The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

by American singer and recording artist

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

, covering

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning the globe with stops in 57 cities, 35 countries on 5 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.Grant, p. 188Grant, p. 202

Overview

The tour was announced on May 29, 1996, and marked Jackson's first concert tour since his

Dangerous World Tour The Dangerous World Tour was the second world concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson to promote his eighth studio album '' Dangerous.'' The tour was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various charities including Jack ...

ended in late 1993. Jackson's debut concert for the tour, performed at Letna Park in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, was one of the largest single attended concerts in his career, with over 125,000 people. On October 7, 1996, he performed for the first time ever in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

and

as a solo artist in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. During the tour's stopover in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, he married

Debbie Rowe Deborah Jeanne Rowe (born December 6, 1958) is an American dermatology assistant best known for her marriage to pop musician Michael Jackson, with whom she had two children. She lives in Palmdale, California. Early life Debbie Rowe was born on ...

in a private and impromptu ceremony. He was interviewed by Molly Meldrum In

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and danced with two women during " You Are Not Alone". From January 3–4, 1997, Jackson performed his only two concerts on this tour in the US, in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, at the

Aloha Stadium Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium located in Halawa, Hawaii, a western suburb of Honolulu (though with a Honolulu address). It is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii. , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinit ...

, to a crowd of 35,000 each; making him the first artist in history to sell out the stadium. 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, 1997, at the

Weserstadion Weserstadion () is a multi-purpose stadium in Bremen, Germany. The Weserstadion is scenically situated on the north bank of the Weser River and is surrounded by lush green parks (the name 'Werder' is a regional German word for "river peninsula" ...

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

, Germany. Set list changes included the addition of " Blood on the Dance Floor" and later on the removal of the "Off the Wall" Medley and "

The Way You Make Me Feel "The Way You Make Me Feel" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 9, 1987, as the third single from his seventh studio album, '' Bad''. It was written and composed by Jackson, and pro ...

". "Blood on the Dance Floor" was taken off the set list after the concert in Oslo on August 19, 1997. 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 The Hippodrome Wellington (also ''Wellingtonrenbaan'') is a horse racing track in Ostend in the Flemish Region of Belgium built in 1883, renovated in 2011 and named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The facility hosts both harne ...

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

, Belgium, was originally scheduled for August 31, 1997, but was postponed to September 3 following

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. There were some initial plans to take the tour, in February 1997, to such

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian cities as

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, and

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

; but these plans were suspended due to promotional issues. Jackson tried to visit Brazil again in February 1998, as well as

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, but these too were scrapped so that he could work on

MJ and Friends MJ & Friends were two stadium concerts held by American singer/songwriter Michael Jackson in 1999, with numerous other performers as well, including Slash of Guns N' Roses. The purpose of the tour was to raise funds for children in Kosovo, Africa ...

Recordings

Throughout the tour, many concerts were professionally filmed by Nocturne Productions, but none were ever officially released on DVD. In

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, a VHS recording of his show in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

was released, only within the bounds of the country. Although the footage is poor in quality and Michael Jackson was suffering a fever at the time, resulting in his vocals being weakened, it made major success in that country. Jackson planned to release a DVD of his performance in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. The film was never released due to Jackson being unimpressed by his vocals brought on by

laryngitis Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box). Symptoms often include a hoarse voice and may include fever, cough, pain in the front of the neck, and dysphagia, trouble swallowing. Typically, these last under two weeks. Laryngitis is c ...

. Health and appearance of Michael Jackson

Show performance

Michael Jackson's HIStory tour was one of his most

high tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

concert shows of the time. The show's opening featured a video segment where Jackson piloted a spacecraft through multiple points in history before emerging from underneath the stage at the end. The stage featured two statues of Jackson on either side of it, and was large enough to use an entire curtain for the opening segment of "Smooth Criminal".

Set list

# " Great Gates Of Kiev" (Introduction) # " Scream" / " They Don't Care About Us" / “ In the Closet" (contains excerpts of "HIStory", "Great Gates Of Kiev" and "She Drives Me Wild") # "

Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson recorded for his sixth studio album ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It is the opening track of the album and was released as its fourth single on May 8, 1983, by Epi ...

" # "

Stranger in Moscow "Stranger in Moscow" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson from his ninth studio album, ''HIStory'' (1995). The song was released as the sixth and final single worldwide on November 4, 1996 by Epic Records. It was not released ...

" # " Smooth Criminal" (contains elements of "

Childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

") # "The Wind" (Video Interlude) # " You Are Not Alone" # "

" # "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

" / "

The Love You Save "The Love You Save" is a song recorded by the Jackson 5 for Motown Records. It was released as a single on May 13, 1970, and held the number-one spot on the soul singles chart in the US for six weeks and the number-one position on the ''Billboard ...

" / " I'll Be There" # "

Rock with You "Rock with You" was written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. It was first offered to Karen Carpenter, while she was working on her first solo album, but she turned it down. It was released on November 3, 1979, by Epic Records as ...

" / “

Off the Wall ''Off the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and t ...

" / "

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a single written and recorded by American singer Michael Jackson. Released under Epic Records on July 10, 1979, the song is the first track on Jackson's fifth studio album '' Off the Wall'' (1979). It was the ...

