Before he died, the King of Pop wrote a note indicating that he wanted his duet with Akon, ‘Hold My Hand’, to be his comeback single.

Now, more than a year after his sudden death halted plans for a huge run of comeback concerts, the song has been announced as the first single off of Michael Jackson’s posthumous album ‘Michael’.

‘Hold My Hand’ was leaked onto the internet in 2008, but collaborator Akon says that it has since been reworked for an official release on November 28.

Akon said: "The world was not ready to hear 'Hold My Hand' when it leaked a couple years ago. We were devastated about it.

"But it’s time has definitely come; now in its final state, it has become an incredible, beautiful, anthemic song. I'm so proud to have had the chance to work with Michael, one of my all time idols."

The song will appear on the upcoming album along with a number of other tracks which were unfinished at the time of the star’s death, but have since been completed by the producers and collaborators that were originally working on it. The tracklisting for the album (to be out on December 13) has been released:

'Michael' tracklist:

01. Hold My Hand (Duet with Akon)
02. Hollywood Tonight
03. Keep Your Head Up
04. (I Like) The Way You Love Me
05. Monster featuring 50 Cent
06. Best Of Joy
07. Breaking News
08. (I Can’t Make It) Another Day featuring Lenny Kravitz
09. Behind The Mask
10. Much Too Soon

Hear the 2008 leaked version of ‘Hold My Hand’ below: