New Jackson album set for December

An album of previously unheard music by Michael Jackson will be released in December, with fans able to get a taste of the first single online for a week starting Monday.

The posthumous album Michael, featuring "newly completed recordings,"  will debut on Dec. 14, Sony Records and Jackson's estate announced on Thursday.

An introductory single, a track entitled Breaking News that Jackson recorded in 2007, will be streamed online at michaeljackson.com  for one week, beginning on Monday.

The album cover is based on artwork created by Kadir Nelson, who was commissioned by Jackson years ago to create a painting chronicling his life and musical career.

Though that project stalled, John McClain, co-executor of Jackson's estate, approached the artist to finish the work last year, Nelson told Reuters.

Other details about the forthcoming release — from the total number of tracks, other song titles or how much of the album's production work actually took place after Jackson's sudden death in June 2009 — remain unknown.

The King of Pop recorded a surfeit of tracks that never ended up on his albums, resulting in a trove of unreleased songs that grew over the years. Before his death, he had worked with contemporary artists and producers such as Akon and Will.i.am.

Jackson's last studio album, 2001's Invincible, received poor reviews from critics and saw much lower sales than his previous releases. However, his death revived interest in all things Michael Jackson, including music, books and memorabilia. The posthumous concert film This Is It, as well as its related soundtrack, also met with much success last year.

Further Jackson-related projects are also forthcoming, including video games and themed shows created by Cirque du Soleil.

Last month, Forbes announced that Jackson reigned atop its most recent list of top-earning dead celebrities.