[Harry!]

from now magazine

Singer reckons media is 'ignorant'

Michael Jackson has spoken out about his tarnished image – insisting that he's the 'same Michael' who released Thriller nearly 25 years ago.

The pop legend, 49, says he ignores the cruel 'wacko Jacko' jibes.

'I don't pay attention to that,' he says. 'It's ignorance. It is usually not based on fact. Every neighbourhood has the guy who you don't see, so you gossip about him.

'You see those stories about him. There's the myth that he did this or he did that. People are crazy.'

The eccentric star says his personality hasn't changed.

'That Michael is probably the same Michael here,' he tells American magazine Ebony. 'I just wanted to get certain things accomplished first.

'But I always had this tug in the back of my head, the things I wanted to do, to raise children, have children. I'm enjoying it very much.'

But Michael – who is father to Prince Michael, 10, Paris, 9, and 5-year-old Prince Michael II - admits his success has come at a price.

'When you're on top of your game, when you're a pioneer, people come at you,' he explains. 'But I feel grateful – all those record-breaking things... I still feel grateful.'

Michael no longer lives at his Neverland ranch and Brad Pitt, 43, and Angelina Jolie, 32, are currently said to be interested in buying the abandoned property.