Michael Jackson has a laundry list of hits, but Quincy Jones’ The Secret Garden could have also been one of them … so says Al B. Sure!.

According to the 90s R&B crooner, MJ was supposed to be featured on the Jones produced single, but had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts.

As a back-up (we presume) Sure, was selected (along with El Debarge, James Ingram, and Barry White) and explained that he purposely tried to sound like Jackson on his verse.

“For a very long time people thought the very first verse was Michael Jackson and that’s only because I Michaeled out,” laughs Sure who was discovered by Jones in 1987. “It was really an appreciation because he was actually supposed to be apart of the song. But as schedules and record releases came about [ it didn’t happen]. We are very happy with the result but it went through a metamorphosis.”

The song would be released in 1989 on Jones’ album Back On The Block, but not before he also considered adding Luther Vandross.

“There were a number of artists that were considered for the song and I just think it was a complete blessing that I was, so I wanted to bridge the gap by almost doing a tribute to Michael.”

Jones and Jackson were long time collaborators, with Jones famously producing the albums  Off the Wall (1979), Thriller(1982), and Bad (1987).