Bad World Tour

Bad World Tour
1988 tour logo.
World tour by Michael Jackson
Location	Asia, Oceania, North America, Europe
Associated album	Bad
Start date	September 12, 1987
End date	January 27, 1989
Legs	2
Shows	123
Michael Jackson tour chronology
Victory Tour (1984) Bad World Tour (1987-89) Dangerous World Tour (1992-93)

The Bad World Tour was the first solo concert tour by American megasuperstar Michael Jackson that visited Japan, Australia, the United States and Europe. Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts to 4.4 million fans across 15 countries. When the tour concluded it grossed a total of $125 million, adding two new entries in the Guinness World Records for the largest grossing tour in history and the tour with the largest attended audience.^[1] In April 1989, the tour was nominated for "Tour of the Year 1988" at the inaugural International Rock Awards.

Overview

First leg (1987)

The release of Jackson's seventh solo album, Bad, on August 31, 1987 led to a huge rise in popularity for Jackson in Japan, with Jackson being nicknamed "Typhoon Michael". Other popular artists such as George Michael and Madonna had similarly begun their solo world tours in Japan, as it was seen as the ideal place for the last "live dress rehearsal".[4] The Japanese press only idolise their artists,[4] unlike the tabloids seen in the United Kingdom where they are most popular. When Jackson's Japan Airlines Flight 61 touched down at Narita International Airport in Tokyo over 600 journalists, cameramen and hundreds of screaming fans were waiting to cover his arrival.[4] Even Bubbles, Jackson's pet chimp, who took a separate flight, was greeted by more than 300.[4] To transport the stage equipment, a chartered jumbo jet flew into Tokyo carrying 22 truckloads along with Jackson's tour entourage of 132 people.[5]

While Jackson was in Tokyo, Australian pop music critic Molly Meldrum flew in to record a world exclusive one hour television special with Jackson and Frank DiLeo, his then-manager, which was later featured on 60 Minutes in the United States.[4] Whist performing in Osaka, Jackson met with then-Mayor Yasushi Oshima to receive the Key to the City. Jackson also brought along Bubbles, the first animal allowed inside the Osaka Town Hall. It was also in Osaka where Jackson announced the dedication of his Japanese tour and each performance of "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"[6] to Yoshioka Hagiwara, a 5 year old boy who was kidnapped and murdered. Jackson gave £12,000 to the parents of Hagiwara.[7]

The total attendance for the concerts in Japan (14 in total) during the first leg was 450,000[8] with performances in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama. Previously, performers only managed to draw a crowd of 200,000 on a single tour.[9] A granddaughter of Emperor Hirohito attended the first concert in Tokyo.

After the first fourteen concerts in Japan, the tour went to Australia with five concerts with performances in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Similar to that of Japan, the Australian press were naming Jackson "Crocodile Jackson". When he was not performing, Jackson spent time visiting sick children at their homes in the suburbs in Sydney, where in one instance he actually put children to bed after a plea from their mothers over the phone.[4] It was also in Brisbane on November 28, 1987 where Stevie Wonder made a surprise appearance at a concert to perform "Bad", a song that was featured on Bad. Due to various reasons, scheduled concerts in Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand were cancelled.

Second leg (1988–1989)

Jackson performing in Vienna, Austria on June 2, 1988.

Rehearsals for the tour's second leg took place at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Florida from January 22 to February 18, 1988.^[2] 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.^[3] The first performances were to begin in Atlanta, Georgia, yet Pepsi officials objected as the city was home to rival drinks company Coca-Cola.^[4] For both Atlanta shows, Jackson gave 100 tickets to the Children's Wish Foundation for terminally ill children.^[5] 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.^[6] Jackson presented a check of $600,000 to the fund.^[7] Two performances in St. Louis, Missouri were cancelled after Jackson came down with a cold that developed into laryngitis.^[5]

