Michael Jackson's Classical Project

He may have been the King of Pop, but recent evidence has come to the light that Michael Jackson was working on several instrumental and classical music compositions shortly before he died.

US composer David Michael Frank , who worked with Jackson on a TV tribute to Sammy Davis Jr in 1989, claims he had met with the star a few months ago to discuss helping him with the orchestral arrangements of two new classical compositions he was working on.

Jackson, who once told German magazine Bunte that he didn't really like pop music and would much rather listen to classical music, 'impressed' Frank with his knowledge of classical music.  "For one of [the pieces], he had a whole section of it done in his head," Frank told Billboard Magazine. "He had not recorded it. He hummed it to me as I sat at the keyboard in his pool house and we figured out the chords – I guess this recording I made is the only copy that exists of this music."

That was the last time the composer saw Jackson, although the star called Frank few weeks ago about the progress on the arrangements and working on more instrumental music - including a jazz piece.

"I hope one day his family will decide to record this music as a tribute and show the world the depth of his artistry," said Frank.

Jackson's death from cardiac arrest at the age of 50 stunned his fans across the world and sent some of his biggest hits back to the top of pop music charts. His single 'Man in the Mirror' skyrocketed to number one in the UK’s Big Top 40 singles chart , over 20 years after it was first released, thanks to an unprecedented number of downloads and radio airplay.