Brad Buxer

Bradley Buxer is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and pilot, best known for his collaborations with his close friend Michael Jackson. Additionally, Buxer served as the musical director for Jackson's tours throughout 1990s. In total, the keyboardist worked on 40 songs with the King of Pop.^[1]

Meeting[]

“	Musically speaking, we were on the same wavelength; we spoke the same language.	”
–Brad Buxer

Michael and Brad met through Bill Bottrell in 1989.^[1] Buxer was originally hired as only a technician, but as it turned out, he was also an excellent keyboardist.

Work[]

1990s[]

The musician would lend his hand in working on Dangerous. Brad worked on the keyboards, synthesizers, percussion, and programming for "Jam", "Heal the World", "Black or White", "Who Is It", "Give In to Me", "Will You Be There" and "Dangerous".

Bradmj 4 — Michael and Brad during the HIStory World Tour.

From 1992 to 1993, Brad Buxer would serve as not only the keyboardist but also the musical director during the Dangerous World Tour and later again at the Super Bowl halftime show. Very notably, in '93 he was contracted by the King of Pop to write the soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, a then-upcoming video game by Sega. Additionally, one of the tracks would have Michael's input in it. The recording was meant for the "Staff Roll" theme. As Michael dropped out of the project, the composition would go on to later evolve into "Stranger in Moscow". However, Brad's cues would stay in the game. In the following year, as Michael was gearing up for his newest release, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, Buxer was once again brought in to work on the keyboards, arrangements, orchestration, percussion, piano, programming, sound effects, soundscape and synthesizers. Between 1996 and 1997, Brad would return as the keyboardist and the musical director during the HIStory World Tour.

Soon after, the musician helped work on keyboards, synthesizers, percussion etc. on songs from Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix and Invincible.

2000s[]

Through the 2000s decade, Jackson and Buxer continued their work together in studio. The keyboardist recalled 2004 as being "the best year for songwriting", creating such gems as "Beautiful Girl", "In the Back", "Gloucestershire", "Adore You", "A Place with No Name" or "The Way You Love Me".^[2]

“	The most beautiful stuff that we ever did, ever, was at the end. It just kept getting better and better.	”
–Brad Buxer for The MJCast^[1]

According to Buxer, the final time he collaborated with Michael took place in early 2008.^[1]

Post-Jackson's death[]

After Michael's unfortunate passing in 2009, among other artists, Buxer helped work on reworks of "Hollywood Tonight" and "Best of Joy", released on the 2010 Michael album. Through the years, he'd give interviews with magazines and Jackson's fans about his work and friendship with Michael Jackson. However, Buxer left behind the job of being a producer and rather focused on becoming a plane pilot.

Sonic Fantasy[]

Buxer made an appearance in a 2022 documentary film directed by Marcos Cabota, Sonic Fantasy. The movie commemorates Bruce Swedien and his work.

Making HIStory with MJ[]

Making HIStory With MJ is a new series of events created by Brad Buxer and Michael Prince. It took place between June 25 and June 26, 2022. It featured a seminar with Jackson's ex-personnel discussing their favorite memories with the King of Pop, screening of Sonic Fantasy and an interview with Steven Whitsitt, Michael's photographer in the mid-1990's.^[3]

Gallery[]

Credits[]

Off the Wall[]

"Susie"

Bad[]

"Changes"
"Someone Put Your Hand Down"

Dangerous[]

HIStory[]

Blood on the Dance Floor[]

"Blood on the Dance Floor"
"Morphine"

Invincible[]

11th Studio Album[]

Other[]

Trivia[]

During "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" at one of the Dangerous World Tour shows in Europe, the computer glitched, looping the final chorus over again. Buxer couldn't make it stop doing so and Michael began to clown on him, infamously singing "Brad, what you gonna do? Job's gone! [...]".^[4] Many fans to this day believe the musician was fired by Michael, although this is untrue considering he worked with him for many years to come. Additionally, Michael was never actually mad at Brad or yell at him.^[1]
In 1982, The Jetzons, a new wave band Brad Buxer was a member of would craft a song, "Hard Times". While it would go on to stay unreleased for years, the recording became an inspiration for Buxer while working on the theme for "IceCap Zone", a level in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Buxer mentioned "The Lost Children" to be his most disliked song he ever worked on with Michael.^[2]
"The Loser" was actually inspired by a breakup Brad Buxer went through in 2003. The second Michael heard him repeatedly say “I’m a loser! I’m just a loser!”, he suggested to write a song about it.^[5]
Buxer mentioned "Gloucestershire" to have been written "about his life at the time".^[1]
Prior to working with Michael, Buxer was a session musician for Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.

References[]

[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 https://www.themjcast.com/episode-100-brad-buxer-special/

[:1-2] 2.0 ^2.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEx3VhuE5iU

[3] ttps://www.mjmusicday.com/ticketing-making-history-with-mj-dierks-studios-cologne/

[4] ttps://www.tiktok.com/@inthestudiowithmj/video/7076991753517092142

[5] ttps://www.damienshields.com/i-am-a-loser-exclusive/

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Michael Jackson Wiki