Bad (tour)

Bad World Tour

Tour by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson performing at a second leg concert during his Bad Tour, 1988 Michael Jackson performing at a second leg concert during his Bad Tour, 1988
Start date	September 12 1987
End date	January 27 1989
Legs	2
No. of shows	123
Michael Jackson concert chronology

The Bad Tour was a multi-record breaking world music tour by Michael Jackson that started on September 12th, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan and ended on January 27th, 1989 in Los Angeles, United States. The tour consisted of 123 concerts to approximately 4.4 million fans across 4 continents, beaten by Jackson's later HIStory Tour with 4.5 million. The Bad Tour was Jackson's first as a solo performer. When the tour finished in January 1989 it had grossed over $125 million at the box office, an equivalent to around $380 million (£190 million) in 2008.

Background

Following the release of Bad in August 1987, Jackson's then most recent album, Jackson embarked on his first solo world tour. Jackson himself explained that the tour would be his last, as he intended to concentrate on music and film. Ironically, Jackson would hold two further solo world tours, his second being the Dangerous Tour from 1992-3 and his third being his HIStory Tour from 1996-7. The release of the Bad album led to a huge rise to fame for Jackson, particularly in Japan. At the time, musical artists such as George Michael and Madonna had began their solo world tours in Japan, as it was seen as the place for the final 'live dress rehearsal'. Also, the press in Japan tend to only idolise artists, and so concentrate on the positive unlike the tabloid press in the West.

The Bad Tour would consist of 123 concerts across 4 continents, with the first leg covering Japan and Australia between September and November 1987 and the second leg covering the USA, Europe and Japan.

Stage, effects and costume

As the first leg of the tour was seen as the tour's 'dress rehearsal' Jackson used the venue's own stage to perform. This would suggest that the first leg was focused more on the dance and choreography than anything else. During the second leg however, Jackson used his own specially constructed stage that required several lorries and air planes to transport the equipment to each venue. Once fully set up, Jackson would be surrounded by 700 lights, 100 speakers, 3 lasers and 40 mirrors.

At the very beginning of the tour, Jackson wore three different shirts throughout the first three concerts. He wore a black shirt on the first night, a red shirt on the second, and a silver on the third, which was kept for the remainder of the first leg. On top of the shirts, Jackson wore a black bolted strap from around the shirt collar to the waist. For the second leg, Jackson's outfit changed. Instead he wore a silver zipper, in which the arms of his shirt were covered from the shoulder down with multiple black straps (usually 7 on the right arm and 4 on the left but this varied).

Wembley attendance record

On September 8th 1988, Jackson received a special award by the management of London's Wembley Stadium for setting a new attendance record, which was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records. Jackson performed 7 unbroken sell-out concerts (5 in a row, 2 together at a later date) that were attended by a total of 504,000. This record had beaten the previous held by Genesis, with 3. Until the demolition of the now old Wembley Stadium, this record had not been beaten.

Official DVD release

In August 2005, an on-line petition was created to support an official release of a Bad Tour concert in 1988, with heavy interest in the release of a Wembley Stadium concert. Although the target was 10,000 signatures, the petition continues to grow even to this day, with a total of more than 13,120. There have been many DVD Promo videos released on-line about the petition.

Setlist

The first leg setlist consisted of songs not only from Jackson's solo albums Bad, Thriller and Off the Wall, but also from the albums Triumph and Destiny by The Jacksons. The last two songs were the only ones from Bad, compared to the second leg with seven. Each performance of "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" featured a duet with backing singer Siedah Garrett.

First leg

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "Things I Do for You"
3. "Off the Wall"
4. "Human Nature"
5. "Heartbreak Hotel"
6. "She's out of My Life"
7. 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" Interlude (solo performance by the band)
11. "Workin' Day and Night"
12. "Beat It"
13. "Billie Jean"
14. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"
15. "Thriller"
16. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" w/ Siedah Garrett
17. "Bad"

Second leg

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "Heartbreak Hotel"
3. "Another Part of Me"
4. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" w/ Siedah Garrett
5. "She's out of My Life"
6. Jackson 5 Medley ("I Want You Back"/"The Love You Save"/"I'll Be There")
7. "Rock with You"
8. "Human Nature"
9. "Smooth Criminal"
10. "Dirty Diana"
11. "Thriller"
12. "Bad Groove" interlude (solo performance by the band)
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"

