Bad (tour)

Bad was the first solo concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson, launched in support of his seventh studio album Bad (1987). Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts to 4.4 million fans across 15 countries. It grossed a total of $125 million, making it the second highest-grossing tour of the 1980s after Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, and earning two new entries in the Guinness World Records for the largest grossing tour in history and the tour with the largest attended audience.[1] It was nominated for "Tour of the Year 1988" at the inaugural International Rock Awards.

Bad
Tour by Michael Jackson
Promotional poster for the tour
Associated albumBad
Start dateSeptember 12, 1987
End dateJanuary 27, 1989
No. of shows123
Michael Jackson concert chronology

History

First leg (1987)

On June 29, 1987, Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo announced the singer's plan to embark on his first solo world concert tour.[2] Sponsored by Pepsi,[3] the tour began in Japan, marking Jackson's first performances in the country since 1973 as part of The Jackson 5.[4] The first nine scheduled concerts that began on September 12 sold out within hours, and five more were added due to high demand.[5] Over 600 journalists, cameramen and fans waited for Jackson's arrival to the country at Tokyo's Narita International Airport.[6] His pet chimpanzee Bubbles, who took a separate flight, was greeted by more than 300 people.[6] A chartered jumbo jet was used to carry 22 truckloads of equipment, along with Jackson's entourage of 132 for the tour.[7] The stage set used 700 lights, 100 speakers, 40 lasers, three mirrors and two 24-by-18 foot screens. Performers wore 70 costumes, four of which were attached with fiber optic lights.[8]

While in Tokyo, Australian pop music critic Ian "Molly" Meldrum conducted an exclusive interview with Jackson and DiLeo that was featured on 60 Minutes in the United States and Australia.[6] On September 18, Jackson was handed the Key to the Osaka Castle by Yasushi Oshima, the mayor of Osaka. He was accompanied by Bubbles, who was the first animal allowed inside the city's town hall. Jackson dedicated his Japanese concerts to Yoshiaki Hagiwara, a five-year-old boy who was kidnapped and murdered, and gave ¥1,614,701 (around $15,017) to the parents of Hagiwara.[9] Attendance figures for the first 14 dates in Japan totalled a record-breaking 450,000.[5] Crowds of 200,000 were what past performers could manage to draw for a single tour.[10] Nippon Television was a co-sponsor with Pepsi for the Japanese dates.[5]

Jackson performed five concerts in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in Australia in November. While off stage, he spent time visiting sick children at their homes in the Sydney suburbs.[6]

Second leg (1988–1989)
Bad Tour logo

Rehearsals for the tour's 1988 leg took place at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida from January 22 to February 18, 1988.[11] Vincent Paterson, who had worked with Jackson on several videos, was brought in to choreograph and co-direct the tour with Michael. On the last day of preparation, Jackson allowed 420 school pupils to watch him rehearse after the children made him a rap music video in his honour.[12] The first performances were to begin in Atlanta, yet Pepsi officials objected as the city was home to rival drinks company Coca-Cola.[13] For both Atlanta shows, Jackson gave 100 tickets to the Children's Wish Foundation for terminally ill children.[14] The first of three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City in March served as a benefit to raise $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund.[15] Jackson presented a check of $600,000 to the fund.[16] On March 2, 1988, Jackson performed at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, receiving an enormous standing ovation after performing "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Man in the Mirror". Jackson's album, Bad was also nominated for Album of the Year at the ceremony.

Jackson began his European tour in Rome at the Flaminio Stadium on May 23, 1988. Police and security guards rescued hundreds of fans from being crushed in the crowd of 35,000.[17] Police reported 130 women fainted at the concert in Vienna on June 2.[18] On June 17, Jackson travelled to the town of Vevey to meet Oona O'Neill, the widow of comic actor Charlie Chaplin. "I have fulfilled my biggest childhood dream", said Jackson after the visit.[19] The most successful of the European dates were those in London at Wembley Stadium. Ticket demand for the five July dates exceeded 1.5 million, enough to fill the 72,000 capacity venue 20 times.[20] Jackson performed seven sold out shows, beating the previous record held by Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Genesis. More shows could have been added, but the venue had reached its quota for live performances.[20] The third concert on July 16 was attended by Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles.[21] On September 8, Jackson was entered into the Guinness World Records, the first of three times from the tour alone. The Wembley shows were attended by a record 504,000 people. Management also presented him with a special award.[22] On July 30, NBC aired Michael Jackson Around the World, a 90-minute special documenting the singer on tour.[23] On August 29, after a birthday performance in Leeds, Jackson donated $130,000 to Give For Life.[22] The final European show was held in Liverpool on September 11, staged at Aintree Racecourse. 1,550 fans were reported injured among the crowd of 125,000.[22][24]