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 30,000.^[8] Police reported 130 women fainted at the concert in Vienna on June 2.^[9] A scheduled performance in Lyon was cancelled after 16,000 of a planned 30,000 tickets were sold.^[10] 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 by biggest childhood dream", said Jackson after the visit.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[12] The third concert on July 16 was attended by Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles.^[13] 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.^[14] On July 30, NBC aired Michael Jackson Around the World, a 90-minute special documenting the singer on tour.^[15] On August 29, after a birthday performance in Leeds, Jackson donated $130,000 to Give For Life.^[14] 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.^[14][16]

In September 1988, Jackson toured the United States for the second time. On October 23, he donated $125,000, the net proceeds to first show in Detroit, to the city's Motown Museum.^[17] Three concerts in Tacoma, Washington were cancelled after Jackson came down with the flu.^[18] The tour was planned to end in Tokyo, but Jackson suffered from swollen vocal chords 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.^[19]

Five performances in Los Angeles were held to conclude the tour on January 27, 1989. In 16 months, Jackson performed 123 concerts in 15 countries to an audience of 4.4 million for a total gross of $125 million.^[1][20] 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.^[21]

Set list

First leg (1987)^[22]

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. Jackson 5 Medley
   1. "I Want You Back"
   2. "The Love You Save"
   3. "I'll Be There"
8. "Rock with You"
9. "Lovely One"
10. "Bad Groove" Interlude
11. "Workin' Day and Night"
12. "Beat It"
13. "Billie Jean"
14. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" featuring snippet of Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
15. "Thriller"
16. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" with Sheryl Crow
17. "Bad"

Second leg (1988-1989)^[22]

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "This Place Hotel"
3. "Another Part of Me"
4. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" with Sheryl Crow
5. "She's Out of My Life"
6. Jackson 5 Medley
   1. "I Want You Back"
   2. "The Love You Save"
   3. "I'll Be There"
7. "Rock with You"
8. "Human Nature"
9. "Smooth Criminal"
10. "Dirty Diana"
11. "Thriller"
12. "Bad Groove" Interlude
13. "Workin' Day and Night"
14. "Beat It"
15. "Billie Jean"
16. "Bad"
17. "The Way You Make Me Feel"
18. "Man in the Mirror"

Song Info

The "Bad Groove" interlude involved the band playing an extended instrumental of "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" by Prince from his 1987 album Sign o' the Times. The second leg piece grew longer and an instrumental of "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" from Jackson's 1979 album Off The Wall was added. The band members also perform their own solo with keyboards first, followed by bass guitar then drums. During the second leg spots in the interlude session varied, such as the additional solo from guitarist Jennifer Batten.

For some concerts during the second leg, there were some order switches and songs removed such as "The Way You Make Me Feel" or "Man In The Mirror.

For his March 1988 performances at Madison Square Garden in New York, Steve Stevens (Guitar - Billy Idol) performed on "Dirty Diana", as he had on the recording.

