Ok, this is the second name this week I'd never heard of before. "Common" was the other one...

I didn't hear too much of MJ in his voice, but it stands alone and to my ears, sounds less affected than Jackson's did. MJ had a fine pop voice, but he embellished things so much that to me, it took away from his performance.

If you want to the influence game back another step. Go find some early Kenny Loggins solo albums. Jackson sang back up one one or two of his tunes. Each had this breathiness to their voice, which Jackson may have picked up, in part, to his experience with Loggins.