Between September 1988 and January 1989, Jackson toured the United States for the second time. This would be the last time he toured his native country, aside from two shows in Hawaii during the HIStory Tour and a handful of one-off appearances in 2001 and 2002.

On October 23, he donated $125,000, the net proceeds of the first show in Detroit, to the city's Motown Museum.[25] The American tour alone grossed a total of $20.3 million, the sixth largest of the year.[1] The tour was planned to end in Tokyo, but Jackson suffered from swollen vocal cords after the first of six concerts in Los Angeles in November. The remaining five were rescheduled for January 1989. During the December 11 show in Tokyo, nine-year-old Ayana Takada was selected to receive a certificate by Jackson to commemorate the four millionth person to attend the tour.[26]

Five performances in Los Angeles were held to conclude the tour on January 27, 1989. In 16 months, Jackson performed 132 concerts in 15 countries to an audience of 4.4 million for a total gross of $125 million.[1][27] The American tour alone grossed a total of $20.3 million, the sixth largest of the year.[1] Guinness World Records recognized the tour as the largest grossing in history and the tour to play to the most people ever.[1] In April 1989, the tour was nominated for "Tour of the Year 1988" at the inaugural International Rock Awards. It lost to Amnesty International.[28]

Opening acts

Set list
1987[31]
  1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
  2. "Things I Do for You"
  3. "Off the Wall"
  4. "Human Nature"
  5. "This Place Hotel"
  6. "She's Out of My Life"
  7. The Jackson 5 Medley: "I Want You Back" / "The Love You Save" / "I'll Be There"
  8. "Rock with You"
  9. "Lovely One"
  10. "Bad Groove" (Band Jam Section)
  11. "Workin' Day and Night"
  12. "Beat It"
  13. "Billie Jean"
  14. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (contain excerpts from "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough")
Encore
  1. "Thriller"
  2. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Sheryl Crow)
  3. "Bad"
1988–1989[31]
  1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
  2. "This Place Hotel"
  3. "Another Part of Me"
  4. "Human Nature"
  5. "Smooth Criminal"
  6. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Sheryl Crow)
  7. "She's Out of My Life"
  8. The Jackson 5 Medley: "I Want You Back" / "The Love You Save" / "I'll Be There"
  9. "Rock with You"
  10. "Dirty Diana"
  11. "Thriller"
  12. "Bad Groove" (Band Jam Section)
  13. "Workin' Day and Night"
  14. "Beat It"
  15. "Billie Jean"
  16. "Bad"
Encore
  1. "The Way You Make Me Feel"
  2. "Man in the Mirror"
Notes
  • The setlist for the 1987 leg heavily resembled that of The Jacksons' Victory Tour.
  • "Speed Demon" and "Liberian Girl" were rehearsed for the 1988-89 leg, but were ultimately left off the setlist.
  • "Human Nature" and "Smooth Criminal" were performed after "Rock With You" during the European dates of the tour.
  • "The Way You Make Me Feel" was occasionally taken out of the setlist for reasons pertaining to time constraints.
  • "Dirty Diana" was removed from the setlist after the first Los Angeles show on November 13, 1988.

