HIStory World Tour

HIStory World Tour
Tour by Michael Jackson
Promotional image for the tour
Arrangers
Location
Associated albumHIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (from the show on May 31, 1997)
Start dateSeptember 7, 1996
End dateOctober 15, 1997
Legs2
No. of shows82
Attendance4,500,000[1][2][3]
Box officeUS $165 million ($317.79 million in 2021 dollars)[4]
Michael Jackson concert chronology

The HIStory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning the globe with stops in 57 cities, 35 countries on five continents. The tour promoted Jackson's 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The second leg also promoted the remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. The tour was attended by over 4.5 million fans and grossed over US $165 million making it the highest-grossing tour of the 1990s by a solo artist.[1][2][3]

Overview

The tour was announced on May 29, 1996, and marked Jackson's first concert tour since the Dangerous World Tour ended in November 1993.[5]

Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (1996)

Jackson's debut concert for the tour, performed at Letná Park in Prague, was one of the largest single attended concerts in his career, with over 125,000 people.[6] On October 7, he performed for the first time ever in the Arab world and Africa as a solo artist in Tunis.[7] During the tour's stopover in Sydney, he married Debbie Rowe in a private and impromptu ceremony. He was interviewed by Molly Meldrum in Brisbane and danced with two women during "You Are Not Alone".

North America (1997)

From January 3–4, Jackson performed his only two concerts on this tour in the US, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Aloha Stadium, to a crowd of 35,000 each; making him the first artist in history to sell out the stadium.[8]

Europe and Africa (1997)

Michael Jackson performing "Earth Song" in Lausanne, June 20, 1997

During the break period, Jackson worked and released his Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix album. The second leg started on May 31, at the Weserstadion in Bremen, Germany.

Jackson performed at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark on his 39th birthday with 60,000 fans. He was presented with a surprise birthday cake, marching band, and fireworks on stage after "You Are Not Alone". The concert at Hippodrome Wellington of Ostend, Belgium, was originally scheduled for August 31, but was postponed to September 3 following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Latin America cancellations (1997–98)

There were some initial plans to take the tour, in February 1997, to such Brazilian cities as São Paulo, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília; but these plans were suspended due to promotional issues. Jackson tried to visit Brazil again in February 1998, as well as Argentina, but these too were scrapped so that he could work on MJ & Friends.

Recordings

Throughout the tour, many concerts were professionally filmed by Nocturne Productions, but none were ever officially released on DVD. In South Korea, 마이클 잭슨 내한공연, a VHS recording of the show in Seoul, was released. Although the footage is poor in quality and Jackson was suffering a fever at the time, resulting in his vocals being weakened, it made major success in that country.

Jackson also planned to release a DVD of his July 6 performance in Munich. However, the film was never released, due to Jackson being unimpressed by his vocals brought on by laryngitis. In 2010, TV channels such as RTL 5, ZDF, WOWOW, and Veronica TV broadcast the Munich performance in HD. It was interspersed with snippets from the July 4 show and a large snippet of the Leipzig show (August 3) during the "Jackson 5 Medley" speech. In 2022, a 1080p version of "Billie Jean" from the Munich concert was leaked, featuring snippets from the July 4 performance. Part of the soundboard feed from the show was also leaked; 54 audio tracks from "Billie Jean" were leaked along with a live microphone feed, where Jackson's singing voice could be heard. It was rumoured that the remaster, in addition to some portions of the soundboard audio, were planned to be released alongside a 25th anniversary edition of the HIStory album, but plans were likely halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

Set list

1996–1997 set list[10][11][12]
  1. "Great Gates of Kiev" (introduction)
  2. "Scream" / "They Don't Care About Us" / "In the Closet" (contains excerpts of "HIStory", "Great Gates of Kiev" and "She Drives Me Wild")
  3. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
  4. "Stranger in Moscow"
  5. "Smooth Criminal" (contains elements of "Childhood")
  6. "The Wind" (video interlude)
  7. "You Are Not Alone"
  8. "The Way You Make Me Feel" (September 7, 1996 – June 15, 1997)
  9. The Jackson 5 Medley: "I Want You Back" / "The Love You Save" / "I'll Be There"
  10. Off the Wall Medley: "Rock with You" / "Off the Wall" / "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (selected 1996 and 1997 dates)
  11. "Remember the Time" (video interlude)
  12. "Billie Jean"
  13. "Thriller"
  14. "Beat It"
  15. "Come Together" / "D.S." (select 1996 dates) / "Blood on the Dance Floor" (select 1997 dates)
  16. "Black Panther" (video interlude)
  17. "Dangerous" (contains elements from "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, Ennio Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Theme", "Smooth Criminal", Janet Jackson's "You Want This" and "Interlude: Let's Dance", Judy Garland's "Get Happy", Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme", and a guitar intro from Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill")
  18. "Black or White"
  19. "Earth Song"
  20. "We Are the World" (video interlude)
  21. "Heal the World"
  22. "HIStory" (with instrumental of "They Don't Care About Us" as a curtain call and contains elements from "Great Gates of Kiev")

