TOURS







Michael Jackson has been touring most of his life: first with the Jackson 5 and The Jacksons, and later as a solo artist, with each tour breaking previous records. His first tour took place in 1970 with the Jackson 5 and his last world tour ended 27 years later, in 1997. A summary of Michael's tours is provided below in reverse chronological order.


The HIStory World Tour

September 7, 1996 - October 15, 1997
Michael Jackson's HIStory World Tour began in Prague, Czech Republic on September 7, 1996 and ended in Durham, South Africa on October 15, 1997. At the conclusion of the HIStory tour, Michael performed in 82 concerts to a total of over 4.5 million fans in 58 cities, 35 countries, and 5 continents, with an average concert attendace of 54,878.


The Dangerous World Tour

June 27, 1992 - November 7, 1993
Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour began at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany on June 27, 1992 and concluded in Mexico City, Mexico on November 7, 1993. During the tour, he performed 67 concerts, to approximately 3.5 million people. Michael cancelled the remainder of his tour due to illness. He donated all his proceeds from the Dangerous tour to the Heal The World Foundation and to other charities. Michael's concert in Bucharest was televised on HBO, earning the highest audience ever on any cable network and winning a Cable Ace Award. The second half of Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour began in August 1993 - on a four-and-a-half-month trek that was intended to take him through Asia, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Mexico, and South America. It was an ambitious undertaking--a multi-million dollar production taken into difficult and often technically inept countries. Staging generally took the best part of three days to erect and cargo planes flew 20 truckloads of equipment into each country. Jackson's tour was considered groundbreaking, a signal to the music industry that Asia is fast becoming a lucrative market for record sales. Jackson, the first major superstar to tour the area, was seen as a test case. Piracy in Thailand was running at close to 98 percent - while legitimate sales of Dangerous amounted to only 30,000 copies, pirate copies were estimated at 800,000. A clamp-down on piracy prior to the tour saw legitimate sales rise to 120,000. The Thai Minister of Commerce made a statement that with Jackson's visit, the war on piracy had begun.
Attendance Records for the Dangerous Tour:
Japan: Michael Jackson performed 8 sold out concerts in Japan, to a total audience of 360,000.
Mexico City, the last stop of the Dangerous Tour: Michael Jackson performed 5 sold out concerts to a total audience of at least 500,000 people.


The Bad World Tour

September 12, 1987 - January 27, 1989
The Bad World Tour, Michael Jackson's first solo tour, began in Tokyo on September 12, 1987, and concluded in Los Angeles on January 27, 1989. During the 16-month-long tour, Michael performed 123 concerts in 15 countries, to 4.4 million people. The tour grossed over $125 million.
Setting Records:
The Bad Tour became the largest and highest grossing concert tour ever.
Michael Jackson set a new record for playing more dates at London's Wembly Stadium than any other artist, with 7 sold out shows and a total attendance of 504,000 people. This achievement gained an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.
In a month-long tour of Japan, Michael performed to a total of 450,000 people at 14 sold out concerts and 3 cities.


The Victory Tour

July 6 - December 9, 1984
The Victory Tour - this would be Michael Jackson's last tour as the lead singer of The Jacksons. All of his future tours would be as a solo artist. The Victory Tour began on July 6, 1984, and ended with 6 shows at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium on December 9, 1984, criss-crossing the US and Canada. Over 2 million people came to see the Jacksons during the 55 concert, 5 month tour, which grossed a record $75 million. Michael donated all of his proceeds - nearly $5 million - to charities (T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research, The United Negro College Fund, and the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times). During the last concert, Michael said, "This is our last and final show. It's been a long 20 years, and we love you all."


The Triumph Tour

1981
The Jacksons' Triumph Tour - the 39 city tour of U.S. began in Memphis, Tennessee, and concluded in Los Angeles with a record breaking 4 sold out concerts there. Rolling Stone magazine cited the Triumph Tour as one of the "greatest live performances of the 70's and 80's."


The Destiny Tour

1979
The Jacksons' Destiny Tour - began in New Orleans, Louisiana. The tour stopped in 80 U.S. cities. Some of the concert dates were listed in a cover-story on the Jacksons, published in the April 13, 1979 issue of "Black Radio" :
Apr 14 &15 Cleveland, Ohio Apr 19-22 Valley Forge, Pennsylvania Apr 25-29 Chicago, Illinois May 3 St. Petersburg, Florida May 6 Jacksonville, Florida May 10 &12 Houston, Texas May 13 Baton Rouge, Louisiana May 16 Birmingham, Alabama May 17 Columbus, Georgia May 18 Nashville, Tennessee May 19 Atlanta, Georgia May 20 Memphis, Tennessee May 24 Pine Bluff, Arkansas May 26 Kansas City, Missouri May 27 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma May 30 Shreveport, Louisiana June 1 Norfolk, Virginia June 3 Columbia, South Carolina June 8 Charlotte, North Carolina June 9 Washington, D.C.
Early 1979 - The Jacksons went on a 13-day tour of Britain April - June 1979 - The Jacksons toured in Britain and US. Early 1978 - The Jacksons toured US and Europe. May 1977 - The Jacksons toured in Europe for 2.5 weeks.


Jackson 5 Tour Around the World

March 1973 - February 1975
From March 1973 - March 1975, the Jackson 5 performed in concerts all around the world, criss-crossing the globe, starting with concerts in the USA, and continuing to Japan and 26 more USA cities, Hawaii, Africa, USA again, South America, Far East (including Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines among others), back to USA, West Indies, USA, and the United Kingdom. Their schedule was so packed, there were periods of time during which they performed every single day, and between the tour stops, they also took time to perform live on several television variety shows. During this time, Michael Jackson was 15-16 years old. When looking at this grueling schedule, one is reminded of Michael's composition Childhood - in the song, he asks us "...have you seen my childhood?" Yes, Michael, indeed we have. [click here to see the detailed tour schedule]


Jackson 5 Europe Tour

November 1972
The Jackson 5 began their first-ever 12-day Europe tour. As they arrived to Heathrow airport in London, the scenes were reminiscent of Beatlemania. They broke the Liverpool Empire attendance records , previously held by the Beatles.
Late 1971 - The Jackson 5 toured the USA, performing in 50 cities. Summer 1971 - The Jackson 5 embarked on their 2nd tour, playing 40 dates in US cities, including Philadelphia, New York, and Milwaukee.


Jackson 5 First National Tour

Fall 1970
The Jackson 5 began their first-ever tour on Oct. 9, 1970. The tour stopped in multiple US states and cities, including Boston, Cincinnati, and New York City. They broke attendance records at several stops.


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