Michael Jackson Bad World Tour

Bad (tour)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bad
1988 tour logo
World tour by Michael Jackson
Associated album	Bad
Start date	September 12, 1987
End date	January 27, 1989
Legs	2
Shows	54 in North America 41 in Europe 23 in Asia 5 in Australia 123 played

Bad was the debut concert tour by American recording artist Michael Jackson, launched in support of his seventh studio album of the same name (1987). Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts to 4.4 million fans across 15 countries. In April 1989, the tour was nominated for "Tour of the Year 1988" at the inaugural International Rock Awards. 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.^[1]

Background

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 Molly Meldrum conducted an exclusive interview Jackson and DiLeo that was featured on 60 Minutes in the United States.^[6] On September 18, Jackson was handed the Key to the City 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 £12,000 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]
In October 1987, scheduled shows in Perth and Adelaide in Australia were cancelled. A New Zealand leg was also scrapped. Kevin Jacobson, the tour's promoter, put it down to financial reasons with the original schedule having to cost $8 million to stage.^[11] 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)

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.^[12] 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.^[13] The first performances were to begin in Atlanta, Georgia, yet Pepsi officials objected as the city was home to rival drinks company Coca-Cola.^[14] For both Atlanta shows, Jackson gave 100 tickets to the Children's Wish Foundation for terminally ill children.^[15] 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.^[16] Jackson presented a check of $600,000 to the fund.^[17]
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.^[18] Police reported 130 women fainted at the concert in Vienna on June 2.^[19] A scheduled performance in Lyon was cancelled after 16,000 of a planned 30,000 tickets were sold.^[20] 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.^[21] 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.^[22] 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.^[22] The third concert on July 16 was attended by Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles.^[23] 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.^[24] On July 30, NBC aired Michael Jackson Around the World, a 90-minute special documenting the singer on tour.^[25] On August 29, after a birthday performance in Leeds, Jackson donated $130,000 to Give For Life.^[24] 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.^[24][26]
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.^[27] Three concerts in Tacoma, Washington were cancelled after Jackson came down with the flu.^[28] 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.^[29]
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.^[30][31] The American tour alone grossed a total of $20.3 million, the sixth largest of the year.^[30] Guinness World Records recognized the tour as the largest grossing in history and the tour to play to the most people ever.^[30] In April 1989, the tour was nominated for "Tour of the Year 1988" at the inaugural International Rock Awards. It lost to Amnesty International.^[32]

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
First leg
Rehearsal concert
September 11, 1987[38]	Tokyo	Japan	Korakuen Stadium
Asia[39]
September 12, 1987	Tokyo	Japan	Korakuen Stadium
September 13, 1987
September 14, 1987
September 19, 1987	Nishinomiya		Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium
September 20, 1987
September 21, 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
Australia
November 13, 1987[40]	Melbourne	Australia	Olympic Park Stadium
November 20, 1987[41]	Parramatta		Parramatta Stadium
November 21, 1987
November 27, 1987[42][43]	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
November 28, 1987[44]
Second leg
Full dress rehearsal concert
February 18, 1988[45]	Pensacola	United States	Pensacola Civic Center
North America opening dates
February 23, 1988	Kansas City	United States	Kemper Arena
February 24, 1988
30th Grammy Awards show[46]
March 2, 1988	New York City	United States	Radio City Music Hall
North America
March 3, 1988[47]	New York City	United States	Madison Square Garden
March 5, 1988[48]
March 6, 1988[49]
March 12, 1988[A]	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
March 25, 1988
March 26, 1988[50][51]
March 30, 1988	Hartford		Hartford Civic Arena
March 31, 1988
April 1, 1988
April 8, 1988	Houston		The Summit
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
May 5, 1988
May 6, 1988
Europe
May 23, 1988	Rome	Italy	Stadio Flaminio
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 Docks Grounds
June 12, 1988
June 16, 1988	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakob Stadium
June 19, 1988	West Berlin	West Germany	Reichstag Grounds
June 23, 1988[B]	Lyon	France	Stade de Gerland
June 27, 1988	Paris		Parc des Princes Stadium
June 28, 1988
July 1, 1988	Hamburg	West Germany	Volksparkstadion
July 3, 1988	Cologne		Müngersdorfer Stadium
July 8, 1988	Munich		Olympic Stadium
July 10, 1988	Hockenheim		Hockenheimring
July 14, 1988	London	United Kingdom	Wembley Stadium
July 15, 1988
July 16, 1988
July 22, 1988
July 23, 1988
July 26, 1988	Cardiff		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		Estadio Vicente Calderón
August 9, 1988	Barcelona		Camp Nou
August 12, 1988	Montpellier	France	Stade Richter
August 14, 1988	Nice		Stade Charles-Ehrmann
August 19, 1988	Lausanne	Switzerland	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise
August 21, 1988	Würzburg	West Germany	Talavera Wiesen Grounds
August 23, 1988	Werchter	Belgium	Werchter Festival Ground
August 26, 1988	London	United Kingdom	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 Stadium
September 10, 1988	Milton Keynes	United Kingdom	The National Bowl
September 11, 1988	Liverpool		Aintree Racecourse
North America
September 26, 1988	Pittsburgh	United States	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
September 27, 1988
September 28, 1988
October 3, 1988	East Rutherford		Meadowlands Arena
October 4, 1988
October 5, 1988
October 10, 1988	Richfield		Coliseum at Richfield
October 11, 1988
October 13, 1988	Landover		Capital Centre
October 17, 1988
October 18, 1988
October 19, 1988
October 24, 1988	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
October 25, 1988
October 26, 1988
October 31, 1988[C]	Tacoma		Tacoma Dome
November 1, 1988[C]
November 2, 1988[C]
November 7, 1988	Irvine		Irvine Meadows Amphitheater
November 8, 1988
November 9, 1988
November 13, 1988	Los Angeles		Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Asia
December 9, 1988	Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo Dome
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
January 17, 1989
January 18, 1989
January 26, 1989
January 27, 1989

