List of concert tours by Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5

Under a spotlight, a man sings into a microphone. He is surrounded by four male dancers dressed up to look aggressive. The man himself wears black pants held up by a white sash, as well as a white T-shirt, and an opened blue shirt, which is tucked into his pants.
Michael Jackson performing during the Bad World Tour, one of the highest-grossing tours of all time

The Jackson 5 was an American music group, formed in 1963 by the Jackson family brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael and Tito.[1] The quintet's first concert tour was in the United States, where they performed in cities such as Boston, Cincinnati and New York throughout the final quarter of 1970. The brothers remained in their homeland for two more US tours, before successfully expanding to Europe in 1972 and the rest of world the following year.

Following a move from Motown to Epic Records, the group was renamed The Jacksons, and embarked on another tour of Europe, where they performed in front of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.[2] After their Interim concert series in 1978, the siblings proceeded with the Destiny Tour, a promotional platform for their similarly named album. Their 1981 36-city circulation of the US—the Triumph Tour—came next. The Jacksons' final tour together was in 1984, following the release of two albums: the band's Victory and Michael Jackson's Thriller. The Victory Tour spanned 55 performances in the US and Canada and grossed over $75 million.

Having toured with his brothers since the early 1970s, Michael Jackson began his first solo world tour on September 12, 1987, in Tokyo, Japan. Attracting over 4 million people, including royalty, the Bad World Tour proved to be successful, becoming the most-highly-attended and highest-earning tour of all time. The follow-up concert series—the Dangerous World Tour of 1992–1993—was also attended by millions, but was cut short when Jackson became the subject of child sexual abuse accusations. Jackson returned with the HIStory World Tour in 1996, an 82 run of concerts that concluded the following year. The tour—which was attended by more than 4.5 million fans—was his last. The singer died less than three weeks before the start of a London concert series called This Is It.[3]

Contents

Tours

The Jackson 5

Year Title Duration Number of
performances
1970 The Jackson 5 First National Tour October 9, 1970 – December 1970 (United States)
50
The Jackson 5 embarked on their first ever tour on October 9, 1970. The brothers performed in US states cities such as Boston, Cincinnati and New York City, and broke venue attendance records along the way. One concert scheduled for Buffalo, New York had to be cancelled due to death threats being made on Michael Jackson's life. 9,000 fans were refunded as a result.[4][5]
1971 The Jackson 5 US Tour Mid-1971 – September 12, 1971 (United States)
40
The five brothers' second US tour featured 40 performances in US cities such as Philadelphia, New York and Milwaukee. The Commodores, led by Lionel Richie, opened for the five quintet.[4][6]
1971 The Jackson 5 US Tour December 1971 – January 1972 (United States)
Exact number unknown
The siblings visited venues in 50 cities during their third tour of the US.[4][7]
1972 The Jackson 5 European Tour November 1972 (Europe)
Exact number unknown
The brothers' 12-day tour of Europe had them break attendance records previously held by The Beatles. During the tour, the band performed for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.[4][8]
1973 The Jackson 5 World Tour March 1973 – February 1975 (Worldwide)
Exact number unknown
The quintet's first world tour was undertaken in two years, during which the brothers visited Japan, Hawaii, the United Kingdom, South America, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the West Indies.[4]

The Jacksons

Year Title Duration Number of
performances
1977 European Tour May 1977 (Europe)
Exact number unknown
The Jacksons performed in France, Germany, Holland and the UK during their two-and-a-half-week tour of Europe. In the latter country, the brothers sang at a Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II.[4][9]
1978 Interim Tour January 1978 (United States and Europe)
Exact number unknown
The Jacksons' Interim Tour brought the siblings to fans in the US and Europe.[4][10]
1979 Destiny Tour January 22, 1979 – September 26, 1980 (Worldwide)
123
The Destiny Tour accompanied The Jackson's 1978 Destiny album. The brothers toured 80 US cities and played several dates in France, Holland, Switzerland, Kenya and the UK. Several of the concerts from the tour had to be cancelled because Michael Jackson became sick with the flu.[4][11]
1981 Triumph Tour July 9, 1981 – September 26, 1981 (United States)
39
Hailed as one of the greatest live shows of the 1970s and 1980s by Rolling Stone, the Triumph Tour grossed $5.5 million and became one of The Jackson's most successful tours. The brothers performed in 36 US cities, including Memphis, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California, where the band concluded their tour with four sold-out shows.[4][12]
1984 Victory Tour July 6, 1984 – December 9, 1984 (United States and Canada)
55
The Victory Tour began shortly after the release of The Jackson's Victory and Michael Jackson's successful Thriller album. The five-month tour was of the US and Canada, and served as Michael's last as lead singer of The Jacksons. The 55-performance concert series was attended by more than 2 million people, and grossed in excess of $75 million—a record at the time.[4][13]