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue Attendance Gross Ref(s)
Asia
September 12, 1987 Tokyo Japan Korakuen Stadium N/A
September 13, 1987
September 14, 1987
September 20, 1987 Nishinomiya Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium
September 21, 1987
September 22, 1987
September 25, 1987 Yokohama Yokohama Stadium
September 26, 1987
September 27, 1987
October 3, 1987
October 4, 1987
October 10, 1987 Osaka Osaka Stadium
October 11, 1987
October 12, 1987
Oceania
November 13, 1987 Melbourne Australia Olympic Park Stadium N/A
November 20, 1987 Sydney Parramatta Stadium
November 21, 1987
November 27, 1987 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre
November 28, 1987
North America
February 23, 1988 Kansas City United States Kemper Arena 33,918 / 33,918 $642,091 [32]
February 24, 1988 [32]
March 3, 1988 New York City Madison Square Garden 19,000 / 19,000 $600,000 [33]
March 4, 1988 N/A
March 5, 1988
March 12, 1988 St. Louis St. Louis Arena
March 13, 1988
March 18, 1988 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
March 19, 1988
March 20, 1988 Louisville Freedom Hall
March 24, 1988 Denver McNichols Sports Arena 40,251 / 40,251 $842,918 [34]
March 25, 1988 [34]
March 26, 1988 [34]
March 30, 1988 Hartford Hartford Civic Center 45,188 / 45,188 $1,071,148 [35]
March 31, 1988 [35]
April 1, 1988 [35]
April 8, 1988 Houston The Summit N/A
April 9, 1988
April 10, 1988
April 13, 1988 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
April 14, 1988
April 15, 1988
April 19, 1988 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon
April 20, 1988
April 21, 1988
April 25, 1988 Dallas Reunion Arena
April 26, 1988
April 27, 1988
May 4, 1988 Minneapolis Met Center 50,662 / 50,662 $1,139,895 [36]
May 5, 1988 [36]
May 6, 1988 [36]
Europe
May 23, 1988 Rome Italy Stadio Flaminio N/A
May 24, 1988
May 29, 1988 Turin Stadio Olimpico di Torino
June 2, 1988 Vienna Austria Praterstadion
June 5, 1988 Rotterdam Netherlands Feijenoord Stadium
June 6, 1988
June 7, 1988
June 11, 1988 Gothenburg Sweden Eriksberg
June 12, 1988
June 16, 1988 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob Stadium
June 19, 1988 West Berlin Reichstag Grounds
June 27, 1988 Paris France Parc des Princes
June 28, 1988
July 1, 1988 Hamburg West Germany Volksparkstadion
July 3, 1988 Cologne Müngersdorfer Stadium
July 8, 1988 Munich Olympiastadion
July 10, 1988 Hockenheim Hockenheimring
July 14, 1988 London England Wembley Stadium
July 15, 1988
July 16, 1988
July 22, 1988
July 23, 1988
July 26, 1988 Cardiff Wales Cardiff Arms Park
July 30, 1988 Cork Ireland Páirc Uí Chaoimh
July 31, 1988
August 5, 1988 Marbella Spain Estadio Municipal de Marbella
August 7, 1988 Madrid Vicente Calderón Stadium
August 9, 1988 Barcelona Camp Nou
August 14, 1988 Montpellier France Stade Richter
August 12, 1988 Nice Stade Charles-Ehrmann
August 19, 1988 Lausanne Switzerland Stade olympique de la Pontaise
August 21, 1988 Würzburg West Germany Talavera Wiesen
August 23, 1988 Werchter Belgium Werchter Festival Grounds
August 26, 1988 London England Wembley Stadium
August 27, 1988
August 29, 1988 Leeds Roundhay Park
September 2, 1988 Hanover West Germany Niedersachsenstadion
September 4, 1988 Gelsenkirchen Parkstadion
September 6, 1988 Linz Austria Linzer Stadion
September 10, 1988 Milton Keynes England National Bowl
September 11, 1988 Liverpool Aintree Racecourse
North America
September 26, 1988 Pittsburgh United States Civic Arena 48,694 / 48,694 $1,144,917 [37]
September 27, 1988 [37]
September 28, 1988 [37]
October 3, 1988 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena 61,061 / 61,061 $1,600,755 [38]
October 4, 1988 [38]
October 5, 1988 [38]
October 10, 1988 Cleveland Richfield Coliseum N/A
October 11, 1988
October 14, 1988 Landover Capital Centre 69,883 / 69,883 $1,747,075 [39]
October 17, 1988 [39]
October 18, 1988 [39]
October 19, 1988 [39]
October 24, 1988 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills N/A
October 25, 1988
October 26, 1988
November 7, 1988 Irvine Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre
November 8, 1988
November 9, 1988
November 13, 1988 Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 93,198 / 93,198 $2,423,603 [40]
Asia
December 9, 1988 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome N/A
December 10, 1988
December 11, 1988
December 17, 1988
December 18, 1988
December 19, 1988
December 24, 1988
December 25, 1988
December 26, 1988
North America
January 16, 1989 Los Angeles United States Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena [lower-alpha 1]
January 17, 1989
January 18, 1989
January 26, 1989
January 27, 1989

