Brandy is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her 2002 Platinum album, Full Moon, and as she looks back at recording the music, she will never forget an embarrassing meeting with Michael Jackson.
The album was recorded at the Hit Factory in Miami with producer Rodney Jerkins, who was also simultaneously recording songs for Jackson’s final studio album, Invincible, in the next room.
The Moesha star sang background on one song on Invincible, “Unbreakable,” and Michael is heard ad-libbing on the track “It’s Not Worth It” on Full Moon.
Brandy remembers she was overwhelmed meeting her idol.
“I fainted when I met Michael Jackson,” she told Billboard. “My brother [Ray J] was like, ‘B, get up! You’re embarrassing. Get up right now! This is Michael Jackson, and you are on the floor! Get up!’ And then Michael was like, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK. This has happened before.’”
Full Moon became Brandy’s first project to top the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album.
The album was known for how Brandy stacked her vocal harmonies, a skill Quincy Jones says reminded him of Jackson.
“When I had an opportunity to work with Quincy when I was younger, he told my dad, ‘Brandy has something that Michael Jackson has,’” she recalled.
“’She can stack her voice and it’ll sound like one person, like it can kind of trick computers.’ And I’m like, ‘Dad, he did not say that! Really? Quincy Jones said that?’ I took that in, and I was ready.”
Now 20 years later, Brandy is overwhelmed by how other stars say they admire her music
“I heard H.E.R. say, ‘I felt like when I started listening to Brandy, I started singing better.’ And this is H.E.R., she’s amazing!”
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