Michael Jackson

Year Title Duration Number of
performances
1987 Bad World Tour September 12, 1987 – January 27, 1989 (Worldwide)
123
The Bad World Tour was Jackson's first solo concert run. Beginning in Tokyo, the tour lasted for 16 months, during which Jackson visited 15 countries and performed to over 4 million people. Seven sold out shows at London's Wembley Stadium attracted more than half a million people—including Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, Prince of Wales—setting a new world record for playing more dates at the stadium than any other artist. The Bad World Tour was later recognized as the most-highly-attended and highest-earning tour of all time, having grossed over $125 million.[14][15][16]
1992 Dangerous World Tour June 27, 1992 – November 11, 1993 (Worldwide)
69
The 69 concert dates of the Dangerous World Tour attracted almost 3.5 million fans. The extravagant staging of the set for the concerts took near three days to set up; 20 trucks of equipment were shuttled on cargo planes to countries around the world. Stressed from having child sexual abuse allegations levelled against him, Jackson cut short the remainder of his tour.[14][17][18][19]
1996 HIStory World Tour September 7, 1996 – October 15, 1997 (Worldwide)
82
The HIStory World Tour was Jackson's last. Beginning in Prague, Czech Republic on September 7, 1996, the concert series attracted more than record breaking 4.5 million fans from 58 cities in 35 countries around the world. It is the most attended tour of all times by any artist. The average concert attendance was 54,878. The HIStory World Tour concluded in Durban, South Africa on October 15, 1997.[14][20][21]
2009 This Is It July 13, 2009 – March 6, 2010 (London) (Cancelled)
50 (all cancelled)
This Is It was a planned series of fifty concerts by Michael Jackson to be held at The O2 arena in London. They were scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through to March 2010. However, with all concerts sold out, Jackson died less than three weeks before the first concert date. Originally only 10 concerts were announced, but the tickets were sold out in less than an hour and the public demand for tickets resulted in 40 more concerts to be added, resulting in 50 concerts in total. In light of Jackson's passing, AEG Live offered either full refunds to all ticket holders or a special souvenir ticket designed by the entertainer. Additionally, Columbia Pictures acquired the footage of the show rehearsals and made a concert film entitled Michael Jackson's This Is It, which was released in 2009.

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ George, p. 29
  2. ↑ George, p. 35
  3. ↑ Tourtellotte, Bob (June 26, 2009). "World mourns Michael Jackson". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE55P1Y020090627. Retrieved October 25, 2009. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Brooks, p. 80
  5. ↑ Grant, p. 15
  6. ↑ Grant, p. 17
  7. ↑ Grant, p. 18
  8. ↑ Grant, p. 22
  9. ↑ Grant, p. 37
  10. ↑ Grant, p. 40
  11. ↑ Grant, p. 42
  12. ↑ Grant, p. 55
  13. ↑ Grant, p. 83
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Brooks, p. 81
  15. ↑ Grant, pp. 104–105
  16. ↑ Grant, p. 123
  17. ↑ Grant, p. 149
  18. ↑ Grant, pp. 168–169
  19. ↑ Taraborrelli, p. 504
  20. ↑ Grant, p. 188
  21. ↑ Grant, p. 202
Bibliography
The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Jackie Jackson · Tito Jackson · Jermaine Jackson · Marlon Jackson · Michael Jackson · Randy Jackson
Motown albums
(The Jackson 5)
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 · ABC · Third Album · The Jackson 5 Christmas Album · Maybe Tomorrow · Goin' Back to Indiana · Lookin' Through the Windows · Skywriter · G.I.T.: Get It Together · Dancing Machine · Moving Violation
Epic/CBS albums
(The Jacksons)
The Jacksons · Goin' Places · Destiny · Triumph · Victory · 2300 Jackson Street
Live albums
The Jackson 5 in Japan · The Jacksons Live! · Live at the Forum
Compilations
Greatest Hits · Anthology · Joyful Jukebox Music · Boogie · The Jacksons: An American Dream · Soulsation! · Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection · The Best of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5ive – The Motown Years · The Essential Jacksons · The Very Best of The Jacksons · I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters · J is for Jackson 5
Other albums
18 Greatest Hits · Children of the Light · The Steeltown Sessions · The Jacksons Story
Concert tours
Destiny World Tour · Triumph Tour · Victory Tour
Television
The Jackson 5ive · The Jacksons · The Jacksons: An American Dream · The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty
Specials
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever · Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special
Related articles
Discography · Chronology · Jackson family · Songs recorded
Portal The Jackson Family portal