Time to put some classic pop culture mythology to rest. So, in the third-season The Simpsons episode “Stark Raving Dad,” Homer Simpson meets a mental health patient named Leon Kompowsky who believes that he’s Michael Jackson. And he pulls off the voice well. So well, in fact, that fans have speculated for years, despite Jackson’s name not appearing in the credits (Kompowsky’s voice actor was credited as John Jay Smith), it was, in fact, Jackson doing the vocal work.
Now, Matt Groening, the show’s creator, has confirmed the theory. Yep, that’s Michael Jackson. In an interview with Australia TV series The Weekly, Groening laid out the facts of the matter.
As transcribed by Mashable, he said, “[Michael Jackson] has the voice of someone doing a Michael Jackson bit … He did the show, he didn’t want credit for it — it was some kind of deal with his record company or whatever.”
But, here’s the fun part. The singing? That wasn’t Jackson. “So when it came time to sing the songs, he had a soundalike singer. And he stood there and watched the guy who was so nervous, who had to sound like Michael Jackson.”
Imagine a more stressful performance.
Nowadays, Groening is promoting for his new show, Disenchantment, which can be watched on Netflix, and which is, well, certainly interesting. No pop singers, unfortunately.