With the recent release of Michael Jackson’s This Is It, fans of his will be reminiscing about his last few months and the fortunate ones who got to spend time at his side.
One of these grateful beings is Orianthi Panagaris, MJ’s lead guitarist that comes from Adelaide and is of Greek origin.
Right after her performance with Carrie Underwood at the Grammy awards in February, she received a message through her MySpace page inviting her to audition for MJ. She auditioned for Jackson in April on a Burbank soundstage. “I was so nervous and he was staring right at me,” she said.”Afterwards, he was really happy and he grabbed my arm. We started walking up and down the stage area, and he asked me if I could play the solo while walking with a real fast pace with him.”
When she proved her ability to perform on that level, she spent the next three months rehearsing with him and the rest of the band.
“He was a big kid who wanted to have fun, but he was so serious about his music,” Orianthi said. “He was a perfectionist and wanted to make sure it came across really well for his fans. He wanted to put on the ultimate show for them.”
Orianthi herself is being compared to the likes of Lita Ford or even the female version of Carlos Santana and Slash.
Her debut album “Believe” was originally due later in the fall but Geffen Records moved up the release date to October 26 to take advantage of the hype from the screening of MJ’s documentary This Is It.
Her album is of pop quality containing strong guitar solos with songs like “According to You” & “God only knows” predicted to have a greater resonance to audiences.
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