Alterations[10][11]

  • Songs originally considered for the first leg of the tour included "Man in the Mirror", "She's Out of My Life", "Jam", "Childhood", "Will You Be There", "Dirty Diana", "State of Shock" and "2 Bad". "Morphine" was also rehearsed twice for the 1997 leg but was also removed.
  • The medley of "Come Together" and "D.S." was removed after the Adelaide concert on November 26, 1996. "Blood on the Dance Floor" replaced them for most of the 1997 leg before being removed after August 19. Prior to this, it was omitted from the Vienna concert on July 2.
  • "Rock with You", "Off the Wall" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" were performed on select dates, before being permanently removed from the set list after June 13, 1997.
  • "The Way You Make Me Feel" was performed on select dates until after June 15, 1997.
  • Starting on September 3, 1997, the instrumental of "Gates of Kiev" was replaced with "Smile", in memory of Princess Diana.
  • On August 22, 1997, "Ben" was played at the beginning of the Tallinn concert.

Tour dates

List of 1996 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold and number of available tickets
Date City Country Venue Attendance
September 7, 1996 Prague Czech Republic Letná Park 125,000 / 125,000
September 10, 1996 Budapest Hungary Népstadion 50,000 / 50,000
September 14, 1996 Bucharest Romania Stadionul Național 70,000 / 70,000
September 17, 1996 Moscow Russia Dynamo Stadium 50,000 / 50,000
September 20, 1996 Warsaw Poland Lotnisko Bemowo 120,000 / 120,000
September 24, 1996 Zaragoza Spain Estadio La Romareda 45,000 / 45,000
September 28, 1996[a] Amsterdam Netherlands Amsterdam Arena 250,000 / 250,000[b]
September 30, 1996[a]
October 2, 1996[c]
October 7, 1996 Tunis Tunisia Stade El Menzah 60,000 / 60,000
October 11, 1996 Seoul South Korea Olympic Stadium 100,000 / 100,000
October 13, 1996
October 18, 1996 Taipei Taiwan Zhongshan Soccer Stadium 80,000 / 80,000[d]
October 20, 1996 Kaohsiung Chungcheng Stadium 30,000 / 30,000
October 22, 1996[e] Taipei Zhongshan Soccer Stadium —[d]
October 25, 1996 Singapore National Stadium 26,000 / 35,000
October 27, 1996 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Stadium Merdeka 80,000 / 80,000
October 29, 1996
November 1, 1996 Mumbai India Andheri Sports Complex 70,000 / 70,000
November 5, 1996 Bangkok Thailand IMPACT Lake Front Concert Grounds 40,000 / 40,000
November 9, 1996 Auckland New Zealand Ericsson Stadium 86,000 / 86,000
November 11, 1996
November 14, 1996 Sydney Australia Sydney Cricket Ground 86,000 / 86,000
November 16, 1996
November 19, 1996 Brisbane ANZ Stadium 40,000 / 40,000
November 22, 1996 Melbourne Melbourne Cricket Ground 130,000 / 130,000
November 24, 1996
November 26, 1996 Adelaide Adelaide Oval 30,000 / 30,000
November 30, 1996 Perth Burswood Dome 60,000 / 60,000
December 2, 1996
December 4, 1996
December 8, 1996 Manila Philippines Asia World City Concert Grounds 110,000 / 110,000
December 10, 1996
December 13, 1996 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome 180,000 / 180,000
December 15, 1996
December 17, 1996
December 20, 1996
December 26, 1996 Fukuoka Fukuoka Dome 80,000 / 80,000
December 28, 1996
December 31, 1996 Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei Jerudong Park Amphitheater 4,000 / 4,000
List of 1997 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold and number of available tickets
Date City Country Venue Attendance
January 3, 1997 Honolulu United States Aloha Stadium 70,000 / 70,000
January 4, 1997
May 31, 1997 Bremen Germany Weserstadion 85,000 / 85,000[f]
June 3, 1997 Cologne Müngersdorfer Stadion 60,000 / 60,000
June 6, 1997 Bremen Weserstadion —[f]
June 8, 1997 Amsterdam Netherlands Amsterdam Arena —[b]
June 10, 1997
June 13, 1997 Kiel Germany Nordmarksportfeld 55,000 / 55,000
June 15, 1997 Gelsenkirchen Parkstadion 50,000 / 50,000
June 18, 1997 Milan Italy San Siro 65,000 / 65,000
June 20, 1997 Lausanne Switzerland Stade olympique de la Pontaise 35,000 / 35,000
June 22, 1997 Bettembourg Luxembourg Krakelshaff 45,000 / 45,000
June 25, 1997 Lyon France Stade de Gerland 25,000 / 25,000
June 27, 1997 Paris Parc des Princes 95,000 / 100,000
June 29, 1997
July 2, 1997 Vienna Austria Ernst-Happel-Stadion 50,000 / 50,000
July 4, 1997 Munich Germany Olympiastadion 150,000 / 150,000
July 6, 1997
July 9, 1997 Sheffield England Don Valley Stadium 45,000 / 45,000
July 12, 1997 London Wembley Stadium 212,601 / 216,000
July 15, 1997
July 17, 1997
July 19, 1997 Dublin Ireland RDS Arena 40,261 / 40,261
July 25, 1997 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob Stadium 55,000 / 55,000
July 27, 1997 Nice France Stade Charles-Ehrmann 30,003 / 36,260
August 1, 1997 Berlin Germany Olympiastadion 77,000 / 77,000
August 3, 1997 Leipzig Festwiese 54,483 / 55,000
August 10, 1997 Hockenheim Hockenheimring 85,000 / 85,000
August 14, 1997 Copenhagen Denmark Parken Stadium 97,563 / 97,563[g]
August 16, 1997 Gothenburg Sweden Ullevi 50,000 / 50,000
August 19, 1997 Oslo Norway Valle Hovin 45,000 / 50,000
August 22, 1997 Tallinn Estonia Tallinn Song Festival Grounds 75,000 / 75,000
August 24, 1997 Helsinki Finland Helsinki Olympic Stadium 100,000 / 100,000
August 26, 1997
August 29, 1997 Copenhagen Denmark Parken Stadium —[g]
September 3, 1997[h] Ostend Belgium Hippodrome Wellington 55,000 / 60,000
September 6, 1997[i] Valladolid Spain Estadio José Zorrilla 20,000 / 26,000
October 4, 1997 Cape Town South Africa Green Point Stadium 70,000 / 70,000
October 6, 1997
October 10, 1997 Johannesburg Johannesburg Stadium 106,495 / 108,000
October 12, 1997
October 15, 1997 Durban Kings Park Stadium 50,000 / 50,000
Total 4,420,158 / 4,500,000
(98%)

