"Michael is the greatest. You can’t get away from that. Elvis had a lot of energy too. He did very well and so did James Brown. But there was none greater than Michael. Michael wasn’t trying to become like nobody but himself," he said.
Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest on July 25 and later died. The music legend was 50.
On Tuesday thousands of people flocked to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for his public memorial service.
Mr. Mitchell, who has known the Jackson family for many years, shared his experience with the late King of Pop and his family.
"What made him stand out . . . his gift from God. He was a gifted artist. There are several gifted artists on the planet. There are not many. People can sing, people can perform, but they lack in a lot of areas. I think, it was the gift from God and that is why he stands out as a king in everything he did," he said.
"You know, there are artists who get in the business for money, but they don’t have the heart," he said.
Mr. Mitchell says he became involved with the Jackson family after Joseph Jackson, Michael’s father, signed him to his record label, Jackson Records in the early 90s.
"I was performing at the Sultan’s Tent nightclub and Joe called me because I had a manager in Philadelphia who did about five songs for me and he sent all of my stuff out…all over the U.S. So, Joe called me and said ‘I think you’ve got a hit here.’ The name of the song is Moonlight Picnic. So I said, who is Joe. So he said, ‘Joe, this is Joe Jackson.’ I said, I don’t know who that is. Then he said, ‘this is Michael Jackson’s father.’ I said, yeah, right…click," said Mr. Mitchell during an interview with The Journal Tuesday.
Mr. Mitchell said Joseph called him back several days later and eventually convinced him that the opportunity was legitimate and said he was indeed Jackson’s father.
The local singer later left the Sultan’s Tent and signed with Jackson Records for ten years.
"I stayed in Michael’s house in Encino, California. The first day they put an apartment onto the garage. Things were thrown all around in there, but there was a bed there. Being a Bahamian, instead of going to sleep like that, I sat up and I folded everything and fixed everything so neatly. So when Mrs. Jackson came the next morning for me to have breakfast, she said, ‘Now, Mr. Jay Mitchell, you’re going to the house," he said with a big laugh. He said the family later put him in Janet Jackson’s old room, as she had recently bought a home.
During the interview, Mr. Mitchell described Jackson as the consummate workaholic.
"Every time you looked over in his studio, he was in there working and to me, his voice was not the voice that everyone else heard. He spoke like me. He spoke very strong and he was a good businessman. His meeting was every Thursday at 9 o’clock and if you were not there in that meeting at 9’oclock, the door was closed," he said.
"Michael was a very strong fellow. There was a candy room always for the kids with ice cream and things like that. But I used to go and put hell on that myself. I was a big kid because you could open up the studio and go into that room. So when they were working on my material, I was in that room eating up that ice cream. The kids would come in bus loads and go in there. He just loved the kids. He loved everybody because he was a love child."
Mr. Mitchell said he was especially moved when Jackson came to see him when he played in Las Vegas. He said the legendary singer was in the audience several times.
"I was like a son to Joe. He didn’t treat me like one of his artists. Jermaine treated me a brother too. You know, it’s [difficult to call] them now because we lost touch. The only thing I can remember is the address where they lived in Encino. I want to give my condolences and tell them to just hold on," he said.
Mr. Mitchell said the world not only lost a "true musical genius" but also a person with the biggest heart who loved people.
"He was truly a good person. Despite all of the things that were being said about him in the media, Michael Jackson was a decent human being. He had a big heart, especially for the children. It didn’t matter if you were a boy or girl, he just loved children. That’s the Michael I knew," said Mr. Mitchell.
"He was all love," he said.
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