This is far from the norm that I normally post on my blog, but I wanted to take a step back and recognize a man who once managed my Favorite artist of all time, Michael Jackson. Frank Dileo managed Jackson from his "Thriller" album and his "Bad" album. Michael and Frank were great friends and always considered to be an odd pairing. in 1986, Frank who helped negotiate the 10 million dollar Pepsi deal with Michael However, Jackson fired Frank as his manager in early 1989 after bad was released. Michael stated he wanted to sell 100 million copies, but only sold 20 million copies of the album. Frank had always remained a good friend of Michael. During his reign as an artist manager he managed Taylor Dayne, Jodeci, and Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi. In 2007 he was named CEO of Valcom a film, television and theatrical production company. Delio was reunited with Jackson in May 2009 when Michael was ready to make a come back in London with his This is It tour. A month later Michael Died from heart attack on June 25th 2009. It was Dileo who informed Michael's kids that their father had died. He was there when Jackson was rushed to the hospital. Frank kissed Michael on his head and closed his eyes.
On the cover of Michael's Bad cd their was a silhouette of Michael and Frank. The caption on the cd stated: "Another great team!" Some may say that the friendship with Michael and Dileo wasn't there over the years as Michael encountered controversy over child molestation lawsuits and battles with Sony. However, it was said that when Michael called him again to be his manager, Frank was there for him in a heartbeat.
From 1979-1984 Franks was the VP of Epic records before becoming Michael's personal manager. Frank died at the age of 63 from heart surgery complications he had back in March.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/arts/music/frank-dileo-michael-jacksons-manager-dies-at-63.html