Personnel

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Originally scheduled at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco on September 27 and 29, 1996, but the venue was moved due to security issues.
  2. ^ a b Attendance combined with the attendance from September 28, 30 and October 2, 1996, and June 8 and 10, 1997.
  3. ^ Originally scheduled at Cairo International Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, but the venue was moved due to security issues.
  4. ^ a b Attendance combined with the attendance from October 18 and 22.
  5. ^ Originally October 16, but was rescheduled due to logistical issues.
  6. ^ a b Attendance and box office combined with the attendance from May 31 and June 6.
  7. ^ a b Attendance and box office combined with the attendance from August 14 and 29.
  8. ^ Originally August 31, 1997, but was rescheduled due to the death of Princess Diana.
  9. ^ Originally September 6, 1997, but was rescheduled due to tour restructuring.

References

  1. ^ a b Grant, p. 188
  2. ^ a b Brooks, p. 81
  3. ^ a b Grant, p. 202
  4. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Will Jackson's tour make HIStory?". The Boston Globe. May 30, 1996. p. 82. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Thomas, Devon (June 30, 2010). "Michael Jackson Statue Plans Draw Protests by Czechs". CBS News. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  7. ^ "Lundi 7 Octobre, Michael Jackson en terre tunisienne". Tekiano (in French). October 7, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  8. ^ "Jackson was king at two Aloha Stadium concerts in 1997". The Honolulu Advertiser. June 25, 2009. Archived from the original on October 14, 2019. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  9. ^ "Why isn't there a HIStory 25 release? Or a HIStory concert film?". Michael Jackson Official Site. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Grant, Adrian (2009). Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-261-8.
  11. ^ a b Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Terra Alta, WV: Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4.
  12. ^ Michael Jackson (performer) (November 5, 1997). HIStory World Tour: Live in Seoul (VHS). Seoul, South Korea: Saerom Entertainment. Event occurs at October 13, 1996.
Bibliography