The Bad World Tour was the first world concert tour by Michael Jackson as a solo artist, covering Japan, Australia, United States and Europe from September 12, 1987 to January 27, 1989. The tour, sponsored by PepsiCo and spanning 16 months, included 123 concerts to 4.4 million fans across 15 countries. When the tour concluded it grossed a total of $125 million, adding two new entries in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest grossing tour in history and the tour with the largest attended audience. In the United States alone, where just 54 concerts were held, the tour came in as the 6th largest grossing tour from 1988-89, grossing a total of $20.3 million.

In April 1989, the tour was nominated for "Tour of the Year 1988" at the inaugural International Rock Awards. The tour lost to Amnesty International, but nothing could detract from the fact that Jackson's first solo tour was the largest and most successful in history.

At every concert (at least in the United States) Jackson made sure that 400 tickets were reserved for underprivileged children. These tickets were distributed across hospitals, orphanages and charities. Jackson also donated concert takings to multiple causes.

Overview

First leg

The release of Jackson's seventh solo album, Bad, on August 31, 1987 led to a huge rise in popularity for Jackson in Japan, with Jackson being nicknamed "Typhoon Michael". Other popular artists such as George Michael and Madonna had similarly begun their solo world tours in Japan, as it was seen as the ideal place for the last "live dress rehearsal". The Japanese press only idolise their artists, unlike the tabloids seen in the United Kingdom where they are most popular. When Jackson's Japan Airlines Flight 61 touched down at Narita International Airport in Tokyo over 600 journalists, cameramen and hundreds of screaming fans were waiting to cover his arrival. Even Bubbles, Jackson's pet chimp, who took a separate flight, was greeted by more than 300. To transport the stage equipment, a chartered jumbo jet flew into Tokyo carrying 22 truckloads along with Jackson's tour entourage of 132 people.

While Jackson was in Tokyo, Australian pop music critic Molly Meldrum flew in to record a world exclusive one hour television special with Jackson and Frank DiLeo, his then-manager, which was later featured on 60 Minutes in the United States. Whist performing in Osaka, Jackson met with then-Mayor Yasushi Oshima to receive the Key to the City. Jackson also brought along Bubbles, the first animal allowed inside the Osaka Town Hall. It was also in Osaka where Jackson announced the dedication of his Japanese tour and each performance of "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" to Yoshioka Hagiwara, a 5 year old boy who was kidnapped and murdered. Jackson gave £12,000 to the parents of Hagiwara.

The total attendance for the concerts in Japan (14 in total) during the first leg was 450,000 with performances in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama. Previously, performers only managed to draw a crowd of 200,000 on a single tour. A granddaughter of Emperor Hirohito attended the first concert in Tokyo.

After the first fourteen concerts in Japan, the tour went to Australia with five concerts with performances in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Similar to that of Japan, the Australian press were naming Jackson "Crocodile Jackson". When he was not performing, Jackson spent time visiting sick children at their homes in the suburbs in Sydney, where in one instance he actually put children to bed after a plea from their mothers over the phone. It was also in Brisbane on November 25, 1987 where Stevie Wonder made a surprise appearance at a concert to perform "Just Good Friends", a song that was featured on Bad. This is the only ever live performance of the song.

Due to various reasons, scheduled concerts in Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand were cancelled.

Second leg

Before the tour even kicked off, new costumes and more spectacular effects were being designed for the second leg. This was due to the lack of preparation time Jackson had, in which many aspects of the first leg resembled the 1984 Victory Tour by The Jacksons. For this Jackson changed his costume, switching the silver shirt with a black bolted strap and multiple leg buckles for a silver zipper with multiple black buckles down his arms and white undershirt. Accessories including a belt, arm badge, and shoulder and leg buckles also varied. One of Jackson's entourage commented that Jackson "thought he was wearing too much leather back then [during the first leg] and looked a bit ridiculous". "So he grew his hair, threw away his jacket and strapped on a massive belt. The result makes him look raw and street-wise."

