Conspiracy theories about Michael Jackson have been reignited after the singer’s collaborator and producer Teddy Riley said he thought the star was still alive

MICHAEL Jackson is alive and well and preparing to make a massive comeback, according to a group of his friends and collaborators.

Teddy Riley, 51, who worked with the King of Pop on the Dangerous album, has got tongues wagging after he said he thought the singer was still alive.

Rejecting conventional wisdom that the world’s third-best-selling music artist of all time died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, Riley wrote in November 2010: “If people can think Elvis is still alive why the F#*@ I cant [sic] think Michael is still alive.”

The post on Twitter came one day after a fan wrote to him: “[Producer and rapper] Akon said he believes Michael is in hiding and will be coming back one day. Im curious to know what ya think bout that.”

Riley responded, “Akon is my friend and we think alike.”

Akon, 45, recorded a remix of Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ for the 25th anniversary release of Jackson’s icon album Thriller.

He has also claimed he was a close friend of the star towards the end of his life and released the tribute song Cry Out Of Joy after his death.

Jackson’s former stylist and hairdresser Steve Erhardt, who initially wrote a Facebook message to “believers” – the singer’s fans who still cling to the idea he is still alive – in 2017 saying he had a message for them.

The message said: “A tip for the believers, the Michael Jackson believers. You heard it here first, an announcement of sorts.

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“And in a couple of months, or latest at the end of the year, you will be receiving some very good news.

“It’s almost unbelievable. And not even the family knows… but I do.”

Erhardt has never made public exactly what the post referred to.

In June last year he shared another enigmatic post showing only the leg of a man wearing Jacko’s trademark white socks and baggy, short black trousers.

The post said: “In a recording studio, somewhere in the world, in an undisclosed location, he’s coming soon.”

Further fuelling the strange conspiracy theories has been a YouTube channel, “BeLIEve” focused on debating if Jackson is still alive.

In one video, it states: “Michael’s friend, Hollywood hair designer Steve Erhardt, told us last year that he would give good news to Believers (I mean people who believe that Michael Jackson is alive).

“Now he shared something that excited the fans.”

Michael Turegano, who has investigated Jacko’s death for almost a decade, said that Erhardt’s claims should not be dismissed.

He said last year: “He’s been in contact with Michael in the past. So I think we should care what he says.”

Jackson died after suffering a heart attack in 2009 but some people have refused to believe that is really what happened.

His personal physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter over his death, which was deemed to be a homicide, the Los Angeles County Coroner ruled.