Tour dates

#	Date	City	Country	Venue
First leg
Asia
1	September 12, 1987	Tokyo	Japan	Korakuen Stadium
2	September 13, 1987
3	September 14, 1987
4	September 19, 1987	Hyogo		Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium
5	September 20, 1987
6	September 21, 1987
7	September 25, 1987	Yokohama		Yokohama Stadium
8	September 26, 1987
9	September 27, 1987
10	October 3, 1987
11	October 4, 1987
12	October 10, 1987	Osaka		Osaka Stadium
13	October 11, 1987
14	October 12, 1987
Australia
15	November 13, 1987	Melbourne	Australia	Olympic Park Stadium
16	November 20, 1987	Sydney		Parramatta Stadium
17	November 21, 1987
18	November 25, 1987	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
19	November 28, 1987
Second leg
North America
20	February 23, 1988	Kansas City	United States	Kemper Arena
21	February 24, 1988
22	March 3, 1988	New York City		Madison Square Garden
23	March 4, 1988
24	March 5, 1988
25	March 12, 1988	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena
26	March 13, 1988
27	March 18, 1988	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
28	March 19, 1988
29	March 20, 1988	Louisville		Freedom Hall
30	March 23, 1988	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
31	March 24, 1988
32	March 30, 1988	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
33	March 31, 1988
34	April 1, 1988
35	April 8, 1988	Houston		The Summit
36	April 9, 1988
37	April 10, 1988
38	April 13, 1988	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
39	April 14, 1988
40	April 15, 1988
41	April 19, 1988	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon
42	April 20, 1988
43	April 21, 1988
44	April 25, 1988	Dallas		Reunion Arena
45	April 26, 1988
46	April 27, 1988
47	May 4, 1988	Minneapolis		Met Center
48	May 5, 1988
49	May 6, 1988
Europe
50	May 23, 1988	Rome	Italy	Flaminio Stadium
51	May 24, 1988
52	May 29, 1988	Turin		Stadio Comunale di Torino
53	June 2, 1988	Vienna	Austria	Prater Stadium
54	June 5, 1988	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Feijenoord Stadium
55	June 6, 1988
56	June 7, 1988
57	June 11, 1988	Gothenburg	Sweden	Eriksburg Shipyard
58	June 12, 1988
59	June 16, 1988	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakob Stadium
60	June 19, 1988	Berlin	West Germany	Reichstag Building
61	June 27, 1988	Paris	France	Parc des Princes Stadium
62	June 28, 1988
63	July 1, 1988	Hamburg	West Germany	Volkspark Stadium
64	July 3, 1988	Cologne		Mungersdorfer Stadium
65	July 8, 1988	Munich		Olympic Stadium
66	July 10, 1988	Hockenheim		Hockenheimring
67	July 14, 1988	London	England	Wembley Stadium
68	July 15, 1988
69	July 16, 1988
70	July 22, 1988
71	July 23, 1988
72	July 26, 1988	Cardiff	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park
73	July 30, 1988	Cork	Ireland	Páirc Uí Chaoimh
74	July 31, 1988
75	August 5, 1988	Marbella	Spain	Municipal Stadium
76	August 7, 1988	Madrid		Vicente Calderón Stadium
77	August 9, 1988	Barcelona		Camp Nou
78	August 11, 1988	Nice	France	Stade Charles Ehrmann
79	August 14, 1988	Montpellier		Stade Richter
80	August 19, 1988	Lausanne	Switzerland	La Pontaise
81	August 21, 1988	Würzburg	West Germany	Talavera Wiesen
82	August 23, 1988	Werchter	Belgium	Festival Grounds
83	August 26, 1988	London	England	Wembley Stadium
84	August 27, 1988
85	August 29, 1988	Leeds		Roundhay Park
86	September 2, 1988	Hanover	West Germany	Niedersachsen Stadium
87	September 4, 1988	Gelsenkirchen		Park Stadium
88	September 6, 1988	Linz	Austria	Linzer Stadium
89	September 10, 1988	Milton Keynes	England	The Bowl
90	September 11, 1988	Liverpool		Aintree Racecourse
North America
91	September 26, 1988	Pittsburgh	United States	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
92	September 27, 1988
93	September 28, 1988
94	October 3, 1988	East Rutherford		Meadowlands Arena
95	October 4, 1988
96	October 6, 1988
97	October 10, 1988	Richfield		Richfield Coliseum
98	October 11, 1988
99	October 13, 1988	Landover		Capital Centre
100	October 17, 1988
101	October 18, 1988
102	October 19, 1988
103	October 24, 1988	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
104	October 25, 1988
105	October 26, 1988
106	November 7, 1988	Irvine		Irvine Meadows Amphitheater
107	November 8, 1988
108	November 9, 1988
109	November 13, 1988	Los Angeles		Memorial Sports Arena
Asia
110	December 9, 1988	Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo Dome
111	December 10, 1988
112	December 11, 1988
113	December 17, 1988
114	December 18, 1988
115	December 19, 1988
116	December 24, 1988
117	December 25, 1988
118	December 26, 1988
North America
119	January 16, 1989	Los Angeles	United States	Memorial Sports Arena
120	January 17, 1989
121	January 18, 1989
122	January 26, 1989
123	January 27, 1989

