Michael Jackson bids goodbye to staffers, hello to Europe

Pop star Michael Jackson is moving to Europe and revamping his staff and finances as part of his bid to reignite his music career.

Jackson spokesperson Raymone Bain announced in a statement Tuesdaythat the singer has enacted "the first of a sweeping restructuring of his personal and business affairs," including breaking with his longtime business managers, hiring a New York company to look after his finances and naming Bain as his general manager.

Additional changes will be announced later, she said.

"He is very serious about his music," Bain told the Associated Press. "When you are a creative person and the creative juices are flowing again and you're about to embark on new projects, you want to make sure your organization is running smoothly."

The singer, who has been living in Bahrain since being acquitted of child molestation charges in June 2005, also plans to re-locate to an as-yet-unnamed European country for his main residence.

"He's just decided that with all of the projects he's going to be involved with and all of the people he's beginning to work with in the music industry, it's easier," Bain said of the upcoming move in an interview with Reuters.

"He'll be going back and forth to Bahrain but Europe will be his principal residence."

Jackson, 47, announced earlier this year that he was working on a new album, tentatively scheduled for release in 2007. His last studio effort was 2001's Invincible.

The performer, who rose to fame with his brothers in the 1970s as the Jackson 5 singing group and topped the charts as a solo artist in the 1980s, has largely withdrawn from the spotlight since his 2005 acquittal.

However, other problems have followed him, including having to shutter his sprawling Neverland Ranch in California because of labour violations, what appeared to be a down-to-the-wire restructuring of his massive debt and a current lawsuit brought by a former business partner claiming he is owed money.