Tour Dates

No.	Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance per concert	Notes
First leg
Japan
1-3	September 12th-14th	Tokyo	Japan	Korakuen Stadium	45,000
4-6	September 19th-21st	Osaka	Japan	Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium	48,000
7-11	September 25th-27th, October 3rd-4th	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Stadium	38,000	The concert on the 26th was filmed by Nippon TV.
12-14	October 10th-12th	Osaka	Japan	Osaka Stadium	32,000
Australia
15	November 13th	Melbourne	Australia	Olympic Park Stadium	45,000
16-17	November 20th-21st	Sydney	Australia	Parramatta Stadium	45,000	On the 20th Stevie Wonder made a surprise appearance to perform "Just Good Friends" with Jackson, he song's only live performance.
18-19	November 25th, 28th	Brisbane	Australia	Entertainment Centre	13,500
Second leg
North America
20-21	February 23rd-24th, 1988	Kansas City, Missouri	United States	Kemper Arena	16,960
22-24	March 3rd-5th	New York City, New York	United States	Madison Square Garden	19,000	The concert on the 3rd was private. All proceeds went to the United Negro College Fund. A lottery system determined ticket receivers. Siedah Garrett and Tatiana Thumbtzen also made a special appearance, and Thumbtzen kissed Michael during The Way You Make Me Feel.
25-26	March 12th-13th	St. Louis, Missouri	United States	St. Louis Arena	18,000
27-28	March 18th-19th	Indianapolis, Indiana	United States	Market Square Arena	17,000
29	March 20th	Louisville, Kentucky	United States	Freedom Hall	19,000
30-31	March 23rd-24th	Denver, Colorado	United States	McNichols Sports Arena	20,125
32-34	April 30th, March 1st	Hartford, Connecticut	United States	Hartford Civic Center	15,060
35-37	April 8th-10th	Houston, Texas	United States	The Summit	17,000
38-40	April 13th-15th	Atlanta, Georgia	United States	The Omni	17,000
41-43	April 19th-21st	Chicago, Illinois	United States	Rosemont Horizon	20,000
44-46	April 25th-27th	Dallas, Texas	United States	Reunion Arena	19,000
47-49	May 4th-6th	Minneapolis, Minnesota	United States	Met Center	16,890
Europe
50-51	May 23rd-24th, 1988	Rome	Italy	Stadio Flaminio	35,000
52	May 29th	Turin	Italy	Stadio Comunale di Torino	53,600
The organised concert in Lyon, France on 30th May was cancelled after only half of the 30,000 tickets were sold.
53	June 2nd	Vienna	Austria	Prater Stadium	55,000
54-56	June 5th-7th	Rotterdam	Holland	Feijenoord Stadium	48,400
57-58	June 11th-12th	Gothenburg	Sweden	Eriksbergs Shipyard	53,000	These concerts were scheduled to be at the Ullevi Stadium, but it was under repair.
59	June 16th	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakob Park Stadium	50,000	Elizabeth Taylor and Bob Dylan attended this concert. While in Basel Michael met with Mrs. Oona Chaplin, the widow of one of Michael's heroes Charlie Chaplin.
60	June 19th	West Berlin	Germany	Platz der Republik (The Reichstag/Berlin Wall)	50,000
61-62	June 27th-28th	Paris	France	Parc des Princes	64,000
63	July 1st	Hamburg	Germany	Volkspark Stadium	50,000
64	July 3rd	Cologne	Germany	Mungersdorfer Stadium	70,000
65	July 8th	Munich	Germany	Olympic Stadium	72,000
66	July 10th	Hockenheim	Germany	Hockenheimring	70,000
67-71	July 14th-16th, 22nd-23rd,	London	England	Wembley Stadium	72,000	Princess Diana and Prince Charles attended on the 16th. Beforehand Michael met them both, and Diana told Jackson that her favourite song was Dirty Diana. In respect, Jackson took out the song from the concert's setlist.
72	July 26th	Cardiff	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park	55,000
73-74	July 30th-31st	Cork	Ireland	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	60,000
75	August 5th	Marbella	Spain	Football Municipal Stadium	28,000
76	August 7th	Madrid	Spain	Vicente Calderón Stadium	60,000
77	August 9th	Barcelona	Spain	Nou Camp Stadium	90,000
78	August 11th	Nice	France	Charles Ehrmann Stadium	35,000
79	August 14th	Montpellier	France	Stade Richter	35,000
80	August 19th	Lausanne	Switzerland	La Pontaise Stadium	45,000
81	August 21st	Wurzburg	Germany	Talavera Wiesen	43,000
82	August 23rd	Werchter	Belgium	Festival Ground	55,000
83-84	August 26th-27th	London	England	Wembley Stadium	72,000
85	August 29th	Leeds	England	Roundhay Park	90,000	Jackson performed on his 30th birthday. The fans sang Happy Birthday to Jackson before Another Part of Me.
86	September 2nd	Hannover	Germany	Niedersachsen Stadium	40,000
87	September 4th	Gelsenkirchen	Germany	Park Stadium	52,000
88	September 6th	Linz	Austria	Linz Stadium	40,000
89	September 10th	Milton Keynes	England	The Bowl	60,000
90	September 11th	Liverpool	England	Aintree Racecourse	125,000	The largest attended concert of the tour with 125,000 for the night.
North America
91-93	September 26th-28th, 1988	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	United States	Civic Arena	16,230
94-96	October 3rd-5th	New York / East Rutherford, New Jersey	United States	Meadowlands Arena	20,350
97-98	October 10th-11th	Cleveland, Ohio	United States	The Coliseum	19,000
99-102	October 13th, 17th-19th	Washington DC / Landover	United States	Capital Centre	17,470
103-105	October 24th-26th	Detroit, Michigan	United States	Palace of Auburn Hills	16,670
The 3 organised concerts at The Tacoma Dome in Seattle, Washington from 30th October to 2nd November were cancelled when Michael's vocal cords became swollen. These concerts, which were sold out, were not rescheduled.
106-108	November 7th-9th	Los Angeles / Irvine, California	United States	Irvine Meadows Amphitheater	15,000
109	November 13th	Los Angeles, California	United States	Sports Arena	18,000
Following the first Los Angeles concert, the remaining concerts from 14th-15th and 20th-22nd November was cancelled due to Michael's illness. These concerts were rescheduled for January, 1989.
Japan
110-118	December 9th-11th, 17th-19th, 24th-26th, 1988	Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo Dome	45,000
North America
119-123	January 16th-18th, 26th-27th, 1989	Los Angeles, California	United States	Sports Arena	18,000