Personnel

Performers Michael Jackson – lead vocals, dance and choreographer LaVelle Smith – backup dancer Evaldo Garcia – backup dancer Randy Allaire – backup dancer Dominic Lucero – backup dancer

Musicians Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, musical director Rory Kaplan – keyboards Christopher Currell – Synclavier synthesizer, digital guitar, sound effects Ricky Lawson – drums Jennifer Batten – guitar Jon Clark – guitar Don Boyette – bass Darryl Phinnessee – backup vocals Dorian Holley – vocal director, backup vocals Sheryl Crow – backup vocals Kevin Dorsey – backup vocals

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Campbell 1993, p. 236.
2. ^ Snider, Eric (January 15, 1988). "'Bad' tour: Pensacola is southern limit". St. Petersburg Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/51251147.html?dids=51251147:51251147&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+15%2C+1988&author=ERIC+SNIDER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=%60Bad%27+tour%3A+Pensacola+is+southern+limit&pqatl=google. Retrieved December 11, 2009. 
3. ^ "Michael Jackson entertains 420 Florida pupils". St. Petersburg Times. February 20, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=C8QMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=42ADAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=5194%2C4296841. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
4. ^ Campbell 1993, p. 212.
5. ^ ^{a b} Campbell 1993, p. 213.
6. ^ Decurtis, Anthony (February 10, 1988). "Michael Jackson plans U.S., European tours". Anchorage Daily News. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=08oyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QKcEAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=1498%2C3490754. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
7. ^ Campbell 1993, p. 189.
8. ^ "Michael Jackson". Gettysburg Times. May 25, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=GBMmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FP0FAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=3499%2C3682331. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
9. ^ "130 fans faint at Jackson concert". The Telegraph. June 4, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=zw4mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vPwFAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=2203%2C875101. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
10. ^ "Jackson's French tour lags". St. Petersburg Times. June 20, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=CAkNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I2YDAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=5277%2C5866149. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
11. ^ "Michael Jackson Oona Chaplin". Gettysburg Times. June 20, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=JxMmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FP0FAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=6575%2C8117579. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Campbell 1993, p. 216.
13. ^ Campbell 1993, p. 217.
14. ^ ^{a b c} Halstead 2003, p. 80.
15. ^ "Stay up tonight to catch Michael Jackson on tour". Boca Raton News. July 30, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=9dgPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q40DAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20concert&pg=6831%2C8264287. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
16. ^ "1,550 injured at Jackson concert". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 12, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=eN8NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8W0DAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=5265%2C3398932. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
17. ^ "Michael Jackson Donates $125,000 to Motown Museum". The Argus-Press. October 24, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=z2ciAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9KwFAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20concert&pg=1292%2C4928216. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
18. ^ "Jackson concert cancelled". Ellensburg Daily Record. October 31, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=1dEPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=do8DAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=2770%2C3787862. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
19. ^ "Jackson greets 4 millionth fan". Anchorage Daily News. December 12, 1988. http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=iUsgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5aYEAAAAIBAJ&dq=michael%20jackson%20tour&pg=1333%2C7135519. Retrieved September 30, 2010. 
20. ^ "Michael's Last Tour". Ebony: pp. 142–153. April 1989. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=FtUDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&pg=PA144#v=twopage&q&f=false. Retrieved October 2, 2010. 
21. ^ Halstead 2003, p. 85.
22. ^ ^{a b} Halstead 2003, p. 79.

Sources

• Campbell, Lisa D. (1993). Michael Jackson: The King of Pop (1st ed.). Branden Books. ISBN 978-0828319577. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BVC9zltjf-EC&lpg=PA175&dq=michael%20jackson%20bad%20tour&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Halstead, Craig (2003). Michael Jackson The Solo Years (1st ed.). Authors On Line, Ltd. ISBN 978-0755200917. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yb_ghov9uEMC&lpg=PA79&dq=michael%20jackson%20bad%20tour&pg=PA32#v=onepage&q&f=false.