Keeper Of the Famed

"Any time there was major press, she was hands-on," says Babyface, a 10-time Grammy Award winner. "You feel like you have your sister working for you. Nothing was going to go by, nothing negative was going to be said about you without her coming at [the person who said it] hard. And I mean hard ."

Last year, Bain, 52, went from being the force behind the scenes to the glammed-up face in front of the camera, serving as Jackson's spokeswoman during his trial. She strove mightily to paint a picture of normality for her notoriously eccentric client: "He's pretty strong. He's relying on his faith in God and his faith in the judicial system." After Jackson infamously showed up one day in pajama bottoms, she told Katie Couric: "He's embarrassed, having had to wear his pajamas in court, but under the circumstances, I would have . . . done the same."

But not long after, Bain was summarily dismissed on the Jackson Web site with a terse, "MJJ Productions regretfully announces the termination of Raymone Bain and Davis, Bain & Associates. We thank you for your services." But within days, with no real explanation of what happened, she was back on the job. This summer, in a major overhaul of a troubled entertainment dynasty, Jackson tapped Bain to helm his ship, naming her general manager and chief operating office of the Michael Jackson Co. Inc.

Is she up to the task?

"She's almost like a Columbo," says Cathy Hughes, Radio One founder and chairman, a longtime business associate. "She comes off like she's seeking your advice; there's a naivete about her that makes you comfortable. It's a facade, a veneer. She's probably one of the smartest, shrewdest people I've ever seen."

The Pull of Public Service

Trying to set up an interview with Bain is an exercise in persistence. She demurs and deflects: Now's not a good time. There's nothing to write about. Maybe a few months down the line . . . She makes a phone call up a reporter's chain of command to plead her case. Finally she relents. And then e-mails a list of friends, clients, colleagues and pastors for The Washington Post to call -- and requests the reporter's schedule so she can set up the interviews.

This is a woman accustomed to being in control.

In person, Bain is all warm smile and firm handshake, offering up tea and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. She's a curvy woman, dressed for business in a fitted navy blazer and designer denim, pebble-size diamonds studs and silver hoops crowding her ears. Her platinum micro-braids are raked back in a ponytail, while a large, diamond-studded cross dangles from her neck. It's hard to reconcile the modern-day glamazon with pictures of the fresh-faced, fluffy-haired young woman in the decades-old pictures in the library.

When she was first starting out, remembers longtime friend and businesswoman Cora Masters Barry, Bain was "naive," a "golden girl" unaccustomed to the cutthroat shenanigans of the sports and entertainment arenas. Still, Masters Barry says, in time, "she did more than adapt," even going so far as to stock her closet with two wardrobes: a relatively conservative one for her political life and a blinged-out one for the entertainment folks.

"She became very successful," Masters Barry says. "I used to describe her as the steel under the velvet."

Bain usually rises at 3 a.m. to take calls from Jackson, who, after hopping all over the globe, is now living in Ireland. Bain used to keep offices on 30th Street NW, but she figured that if she's going to work until the wee hours, it's better to do so from the comfort of her Georgetown split-level.

Her house, like Bain herself, feels formal, as if the real living is done somewhere else: subdued neutrals, an abundance of silk flowers, framed lithographs of iconic African American art. An electronic baby grand -- she studied piano as a kid -- stakes out a corner of the living room. Past a staircase trimmed with faux holly are framed platinum and gold records, a legacy of her work with R&B stars. In the library are pictures of Bain with Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Babyface, Jackson.