When Michael Jackson died in 2009, the pop music world lost a legend. However markedly mysterious and controversial his personal life was, his contributions to music will go down in history as some of the most influential of all time.
Part of what made him such a beloved singer was the uniqueness of his voice. From the time he was a young child singing lead for The Jackson 5, his high-pitched vocals stood out. Hearing him sing live was impressive, his pitch-perfect performances always entertaining.
No one could ever really be compared to MJ, or so we thought. Out of the blue, a guy showed up on TikTok with a performance that sounds so much like the King of Pop it’s blowing people away.
A parking lot performance that broke the internet
Brandon Conway posted his first TikTok video ever on July 24 in 2022, and in less than three weeks it racked up more than 27 million views. It’s just him standing in a parking lot snapping his fingers and singing “The Way You Make Me Feel,” but when he opens his mouth, whoa.
As he keeps going, it gets even more whoa. Then he hits Jackson’s signature “he he” and the whoa turns into what?!?
Take a listen:
How does he compare to Jackson himself?
Uncanny, right? If you need a reminder of how Jackson himself sounded when he sang it, here’s a live performance from Auckland during his 1996 world tour.
Very impressive, to say the least. Especially considering Conway seems to label himself a country singer over a pop artist.
Basically, he can’t go wrong with whatever genre he does. Follow him on TikTok to hear more.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