Following Japan and Australia, Jackson and his band rehearsed in Pensacola, Florida for the tour's first set of concerts in the United States. Jackson himself mentioned in a Kansas news report that him and his crew "are starting all over again with the American tour." "We are building a new show with new sets, staging and new songs." The American tour was intended to start in Atlanta, Georgia yet Pepsi officials objected the idea as Atlanta is the home base for rival drinks company Coca-Cola.

On March 3, 1988 Jackson performed a private concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City where all proceeds were donated to the United Negro College Fund. Tickets for the concert could not be purchased at regular box offices, as a special lottery system determined ticket receivers. Tatiana Thumbtzen, who was featured in the video for "The Way You Make Me Feel," kissed Jackson during the song's performance. The incident created further stories on Jackson and Thumbtzen's relationship. Siedah Garrett, who provided vocals for "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" on Bad and co-wrote "Man in the Mirror" also made a special appearance. While touring the states, the 2 performances in St. Louis, Missouri had to be cancelled due to Jackson suffering from laryngitis after catching a cold. For both concerts in Atlanta, Georgia, Jackson gave 100 tickets to the Children's Wish Foundation for terminally ill children.

Following the United States, the tour went to Europe with the opening concert in Rome, Italy on May 23, 1988. Just hours before the concert began, Jackson sneaked out the back of the Lord Byron Hotel where he was staying, dressed in a curly haired wig, false moustache and raincoat to walk around the streets alone. This created a panic amongst his security. Jackson was then found returning to the hotel on his own in a taxi. While in Rome, Jackson donated £100,000 to the Bambino Gesù Hospital, the leading children's hospital in Italy. Performances in Italy were held in Rome and Turin.

The concert in Basel, Switzerland on June 16, 1988 was attended by Elizabeth Taylor and Bob Dylan. While in Basel, Jackson met with Oona O'Neill, widow of Charlie Chaplin, one of Jackson's all-time heroes. The two concerts in Gothenburg, Sweden on June 11 and June 12, 1988 were scheduled at the Ullevi Stadium but it was under repair. Instead the concert was held at Gothenburg's shipyard in Eriksberg. While touring in Europe, Jackson would be given the names "The Earl of Whirl" and "The Peter Pan of Pop."

The concerts in the United Kingdom, particularly at the original Wembley Stadium in London were the most anticipated and eagerly awaited by fans of the whole tour. Partly due to this was that ideas of concerts by The Jacksons in the United Kingdom in 1984 were ultimately cancelled. Anthony Davis, a member of the tour's security staff, said that fans in London "have waited so long for the show" in which "the anticipation level creates mass hysteria." Tickets for the initial 5 July dates went on sale in January, with ticket demand exceeding 1.5 million, enough to sell-out the 72,000 capacity venue 20 times. The first concert on July 14, 1988 was attended by numerous celebrities including Shirley Bassey, Jack Nicholson and Frank Bruno. Two days later on July 16, Princess Diana and Prince Charles were in attendance. Jackson met them both prior to the concert in which he donated $450,000 to the Prince's Trust and the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Jackson also presented a special tour jacket and display of Jackson's solo albums Bad, Thriller and Off the Wall to the royal children. The concerts at Wembley earned Jackson a third entry into the Guinness World Records from the tour alone on September 8, 1988. The seven sold out shows were attended by a total of 504,000. Management of the stadium presented Jackson with the award which was previously held by Genesis, with 4. Until the demolition of the stadium in 2003, this record remained unbroken.

During the United Kingdom tour, Jackson performed in Leeds on August 29, 1988 on his 30th birthday. The fans sang "Happy Birthday to You" before "Another Part of Me". An incident occurred during the concert where a pilot was "being hunted" by police after flying a plane above the crowd of 90,000 below 200 feet. No one was injured, although 96 were arrested mostly from drunkenness and some for damage and drug offences. After the concert, Jackson donated $130,000 to Give For Life, a British charity that was aiming to raise $1.9 million towards an immunisation programme for 40,000 children. The last concert on the United Kingdom and European tour altogether was one that Jackson was eagerly anticipating. "I have always considered Liverpool the home of contemporary pop music", he told reporters. "By virtue of its being the birth place of the incomparable Beatles." The concert, which took place at the Aintree Racecourse, resulted in hundreds of fans being treated by the St. John Ambulance service for passing out, fainting, headaches, hysteria and being crushed amongst the crowd of 125,000, the largest concert of the tour. The amount of ground used covered the first three jumps in the Grand National.