Planned concerts, cancellations and postponements

The cancellations and postponements were mostly caused by serious health reasons. According to the sources, the planned, cancelled and postponed concerts were as follows:

• 10/08/87: Osaka, Japan, Osaka Stadium; Rescheduled to October 11, 1987. (Due to Jackson having Laryngitis.)^[52]
• 10/09/87: Osaka, Japan, Osaka Stadium; Rescheduled to October 12, 1987. (Due to Jackson having Laryngitis.)^[53][54]
• 11/03/87: Perth, Australia, W.A.C.A. Oval; (This concert was discontinued 28 October 1987, because the Cricket Association refused permission for chairs to be placed on the playing fields.)^[55][56][57]
• 11/08/87: Adelaide, Australia, Thebarton Oval; (This concert was discontinued 28 October 1987, because the Cricket Association refused permission for chairs to be placed on the playing fields.)^[56][57][58]
• 12/02/87: Wellington, New Zealand, Athletic Park; (This concert was discontinued 29 October 1987, because the Cricket Association refused permission for chairs to be placed on the playing fields.) ^[56][57][59]
• 12/06/87: Auckland, New Zealand, Mt Smart Stadium (This concert was discontinued 29 October 1987, because the Cricket Association refused permission for chairs to be placed on the playing fields.)^[56][57][59]
• ^A 03/12/88: St. Louis, United States, St. Louis Arena; Rescheduled to March 14, 1988. CANCELLED (Due to ongoing Laryngitis.)^[60][61][62]
• ^B 06/23/88: Lyon, France, Stade de Gerland; CANCELLED (16,000 tickets of 30,000 were sold and therefore this show was cancelled.)^[63][64][65]
• ^C 10/31/88: Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma Dome; CANCELLED (Although this concert was sold out, it was never rescheduled.)^[66][67]
• ^C 11/01/88: Tacoma, United States, Tacoma Dome; CANCELLED (Although this concert was sold out, it was never rescheduled.)^[66][68]
• ^C 11/02/88: Tacoma, United States, Tacoma Dome; CANCELLED (Although this concert was sold out, it was never rescheduled.)^[66][69]
• 11/14/88: Los Angeles, United States, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena; Rescheduled to January 16, 1989.^[70]
• 11/15/88: Los Angeles, United States, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena; Rescheduled to January 17, 1989.^[70]
• 11/20/88: Los Angeles, United States, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena; Rescheduled to January 18, 1989.^[70]
• 11/21/88: Los Angeles, United States, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena; Rescheduled to January 26, 1989.^[70]
• 11/22/88: Los Angeles, United States, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena; Rescheduled to January 27, 1989.^[70]
• There were some initial plans to take the tour to Cincinnati, OH; Birmingham, AL; Chapel Hill, NC; Mannheim, Germany; Darmstadt, Germany.^[48][71] These plans were later suspended.

Broadcast recordings

Sony released a Bad tour concert from Wembley Stadium, London, which was filmed on July 16, 1988. The concert film titled Live at Wembley July 16, 1988 was officially released on DVD on September 18, 2012. A concert recorded by Nippon TV filmed in Yokohama Stadium, Japan, September 26th 1987, was televised in many countries.