John McClain, co-executor of Michael Jackson estate, dies at 71

John McClain, a Los Angeles-born musician and record executive, died at 71 after complications from a fall. He helped drive Janet Jackson’s rise to pop stardom by placing her in the studio with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, leading to the hit albums “Control” and “Rhythm Nation 1814.” McClain later served as co-executor of Michael Jackson’s estate alongside John Branca, guiding the estate away from financial and reputational ruin after Michael Jackson’s 2009 death. Under their oversight, posthumous projects achieved major success, including “This Is It,” “Michael Jackson One,” “MJ: The Musical,” and the biopic “Michael.”

"McClain and Branca steered Jackson's estate from financial and reputational ruin at the time of the pop star's death in 2009 - much of it due to the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse against the singer - to the enormous success of posthumous projects including the concert film "This Is It," the Cirque du Soleil production "Michael Jackson One," the Broadway show "MJ: The Musical" and the Hollywood biopic " Michael," which opened in movie theaters last month and is already among the highest-grossing biopics ever made."

"McClain's oversight of Michael Jackson's complicated legacy followed his work with Janet Jackson, whom he put in the studio with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in the mid-1980s to make Jackson's hit albums "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814." (McClain became involved with the Jackson family through Jermaine Jackson, with whom he went to high school.) The pairing of Janet Jackson with Jam and Lewis was McClain's "master stroke," Questlove wrote Wednesday on social media, and "changed music forever.""

""I am profoundly grieved at the loss of my partner and brother," said attorney John Branca, co-executor of the Michael Jackson estate with McClain. In a statement, he described McClain as "one of the great innovators in the world of music and music marketing" and said "it is difficult to imagine a world without him.""

"His death was confirmed by Diana Baron, a representative of the estate, who said McClain died from complications of a fall."

Read at Los Angeles Times