" # " Remember The Time" (Video Interlude) # "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...

" # "

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

" # "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson l ...

" # "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album ''Abbey Road'' and was also released as a single coupled with " Somethi ...

" / " D.S." # "Black Panther" (Video Interlude) # " Dangerous" (contains elements from "

James Bond Theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since '' Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Bar ...

", "Smooth Criminal", "

You Want This "You Want This" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from her fifth studio album, ''Janet'' (1993). Released as the album's seventh single (sixth and final in the U.S.) in October 1994, the track was written and produced by Jackson and Jimm ...

", "Let's Dance", and "

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

") # "

Black or White "Black or White" is a single by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 11, 1991, as the first single from Jackson's eighth studio album, '' Dangerous'' (1991). Jackson wrote, composed, and produced it w ...

" # "

Earth Song "Earth Song" is a song written and performed by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson for his ninth studio album, '' HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'' (1995). It was released on November 27, 1995, by Epic Records as the third ...

" # "

We Are The World "We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album '' We Are the World''. Wi ...

" (Video Interlude) #"

Heal the World "Heal the World" is a song recorded by American recording artist Michael Jackson from his eighth studio album, '' Dangerous'' (1991). It was released on November 23, 1992 as the fifth single from the album. It was written and composed by Jackson ...

" # "

HIStory History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

" (contains elements from "They Don't Care About Us" and "Great Gates Of Kiev")

Tour dates

Cancelled shows

Known rehearsal dates

Personnel

HIStory World Tour

Lead performer

*Vocals, Dance, Choreographer:

Dancers

1996 leg

* LaVelle Smith *

Cris Judd Cristan Lee Judd (born 1968-1970) is an American actor, dancer, and choreographer known for his brief marriage to Jennifer Lopez. Dance career At age 21, Judd became interested in dance. Within a year, he switched jobs and began dancing profe ...

Travis Payne Travis Payne (born July 5, 1971) is an American choreographer, director and producer. He was the choreographer for Michael Jackson's This Is It until Jackson's death. Payne also served as the associate producer for '' This Is It'' and along ...

*Damon Navandi *Courtney Miller *Jason Yribar *Anthony Talauega *Richmond Talauega *Shawnette Heard *Lori Werner

1997 leg

* LaVelle Smith *

*Anthony Talauega *Richmond Talauega *Stacy Walker *Faune Chambers

Band members

*Musical Director:

Brad Buxer Bradley Buxer is an American keyboardist and composer, known for his many collaborations with the American musician Michael Jackson. In addition to recording with Jackson, Buxer was also the musical director for Jackson's tours for many years. Pr ...

*Assistant Musical Director: Kevin Dorsey *Keyboards: Isaiah Sanders, Brad Buxer *Drums:

Jonathan Moffett Jonathan Phillip "Sugarfoot" Moffett (born November 17, 1954) is an American drummer, songwriter and producer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Beginning in 1979, Moffett collaborated with the Jackson family, particularly Michael Jackson, over the co ...

*Guitars:

Jennifer Batten Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997 she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001 she toured and recorded wit ...

, Greg Howe (1996 leg – replaced Jennifer Batten in Amsterdam (October 2), Tunis and Seoul), David Williams *Bass: Freddie Washington *Vocal Director: Kevin Dorsey *Vocals: Kevin Dorsey, Dorian Holley,

Marva Hicks Marva Denise Hicks (May 5, 1956 – September 16, 2022) was an American R&B singer and actress. She signed with Polydor in the late 1980s, recorded her self-titled album in 1991, Biography at AllMusic/ref> and later worked in Broadway theatre and ...

(1996–1997 leg), Darryl Phinnessee (1996 leg), Fred White (1997 leg)

Credits

*Executive Director: MJJ Productions *Artistic Director:

*Assistant Director: Peggy Holmes *Choreographed by:

& LaVelle Smith *Staged & Designed by:

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films ''Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', '' High School Musical'', '' Michael Jackson's T ...

*Set Designed by: Michael Cotton & John McGraw *Lighting Designer: Peter Morse *Security 1996: Darrell Featherstone *Security 1997: Bill Bray *Costumes Designed by: Dennis Tompkins & Michael Bush *Hair & Make-up: Karen Faye and Tommy Sims *Stylist: Tommy Sims *Tour Producer and Artistic Manager: Tarak Ben Ammar *Former Manager: Dieter Wiesner *Personal Management: Gallin Morey Associates *Music Video Directors:

Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker. He is best known for directing the music videos for the songs "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Summer of '69" and " Run to You" by Bryan Adams, " Money for Nothing" by Dire Stra ...

, Joe Pytka,

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...

, Bruce Gowers,

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

, Bob Giraldi,

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

and Nick Saxton

Sponsor

*Kingdom Entertainment

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:History World Tour Michael Jackson concert tours 1996 concert tours 1997 concert tours

Overview

Recordings

Show performance

Set list

Tour dates

Cancelled shows

Known rehearsal dates

Personnel

Lead performer

Dancers

1996 leg

1997 leg

Band members

Credits

Sponsor

See also

Notes

References