Trivia

• A granddaughter of Emperor Hirohito attended the first concert in Tokyo, 1987.
• Between the concerts in Japan, Michael made a shopping trip to Hong Kong in China. He also visited less fortunate children and places of interest.
• Two weeks before the second leg began in Kansas City, Michael and his band rehearsed in Pensacola, Florida.
• Contrary to popular belief, Jackson did not perform 'the lean' whilst performing Smooth Criminal. In a magazine edition titled "Moonwalk with Michael: A Step By Step Dance Guide", it informs the reader how Michael 'leaned' on the Bad Tour - to "lean over as far as you can without toppling over, keeping your body straight. Come back up and walk forwards very slowly moving your arms and legs up and down like a robot".
• Michael earned $63 million for 14 concerts played in Japan in 1987, and £16 million for 12 concerts played in the UK in 1988 (an equivalent of £700,000 per hour). This is equivalent to $176 million today - from just 26 concerts, and it's uncertain how much Jackson earned from the additional 97 concerts performed for this tour.

Performers

Lead performer

• Vocal, Dance, Choreographer: Michael Jackson

Band members

• Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes, Christopher Currell, Rory Kaplan
• Drums: Ricky Lawson
• Guitar: Jennifer Batten, Jon Clark
• Bass: Don Boylette
• Chorus: Daryl Phinnessee, Dorian Holley, Sheryl Crow, Kevin Dorsey

Dancers

• LaVelle Smith, Dominic Lucero, Eddie Garcia, Randy Allaire

Credits

• Executive Director: MJJ Productions
• Executive Producer: Frank DiLeo
• Tour Coordinator: Sal Bonafede
• Attorneys: Ziffren, Brittenham & Branca
• Business Management: Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman
• Public Relations: Solters/Roskin/Friedman Inc.
• Band Coordinator: Nelson Hayes
• Assistant to Michael Jackson: Mary Coller
• MJJ Production Staff: Miko Brando, Martha Browning
• Assistant to Mr. DiLeo: Meredith Besser
• Assistant to Mr. Bonafede: Marcia Gilbreath

• Security Director: Bill Bray
• Executive Interpreter: Patrick Nopakun
• Assistant Director: Jolie Levine
• Choreographed by: Michael Jackson
• Assistant Choreography & Staging: Vincent Paterson
• Set Designed by: Tom McPhilips
• Lighting Designer: Allen Branton
• Hair & Make-up: Karen Faye
• Tour Photographer: Sam Emerson, Harrison Funk (Rejoined Michael in Europe 1988)

External links

• Article of a review of the Bad Tour from Ebony Magazine, April 1989
• Collection of concert tickets from the Bad Tour
• Collection of second leg concert posters from the Bad Tour
• Bad Tour 1988 DVD Promo 1
• Bad Tour 1988 DVD Promo 2

See also

• Bad
• List of Michael Jackson tours
• Dangerous Tour
• HIStory Tour