriller (1982), and “Say, Say, Say” that was featured on McCartney’s album Pipes of Peace (1983).
Source: biography.com