Broadcast recordings

A live album and DVD of the July 16, 1988 concert in London titled Live at Wembley July 16, 1988 was released along with the special edition reissue of the Bad album titled Bad 25 on September 18, 2012, as well as a stand-alone DVD. Video of the September 26, 1987 Concert in Yokohama, Japan was broadcast in Nippon Television and is available in YouTube . A number of amateur concerts were leaked on YouTube a few years later.[41]

Personnel

See also

Notes
  1. The score data is combined from the shows held at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena from November 13, 1988 & January 16, 17, 18, 26, 27, 1989 respectively.[40]

References
  1. Campbell 1993, p. 236.
  2. "Jackson sets solo world tour". The Miami News. June 30, 1987. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  3. Campbell 1993, p. 186.
  4. "Michael Jackson's new tour to start in Japan". Manila Standard. July 2, 1987. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  5. Campbell 1993, p. 208.
  6. Bad Tour Programme (1988), Far East Report
  7. Geraldine Hosier (1987). "TheMichaelJacksonArchives – Bad Japan Tour 1987". News of the World. Archived from the original on 2008-09-24.
  8. "Michael Jackson craze hits Japan". New Straits Times. September 12, 1987. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  9. "TheMichaelJacksonArchives – Bad Japan Tour 1987". Archived from the original on 2008-09-24.
  10. Richard Harrington (January 12, 1988). "Jackson to Make First Solo U.S. Tour". The Washington Post.
  11. Snider, Eric (January 15, 1988). "'Bad' tour: Pensacola is southern limit". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  12. "Jackson entertains kids". The Dispatch. Lexington, North Carolina. February 20, 1988. p. 2. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  13. Campbell 1993, p. 212.
  14. Campbell 1993, p. 213.
  15. Decurtis, Anthony (February 10, 1988). "Michael Jackson plans U.S., European tours". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  16. Campbell 1993, p. 189.
  17. "Michael Jackson". Gettysburg Times. May 25, 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  18. "130 fans faint at Jackson concert". The Telegraph. June 4, 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  19. "Michael Jackson Oona Chaplin". Gettysburg Times. June 20, 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  20. Campbell 1993, p. 216.
  21. Campbell 1993, p. 217.
  22. Halstead 2003, p. 80.
  23. "Stay up tonight to catch Michael Jackson on tour". Boca Raton News. July 30, 1988. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  24. "1,550 injured at Jackson concert". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 12, 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  25. "Michael Jackson Donates $125,000 to Motown Museum". The Argus-Press. October 24, 1988. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  26. "Jackson greets 4 millionth fan". Anchorage Daily News. December 12, 1988. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  27. "Michael's Last Tour". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. April 1989. pp. 142–153. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  28. Halstead 2003, p. 85.
  29. John Peel (2009-06-28). "John Peel on Michael Jackson's 'Bad' show at Wembley | Music | The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  30. "Taylor Dayne – AskMen". Uk.askmen.com. 1962-03-07. Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  31. Halstead 2003, p. 79.
  32. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 11. March 12, 1988. p. 22. ISSN 0006-2510.
  33. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 12. March 19, 1988. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510.
  34. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 15. April 9, 1988. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510.
  35. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 17. April 23, 1988. p. 23. ISSN 0006-2510.
  36. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 22. May 28, 1988. p. 44. ISSN 0006-2510.
  37. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 42. October 15, 1988. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510.
  38. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 43. October 22, 1988. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510.
  39. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 45. November 5, 1988. p. 46. ISSN 0006-2510.
  40. "Billboard Boxscore" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101 no. 6. February 11, 1989. p. 32. ISSN 0006-2510.
  41. "25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson's Landmark Album Bad Celebrated With September 18 Release Of New Bad 25 Packages". Sony Music. michaeljackson.com. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  42. Saulnier, Jason (23 July 2008). "Jennifer Batten Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 3 July 2013.

Sources
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