Sky Ferreira mentored by Michael Jackson

Singer Sky Ferreira grew up as a close family friend of Michael Jackson when her grandmother worked as the pop superstar's hair stylist.

The 21 year old has revealed she was close to the King of Pop when she was a youngster, and often spent time with him and his three children.

Ferreira reveals she sometimes sang to the Thriller hitmaker and even celebrated birthdays at his home, telling Britain's The Guardian, "She (my grandmother) went everywhere with him, so I was always around him and his kids. I had birthdays there, I sang gospel music for him - he was kind of my mentor, so he influenced me, but more as a friend than as Michael Jackson, the pop star."

The singer goes on to admit she was devastated by Jackson's death in 2009, adding, "Everything just kinda stopped, it was the first death I'd ever experienced. But sometimes something will remind me of him and I feel a lot better."