During August 1988, after performing 5 of the 7 concerts in London, Jackson and his crew stayed at the £50,000 per week Incosol Health Spa in Marbella, Spain to help them be in top shape for the rest of the tour. Jackson's health regime included mountain treks, gym sessions and underwater massages.

After a total 41 concerts in Europe, the tour went to the United States for its second run in 1988, performing in 7 more cities. The tour was initially planned to end on Boxing Day, 1988 in Tokyo but Jackson suffered from swollen vocal chords after the first of 6 scheduled concerts in Los Angeles, California in November. The remaining 5 were then rescheduled for January 1989. A further 9 concerts at the Tokyo Dome (replacing the old Korakuen Stadium where Jackson performed in 1987) were performed, totalling the Japanese tour attendance to 570,000 across 23 concerts, including two on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The final 5 concerts at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles were performed to conclude the tour. For the last concert on January 27, 1989 Jackson donated more than £700,000 of the concert's takings to Childhelp, an organisation fighting child cruelty and dedicated the "Motown Medley" performance to Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records.

Set list

The set list for the tour's first leg was similar to that of the 1984 Victory Tour, the last tour by The Jacksons. This was due to the lack of preparation time Jackson had for the tour.

First leg

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "Things I Do for You"
3. "Off the Wall"
4. "Human Nature"
5. "This Place 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
11. "Workin' Day and Night"
12. "Beat It"
13. "Billie Jean"
14. "Shake Your Body "
15. "Thriller"
16. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (Duet with backup vocalist Sheryl Crow)
17. "Bad"

Second leg

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
2. "This Place Hotel"
3. "Another Part of Me"
4. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (Duet with backup vocalist Sheryl Crow)
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
13. "Workin' Day and Night"
14. "Beat It"
15. "Billie Jean"
16. "Bad"
17. "The Way You Make Me Feel" (Encore)
18. "Man in the Mirror" (Encore)

The "Bad Groove" interlude involved the band playing an extended instrumental of "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" by Prince from his 1987 album Sign o' the Times. The second leg piece grew longer and an instrumental of "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" from Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall was added. The band members also perform their own solo with keyboards first, followed by bass guitar then drums. During the second leg spots in the interlude session varied, such as the additional solo from guitarist Jennifer Batten.

For some concerts during the second leg, there were some order switches and songs removed such as "Dirty Diana" or "The Way You Make Me Feel".

