HIStory World Tour

Infobox concert tour
concert_tour_name = HIStory Tour


image_caption =
artist = Michael Jackson
location =
locations =
type =
album= HIStory
start_date = September 7, 1996
end_date = October 15, 1997
number_of_legs = 2
number_of_shows = 44 in Europe 6 in Africa 19 in Asia 11 in Australasia 2 in Hawaii 82 in total
last_tour = Dangerous Tour (1992-93)
this_tour = HIStory Tour (1996-97)

The HIStory Tour was Michael Jackson's third solo world tour that started on September 7, 1996 in Prague, Czech Republic and ended on October 15, 1997 in Durban, South Africa. The tour consisted of 82 concerts and was attended by approximately 4.5 million fans, beating his previous Bad Tour with 4.4 million. The tour is largest concert tour ever excluding free concerts, grossing a total of over $163.5 million. From the very start of the tour Jackson suffered a bad case of laryngitis, which resulted in a considerably large amount of playback and lip-synch of songs.

Background

Prior to the start of the tour, Michael performed a special concert at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on July 16, 1996 which was organised by Hassanal Bolkiah, the current Sultan of Brunei. The royal family was also in attendance. The concert's setlist included songs from Jackson's previous Dangerous Tour as well as the debut live performance of songs You Are Not Alone and Earth Song. Jackson also wore his costume used for his Dangerous Tour, further suggesting that he did not want to "give away" too much on what would be featured in the upcoming HIStory Tour.

The setlist to the HIStory Tour would feature songs that would only be performed between certain dates. These were The Way You Make Me Feel, the Off the Wall Medley, Come Together / D.S. and Blood on the Dance Floor. Due to Jackson's case of larynjitis, the only parts of the concert that were sung live were Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', the Jackson 5 Medley, and the latter parts of Beat It, Billie Jean, You Are Not Alone and Heal the World. During the concert in Brunei the first line of Scream was sung live, as well as the backing vocals for the first line of Stranger in Moscow in Kuala Lumpur.

etlist

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"Gates of Kiev" Introduction
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"Scream" / "They Don't Care About Us" / "In the Closet"
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"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
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"Stranger in Moscow"
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"The Wind" Interlude
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"Smooth Criminal"
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"You Are Not Alone"
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"The Way You Make Me Feel" ¹
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Jackson 5 Medley - "I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", "I'll Be There"
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Off The Wall Medley - "Rock with You", "Off the Wall", "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" ²
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"Billie Jean"
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"Thriller"
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"Beat It"
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"Come Together" / "D.S." ³
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"Blood on the Dance Floor" ⁴
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"Panther" Interlude
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"Dangerous"
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"Black or White"
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"Earth Song"
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"We Are the World" Interlude
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"Heal the World"
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"HIStory"

¹ - Performed from September 7, 1996 to June 15, 1997
² - Performed from September 7, 1996 to June 10, 1997
³ - Performed from September 7, 1996 to December 31, 1996
⁴ - Performed from May 31, 1997 to August 19, 1997

Tour dates

Trivia

*Due to Jackson suffering from bad laryngitis throughout the whole tour, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', the Jackson 5 Medley, and the latter parts of Beat It, Billie Jean, You Are Not Alone and Heal the World were the only songs on the setlist that were sung live. There was also one occasion in Brunei where the first verse of Scream was sung live.
*The average attendance for each concert on the tour 48,638, with an average income of just under $2 million.
*Only hours after the start of the concert in Sydney, Australia on November 14, 1996 Jackson married Debbie Rowe in a civil ceremony in his presidential suite at the Sheraton on the Park Hotel.
*The concert on October 11, 1996 in Seoul, South Korea in 1996 was commercially released on VHS in Asia. It is the only commercially available concert of the whole tour. During the performance of Earth Song, Jackson, (who was up on a crane) was interfered by a male Korean fan who climbed up the crane just to meet Jackson. Michael held on to the man because he had a risk of falling. The man was then taken away by security after the crane was lowered.
*Jackson was the first in history to sell out the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. He performed two sold out concerts there on January 3 and 4, 1997.
*On August 29, 1997, Jackson performed in Copenhagen, Denmark in front of 50,000 fans on his 39th birthday. Jackson was given a large surprise birthday cake on stage.
*In a similar way to performances of She's out of My Life during the Dangerous Tour, a female audience member would be randomly picked to meet Jackson on stage for performances of You Are Not Alone.

Performers

;Lead performer
*

Vocals, Dance, Choreographer: Michael Jackson
;Dancers (1996)
*

LaVelle Smith, Shawnette Heard, Courtney Miller, Anthony Talauega, Richmond Talauega, Loru Werner, Jason Yribar
;Dancers (1997)
*

LaVelle Smith, Christian Judd, Stacy Walker, Anthony Talauega, Richmond Talauega, Faune Chambers

;Band members
*

Music Director: Brad Buxer
*

Assistant Musical Director: Kevin Dorsey
*

Keyboards: Brad Buxer, Isaiah Sanders
*

Drums: Jonathan Moffett
*

Guitar: Jennifer Batten, David Williams
*

Bass Guitar: Freddie Washington
*

Vocal Director: Kevin Dorsey
*

Vocals: Kevin Dorsey, Dorian Holley, Fred White, Marva Hicks

Credits

*Executive Director: MJJ Productions
*Artistic Director: Michael Jackson
*Assistant Director: Peggy Holmes
*Choreographed by: Michael Jackson & LaVelle Smith
*Staged & Designed by: Kenny Ortega
*Set Designed by: Michael Cotton & John McGraw
*Lightning Designer: Peter Morse
*Director of Security: Bill Bray
*Costumes Designed by: Dennis Tompkins & Michael Bush
*Hair & Make-up: Karen Faye
*Stylist: Tommy Simms
*Artist Manager: Tarak Ben Amar
*Personal Management: Gallin Morey Associates

External links

All information acquired from [http://www.michael-jackson-trader.com/tours/historytour.html Michael Jackson Trader]