Friday, June 26, 2009
Breaking News / Media / Silverman A Word From Frank Dileo, Michael Jackson's Manager, and a Look Into His World
Posted by Jack Silverman on Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Frank was responsible for turning my dream for Thriller into a reality. His brilliant understanding of the recording industry proved invaluable. For instance, we released 'Beat It' as a single while 'Billie Jean' was still at No. 1. CBS screamed, 'You're crazy, this will kill "Billie Jean." ' But Frank told them not to worry, that both songs would be No. 1 and both would be in the Top 10 at the same time. They were.There are stories galore about Dileo's time as Jackson's manager from 1984 to 1989, a period that included the Victory tour (which featured the Jackson brothers reunited) and the Bad record and tour. He was forced out in '89 following a power play involving lawyers and record execs. But Dileo never had hard feelings. In fact, during Jackson's 2005 trial, Dileo went to L.A. on his own dime to be with Michael and offer support. Here's Dileo proclaiming Jackson's innocence on Fox News. And that loyalty paid off, when Jackson asked Dileo to take over as his manager earlier this year. Dileo had been spending time in Los Angeles working with Jackson to prepare for the London shows when Jackson died. Here's Dileo's press statement to the Nashville media:
My heart is broken. I've lost a dear friend. I'm going to do everything in my power to protect his children and make sure everything is handled properly for them. I'm very sad for his mother, father, brothers and sisters, as they were a close-knit family. I have been honored to be a part of not only his career but his life. He will truly always be the "King of Pop." --FrankDileo gave the Scene access to his office earlier today, where we snapped some photos of memorabilia from his days with Michael Jackson. They're featured after the jump, and more photos are available in this slide show.
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He was from the City East End of Pittsburgh PA.
Went to St Bede's Elementary School and Central Catholic HS (Also the alma mater of Dan Marino)in the Oakland Area of Pittsburgh. His family had a restaurant in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh years ago (Aptly named DiLeo's)
His mom was Rose Ciocca and lived next door to my mom in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. His dad was Domenic DiLeo.
I've been wondering a lot about DiLeo and MJ's relationship in the '80's - it seems like MJ's career suffered on a number of levels when they split which could be for direct or indirect reasons. I know Frank was famous for really protecting MJ. Has there ever been any insight into why they stopped working together?