Tour dates

#	Date	City	Country	Venue	Attendance
First Leg
Japan
1	September 12, 1987	Tokyo	Japan	Korakuen Stadium	45,000
2	September 13, 1987
3	September 14, 1987
4	September 19, 1987	Osaka		Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium	48,000
5	September 20, 1987
6	September 21, 1987
7	September 25, 1987	Yokohama		Yokohama Stadium	38,000
8	September 26, 1987
9	September 27, 1987
10	October 3, 1987
11	October 4, 1987
12	October 10, 1987	Osaka		Osaka Stadium	32,000
13	October 11, 1987
14	October 12, 1987
Australia
15	November 13, 1987	Melbourne	Australia	Olympic Park Stadium	45,000
16	November 20, 1987	Sydney		Parramatta Stadium
17	November 21, 1987
18	November 25, 1987	Brisbane		Entertainment Centre	13,500
19	November 28, 1987
Second Leg
North America
20	February 23, 1988	Kansas City	United States	Kemper Arena	16,960
21	February 24, 1988
22	March 3, 1988	New York City		Madison Square Garden	19,000
23	March 4, 1988
24	March 5, 1988
25	March 12, 1988	St. Louis		St. Louis Arena	18,000
26	March 13, 1988
27	March 18, 1988	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena	17,000
28	March 19, 1988
29	March 20, 1988	Louisville		Freedom Hall	19,000
30	March 23, 1988	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena	20,125
31	March 24, 1988
32	March 30, 1988	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center	30,060
33	March 31, 1988
34	April 1, 1988
35	April 8, 1988	Houston		The Summit	40,000
36	April 9, 1988
37	April 10, 1988
38	April 13, 1988	Atlanta		The Omni	23,000
39	April 14, 1988
40	April 15, 1988
41	April 19, 1988	Chicago		Rosemont Horizon	25,000
42	April 20, 1988
43	April 21, 1988
44	April 25, 1988	Dallas		Reunion Arena	19,980
45	April 26, 1988
46	April 27, 1988
47	May 4, 1988	Minneapolis		Met Center	21,660
48	May 5, 1988
49	May 6, 1988
Europe
50	May 23, 1988	Rome	Italy	Flaminio Stadium	35,000
51	May 24, 1988
52	May 29, 1988	Turin		Stadio Comunale di Torino	56,640
53	June 2, 1988	Vienna	Austria	Prater Stadium	60,000
54	June 5, 1988	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Feijenoord Stadium	48,400
55	June 6, 1988
56	June 7, 1988
57	June 11, 1988	Gothenburg	Sweden	Eriksburg Shipyard	53,000
58	June 12, 1988
59	June 16, 1988	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakob Stadium	59,000
60	June 19, 1988	Berlin	West Germany	Platz der Republik (Reichstag Building/Berlin Wall)	58,000
61	June 27, 1988	Paris	France	Parc des Princes Stadium	64,000
62	June 28, 1988
63	July 1, 1988	Hamburg	West Germany	Volkspark Stadium	60,000
64	July 3, 1988	Cologne		Mungersdorfer Stadium	70,000
65	July 8, 1988	Munich		Olympic Stadium	72,000
66	July 10, 1988	Hockenheim		Hockenheimring	80,000
67	July 14, 1988	London	England	Wembley Stadium	82,000
68	July 15, 1988
69	July 16, 1988
70	July 22, 1988
71	July 23, 1988
72	July 26, 1988	Cardiff	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park	60,000
73	July 30, 1988	Cork	Ireland	Páirc Uí Chaoimh	60,000
74	July 31, 1988
75	August 5, 1988	Marbella	Spain	Municipal Stadium	40,000
76	August 7, 1988	Madrid		Vicente Calderón Stadium	60,000
77	August 9, 1988	Barcelona		Nou Camp Stadium	110,000
78	August 11, 1988	Nice	France	Stade Charles Ehrmann	50,000
79	August 14, 1988	Montpellier		Stade Richter	70,000
80	August 19, 1988	Lausanne	Switzerland	La Pontaise	45,000
81	August 21, 1988	Würzburg	West Germany	Talavera Wiesen	43,000
82	August 23, 1988	Werchter	Belgium	Festival Grounds	55,000
83	August 26, 1988	London	England	Wembley Stadium	72,000
84	August 27, 1988
85	August 29, 1988	Leeds		Roundhay Park	90,000
86	September 2, 1988	Hannover	West Germany	Niedersachsen Stadium	54,000
87	September 4, 1988	Gelsenkirchen		Park Stadium	60,000
88	September 6, 1988	Linz	Austria	Linzer Stadium	45,000
89	September 10, 1988	Milton Keynes	England	The Bowl	60,000
90	September 11, 1988	Liverpool		Aintree Racecourse	125,000
North America
91	September 26, 1988	Pittsburgh	United States	Civic Arena	16,230
92	September 27, 1988
93	September 28, 1988
94	October 3, 1988	East Rutherford		Meadowlands Arena	20,350
95	October 4, 1988
96	October 6, 1988
97	October 10, 1988	Cleveland		Richfield Coliseum	19,000
98	October 11, 1988
99	October 13, 1988	Washington DC		Capital Centre	17,470
100	October 17, 1988
101	October 18, 1988
102	October 19, 1988
103	October 24, 1988	Detroit		The Palace of Auburn Hills	16,670
104	October 25, 1988
105	October 26, 1988
106	November 7, 1988	Irvine		Irvine Meadows Amphitheater	15,000
107	November 8, 1988
108	November 9, 1988
109	November 13, 1988	Los Angeles		Memorial Sports Arena	18,000
Japan
110	December 9, 1988	Tokyo	Japan	Tokyo Dome	45,000
111	December 10, 1988
112	December 11, 1988
113	December 17, 1988
114	December 18, 1988
115	December 19, 1988
116	December 24, 1988
117	December 25, 1988
118	December 26, 1988
North America
119	January 16, 1989	Los Angeles	United States	Memorial Sports Arena	18,000
120	January 17, 1989
121	January 18, 1989
122	January 26, 1989
123	January 27, 1989

