Was Michael Jackson a composer for the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 soundtrack?

It has long been a rumour in gaming circles that the late King of Pop Michael Jackson composed some of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 soundtrack. Now long time collaborator Brad Buxer has added fuel to the fire by all but confirming the speculation.

In the latest issue of Black and White magazine, a French publication solely about Jackson (quoted here), Buxer speaks openly of his collaboration with Jackson on the soundtrack.

“I’ve never played the game so I do not know what tracks on which Michael and I have worked the developers have kept, but we did compose music for the game. Michael called me at the time for help on this project, and that’s what I did. And if he is not credited for composing the music, it’s because he was not happy with the result sound coming out of the console. At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music.”

It’s a well known fact that Jackson was a big Sega fan, visiting their headquarters at least once and allowing his likeness to be used in the Sega-exclusive Moonwalker game. Many have suggested that while the composing sessions likely did take place, Sega distanced themselves from the pop star following the first wave of child abuse allegations.

The sessions weren’t completely fruitless however; Buxer confirms that one proposed Sonic tune was later used “as a base for Stranger in Moscow”, a mid-nineties Jackson hit.

Watch the video below for some admittedly tenuous YouTube evidence on the subject.