Michael Jackson ’s long-rumored involvement with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 remains one of gaming’s biggest mysteries. The pop superstar reportedly composed music for Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1993, but his name never appeared in the game’s official credits.
Buxer claimed Jackson composed themes for the game and that some of those musical ideas later appeared in the final release. Because the singer was unhappy with the final sound quality produced by the Sega Genesis hardware, he explained that Jackson’s involvement was not publicly credited.
Brad Buxer, a musician who worked closely with Jackson, later said the singer asked him to help with the project. “I did compose music for the game,” Buxer said in an interview with Black & White Magazine, according to Daily Express. “He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music,” Buxer said, according to Daily Express.
Jackson was already connected with Sega after the company developed the 1990 arcade game Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, based on his film of the same name, according to reports from gaming publications. The song was recorded in 1994 and appeared on Jackson’s ninth studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. Former Sega executive Roger Hector offered a different explanation in a 2005 interview.
Jackson was reportedly a fan of Sonic, hence, the interest in contributing to the franchise’s third installment.
Buxer said the chord progression created for the game later became the foundation for “Stranger in Moscow. Hector said Jackson was initially hired to compose music but that his work was removed after allegations surrounding the singer became public. He said the team had to rework parts of the soundtrack before the game’s release.
