Jay Z joins Instagram for Michael Jackson tribute

Rap legend Jay Z may have finally joined Instagram, after a new account named Hovsince96 posted an old photo of him clad in a New York Knicks jersey and embracing Michael Jackson. The photo, posted on 29 August, which would have been the late King of Pop's 57th birthday, and had the caption: "Happy Birthday to the King! This may be my first and last post."

At the time of writing the account already amassed 87,000 followers and the post has been liked nearly 33,000 times. Although Jay Z is notoriously private, his friend, music executive Michael Kyser, appeared to verify the account through his own post on the social network and on Twitter, in which he urged followers to "Follow my brother @Hovsince96 ASAP!"

Popstar Beyonce, who is married to Jay Z, has a huge Instagram following, regularly posting pictures and sharing news with her 44m followers. According to recent reports, Beyonce, 33, and Jay Z, 45, have shelved plans to release their first collaborative record exclusively on the hip-hop mogul's music streaming service Tidal.

An insider told The Sun that the star has chosen to focus on her solo LP instead, telling the paper: "She worked on it [her new record] with the likes of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Plans for an album with Jay Z are now on the back burner."

The power couple will be attending the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday 30 August, where Beyonce is nominated for five awards, including Video Of The Year, Best Female Video, Best Female Video, Best Editing and Best Choreography.