BBC NEWS | Entertainment | US fans shun Michael Jackson CD (original) (raw)

Michael Jackson after his child abuse trial

Michael Jackson has not been seen in public since his child abuse trial

Michael Jackson's latest greatest hits album has sold just 8,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, reaching number 128 in the chart.

The Essential Michael Jackson is the star's first release since he was cleared of child abuse a month ago.

Jackson's two-disc set went straight to number two in the UK - but he failed to match that success in his home country.

The number one US album, multi-artist compilation CD Now 19, sold 436,000 copies in its first week.

Jackson faces a struggle to repair his image and repay debts that prosecutors in his trial claimed amounted to $300m (�170m).

Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson has been promoting his son's CD

British public relations supremo Max Clifford has revealed he turned down a request to represent the singer after his trial.

"He came to me a month ago and I turned him down," Mr Clifford said.

"It would be the hardest job in PR after Saddam Hussein and I would be astounded if he could turn things around.

"People were extremely offended by even some of the things he admitted in court.

Record sales

"The final judgement is with the record buying public and they have made their verdict clear."

Jackson has sold more than 135 million albums during his career, including 60 million copies of Thriller.

His last original album, Invincible, sold two million copies when it came out in 2001.

The Essential Michael Jackson is the latest in a string of greatest hits packages that has also included HIStory, Number Ones and The Ultimate Collection.