DVD release petition

There are several professionally filmed concerts from Yokohama, Tokyo and Osaka (and half a Brisbane concert has been leaked). CD and DVD bootlegs of these performances are widely available for purchase both on and offline, and are also available to download. However, despite these releases, and several amateur videos from various concerts across the whole tour, many fans are disappointed that professionally filmed full concert footage of the second leg does not exist.

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 London concert at Wembley Stadium. The Wembley concert on July 14 was extensively photographed and filmed by Jackson's crew, with various parts shown in a video montage of the Bad Tour, the music video for Another Part of Me, the Carmina Burana introduction of Dangerous Tour Concerts and special documentaries afterwards, but the full concert has never been released. A full concert is only available in poor quality amateur video from an unknown concert, initially believed to be of July 15 but later proven otherwise and is perhaps the concert from July 23.

High quality audio exists from the July 14, July 15 and July 16 Concerts (all professionally filmed). These recordings form the soundtrack to Concert footage, (filmed at a number of locations throughout the Bad tour), in the 'Around The World' documentary aired on July 30 1988 by NBC, BBC, NHK and others. The video release of 'Another Part Of Me' directed by Patrick Kelly actually uses the recording truck 'monitor-mix' (rough mix) from the July 15 Concert. As of 2009, "Another Part of Me" and Bad are the only full songs professionally filmed and released the Another Part of Me video is From a Paris 88 concert and Bad is from a Wembley 88 Concert.

Performers

• Lead vocalist, dancer and choreographer: Michael Jackson
• Music Director: Greg Phillinganes
• Assistant Musical Director, Vocal Director: Kevin Dorsey

• Backup dancers: LaVelle Smith Jnr, Dominic Lucero, Evaldo Garcia, Randy Allaire
• Backup vocalists: Kevin Dorsey, Darryl Phinnessee, Dorian Holley, Sheryl Crow

• Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes, Rory Kaplan
• Synclavier synthesiser: Christopher Currell
• Digital guitar: Christopher Currell
• Sound effects: Christopher Currell
• Drums: Ricky Lawson
• Guitar: Jennifer Batten, Jon Clark
• Bass guitar: Don Boyette
• Keytar: Don Boyette

Credits

Tour Staff

• 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: Jolie Levine
• 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
• Special Thanks to: Kenny Rogers

• Assistant Director: Jolie Levine
• Choreographed by: Michael Jackson
• Assistant Choreography & Staging: Vincent Paterson
• Set Designed by: Tom McPhilips
• Lighting Designer: Allen Branton
• Lighting Director Merle McLain
• Varilite Op.
• Jim Waits
• Hair & Make-up: Karen Faye
• Tour Photographer: Sam Emerson, Harrison Funk (Rejoined Michael in Europe 1988)

External links

• Collection of concert tickets from the Bad Tour
• Collection of second leg concert posters from the Bad Tour
• Bad Tour 1988 DVD Promo Video

Notes

1. japanidolise
2. tourbooksource3
3. bubblesarrival
4. 60minutes
5. japanattendace
6. childrenbed
7. nzconcerts
8. newstage
9. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Michael-Jackson-Live-Japan-DVD/dp/B002AOWXOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1259456585&sr=8-1
10. http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3436927/Michael-Jackson-Bad-In-Japan/Product.html?ptsl=1&ob=Price&fb=0
11. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Michael-Jackson-One-night-Japan/dp/B002IACYX6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1259456585&sr=8-2
12. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=84CBADB144D4446D