Producer and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am has revealed his admiration for Michael Jackson.

will.i.am, who has produced for Snoop Doog, Nas and Justin Timberlake, is working on Jackson's next album, due out before the end of 2007. He told Billboard the pair had spoken regularly on the phone, adding: "He still sings like a bird. He could go anywhere. I think we have a real opportunity to do something here. It's either gonna be really big or nobody's gonna care. Ain't no middle ground on this one."

Jackson has previously called will.i.am "wonderful, innovative, positive [and] great".