New Jackson song hits the Internet

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- "This Is It," a never-before released song from the late U.S. pop star Michael Jackson, was posted on www.MichaelJackson.com Monday.

The single features backing vocals by Michael's brothers, who are billed as The Jacksons. It will be played during the closing sequence of Sony Pictures' forthcoming film "Michael Jackson's This Is It" and appears on the 2-disc CD set "Michael Jackson's This Is It," which is the stand-alone companion to the motion picture. The film was shot while Jackson was rehearsing shortly before his June 25 death for a planned series of comeback concerts in London that never happened.

The album is set for release internationally Oct. 26 and in North America Oct. 27 to coincide with the worldwide release of the documentary, which arrives in theaters Oct. 28 and is to run for a limited two-week engagement.

CNN said about 45 seconds of the new song was apparently leaked online Sunday before its release Monday morning.

"This Is It" likely won't be the last new offering from the fallen pop icon.

"We probably have at least 100 songs in varying degrees of being finished," Rob Stringer -- chairman of the Columbia/Epic Label Group, a Sony division -- told The New York Times. "And we think there probably is a lot more. We haven't gone into the archive to search it properly yet. It's just too complicated to do that."