Songfacts®:

• Frank Cascio and his family were long time friends of Michael and in the fall of 2007, the singer turned up with his children at his Franklin Lakes, New Jersey home. Jackson stayed with the Cascios for several months and during that time, he recorded a number of songs with Frank's son, Eddie (Angel) Cascio and singer James Porte. Three of the tracks ended up on Michael, this inspirational ode about an ordinary woman's struggle, "Monster" and "Breaking News." During his time in New Jersey, Jackson also recorded vocals for Thriller 25, which was released in 2008.
• This song was produced by The-Dream's right-hand man, producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who was behind the hit singles "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)" and "Umbrella." Stewart told Billboard magazine that he was brought in to "add a last bit of polish" to the track, but all of the components of a classic Jackson song were already in place. "It starts small, gets big and ends with a big choir and big drums-the Jackson sound that everybody has come to know and love," he said.
• Stewart told MTV News about his contribution to the track: "The main thing I wanted to do was make sure that Michael would like it," he said. "And that it would feel like something he would do naturally if he was here. A lot of it was probably me overthinking it a little bit. And trying to deliver what I think he would do. And there's so much music that he made that I could reference the precision of what he was into musically. I did that and this was a song that he wrote. It wasn't he and me making a record. This was a record that he wrote and that he produced. And I just got in there."
• After the release of Michael, the late star's family raised doubts over whether they are Jackson's vocals on "Keep Your Head Up," "Breaking News" and "Monster." Because of the uncertainties, Sony and Jackson's estate removed all three tracks from YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify on June 30, 2022.