Senegalese musician Akon was shocked when his hero, Michael Jackson, escorted him on their first outing in his pyjamas. Akon told the Daily Star: “He actually took me to the movies with him and that was an experience.

“I was like: ‘Are you going out like that?’ He was in his pyjamas and I was waiting to see if he was going to change.

“He grabs a scarf and puts it around his head, then he grabs the kids and puts a scarf around their heads, so I grab a scarf and put it around my head and off we go.”

Akon’s third album ‘Acquitted’ —the follow up to ‘Trouble’ and ‘Konvicted’ —was released in May this year.

He added: “The album name is a progression from ‘Trouble’ and ‘Konvicted’. It represents my progression as an artist too. “This is the album where I reveal parts of me that people never knew.” The ‘Smack That’ singer is already working on his new project. He said: “The next album will be called ‘Double Jeopardy’. Eventually I want to do a country album, as musically I feel there isn’t much left to be covered.”