{"id":781004,"date":"2026-09-24T11:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T11:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/781004\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T11:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T11:22:22","slug":"listen-to-15-year-old-michael-jacksons-rare-spine-tingling-cover-of-killing-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/781004\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen to 15 year old Michael Jackson\u2019s rare, spine-tingling cover of \u2018Killing Me…"},"content":{"rendered":"

23 September 2026, 22:24<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Jackson showed emotion beyond his years with a spine-tingling cover of Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly’.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nNBC<\/p>\n


\n\"Facebook
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

Michael Jackson<\/a> was one of the most mesmerising musical talents to ever grace the 20th century. <\/p>\n

Even as a youngster, fronting the The Jackson 5<\/a> with his brothers, everyone could tell he had something special.<\/p>\n

As we know, he evolved into the ‘King Of Pop’, arguably the greatest star in popular music history. <\/p>\n

Not only did he have an incredible voice, but he possessed the songwriting genius and forward-thinking dance moves to match.<\/p>\n

As a child and later a young teenager however, singing was his stand-out characteristic, as he became the focal point of The Jackson 5. <\/p>\n

What was most miraculous about Michael, that his immaculate, heavenly voice conveyed the kind of emotion of someone twice his age.<\/p>\n

That was precisely what happened when a 15 year old Michael performed a mature, spine-tingling cover of Roberta Flack<\/a>‘s heavy-hearted classic ‘Killing Me Softly<\/a>‘.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Jackson was a once-in-a-lifetime talent. (Photo by Soul Train via Getty Images).<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nGetty
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1974, the night The Jackson 5 performed Bill Cosby took over duties as a guest host.<\/p>\n

It meant that the Jackson brothers, including the youngest Randy Jackson<\/a>, got in on the showbiz fun by cracking jokes and messing around alongside Cosby throughout.<\/p>\n

That sense of informal fun ran through the Jackson brother’s electrifying cover of ‘Dancing Machine’ which they played on the night.<\/p>\n

But they brought the studio audience \u2013 and everyone watching at home \u2013 to a stand-still soon after.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jackson 5 – Killing me Softly (live, 1974) Bill Cosby<\/p>\n

The Jacksons took to the stage to perform a beautifully gentle medley which featured ‘Killing Me Softly’, the song that transformed Roberta Flack into a soul icon.<\/p>\n

They blended ‘Killing Me Softly’ with a gorgeous rendition of Glen Campbell’<\/a>s ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ which his brother’s shared vocal duties on, as well as the traditional folk song ‘Danny Boy’.<\/p>\n

Of course, Jermaine<\/a>, Tito<\/a>, Jackie<\/a> and Marlon<\/a> all had immense talent themselves, which they all displayed throughout the tender, acoustic set.<\/p>\n

But Michael stood head and shoulders above his brothers, in a performance that captured him in a pivotal transition.<\/p>\n

\"By<\/p>\n

By the age of 15, Michael had already evolved into an incredible talent. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archive\/Getty Images).<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nGetty
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael was only days away from celebrating his 16th birthday, yet his musical talent suggested he was wise beyond his years. <\/p>\n

Perhaps because he had been in showbusiness since his early childhood, he had to grow up fast. <\/p>\n

His cover of ‘Killing Me Softly’ offered the world a rare glimpse into his evolving artistry, where he began to move away from high energy Motown and toward more emotionally complex solo music.<\/p>\n

What’s magic about his performance, is that despite being just the tender age of 15, his voice hints at a sense of regret. <\/p>\n

Given Michael missed out on much of his childhood to pursue a career in music, it’s this added meaning which makes his performance so powerful.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Michael Jackson & Roberta Flack – When we grow up (1974) .<\/p>\n

Funnily enough, that same year Michael was fortunate enough to duet with Roberta Flack, a singer he evidently admired.<\/p>\n

They duetted on the song ‘When We Grow Up’ for the television programme Free To Be… You and Me, which was written to promote self-acceptance among children.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Roberta Flack recalled the opportunity to sing alongside Michael, saying it was a “joy”. <\/p>\n

\u201cI always felt that Michael Jackson was one of the people who didn\u2019t have to prepare that much, even from the time he was a very little kid,\u201d she told The Huffington Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I think I\u2019m sweeter than he is in the video with my ponytails. (laughs) But I\u2019ll tell you, it was such a joy to work with him because he was so bright and sharp.”<\/p>\n

“We didn\u2019t have to do it a bunch of times. We did it a few times, and it was a lot of fun. When you have that sort of innate and instinctive gift, you can sort of relax and let it flow.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"23 September 2026, 22:24 Michael Jackson showed emotion beyond his years with a spine-tingling cover of Roberta Flack’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-781004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}