Coming shortly after rumors of being terminally ill surfaced in the media, which would explain his ever fewer public appearances, Michael Jackson’s latest outing has again sparkled rumors of some unknown disease. At the same time, it has sparked off rumors of the star trying to garner some extra publicity for the presumably lingering sales of his albums.  

Michael is one, if not actually the best-selling performers of our times, yet he is constantly plagued by rumors of bankruptcy and stale sales. His most recent outing, when he tried to pass by unnoticed in a Hollywood music store despite the fact that his face was draped in white, with large, black shades, matched with an all-black outfit topped with a black fedora, has gotten the tabloids speaking of a bid for attention on behalf of the isolated star. The umbrella that his bodyguard kept open all the time inside the store certainly did not divert people’s attention to anything else. 

In all fairness, they are somehow justified in doing so since the only item that Jackson picked from the store, despite the madness that ensued, was the Michael Jackson box set “Visionary: The Complete Singles Collection.” Then again, for a singer who, going against all odds, is still able to hold the headlines for the good reasons when everything seems to go wrong, Michael Jackson would probably not need this kind of publicity to shake things up a bit in terms of sales.

On the same note, the star’s appearance triggered once more talk of an illness that is slowly consuming him. This would come to strengthen earlier speculation that he had some form of lung cancer, which was ignited when he was spotted being pushed around in a wheelchair by one of his bodyguards.

Still in the realm of gossip, Michael’s much hyped, but never materialized album, meant to be the follow-up to his 2001 “Invincible,” and which reportedly boasts collaborations with the hottest music producers of the moment, is still nowhere in sight.

For more pictures of Michael on his latest shopping spree, please go here.