The HIStory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning the globe with stops in 57 cities, 35 countries on five 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 and grossed over US$165 million making it the highest-grossing tour of the 1990s by a solo artist.
Overview The tour was announced on May 29, 1996, and marked Jackson's first concert tour since the Dangerous World Tour ended in November 1993.
Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (1996) Jackson's debut concert for the tour, performed at Letná Park in Prague, was one of the largest single attended concerts in his career, with over 125,000 people. On October 7, he performed for the first time ever in the Arab world and Africa as a solo artist in Tunis. During the tour's stopover in Sydney, he married Debbie Rowe in a private and impromptu ceremony. He was interviewed by Molly Meldrum in Brisbane and danced with two women during "You Are Not Alone".
North America (1997) From January 3–4, Jackson performed his only two concerts on this tour in the US, in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Aloha Stadium, to a crowd of 35,000 each; making him the first artist in history to sell out the stadium.
Europe and Africa (1997)
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, at the Weserstadion in Bremen, Germany.
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 of Ostend, Belgium, was originally scheduled for August 31, but was postponed to September 3 following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Latin America cancellations (1997–98) There were some initial plans to take the tour, in February 1997, to such Brazilian cities as São Paulo, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília; but these plans were suspended due to promotional issues. Jackson tried to visit Brazil again in February 1998, as well as Argentina, but these too were scrapped so that he could work on MJ & Friends.
Recordings
Throughout the tour, many concerts were professionally filmed by Nocturne Productions, but none were ever officially released worldwide. The Seoul dates was recorded and released as a proshot exclusively in South Korea under the title 마이클 잭슨 내한공연 (Michael Jackson HIStory Tour In Seoul). The two concerts in Munich, Germany, were also recorded and later broadcast by German television channels.
Set list 1996–1997 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'" "Stranger in Moscow" "Smooth Criminal" (contains elements of "Childhood") "The Wind" (video interlude) "You Are Not Alone" "The Way You Make Me Feel" (September 7, 1996 – June 15, 1997) The Jackson 5 Medley: "I Want You Back" / "The Love You Save" / "I'll Be There" Off the Wall Medley: "Rock with You" / "Off the Wall" / "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (select 1996 and 1997 dates) "Remember the Time" (video interlude) "Billie Jean" "Thriller" "Beat It" "Come Together" / "D.S." (select 1996 dates) / "Blood on the Dance Floor" (select 1997 dates) "Black Panther" (video interlude) "Dangerous" (contains elements from "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, Ennio Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Theme", "Smooth Criminal", Janet Jackson's "You Want This" and "Interlude: Let's Dance", Judy Garland's "Get Happy", Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme", and a guitar intro from Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill") "Black or White" "Earth Song" "We Are the World" (video interlude) "Heal the World" "HIStory" (with instrumental of "They Don't Care About Us" as a curtain call and contains elements from "Great Gates of Kiev")
Alterations Songs originally considered for the first leg of the tour included "Man in the Mirror", "She's Out of My Life", "Jam", "Childhood", "Will You Be There", "Dirty Diana", "State of Shock" and "2 Bad". "Morphine" was also rehearsed twice for the 1997 leg but was also removed. The medley of "Come Together" and "D.S." was removed after the Adelaide concert on November 26, 1996. "Blood on the Dance Floor" replaced them for most of the 1997 leg before being removed after August 19. Prior to this, it was omitted from the Vienna concert on July 2. "Rock with You", "Off the Wall" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" were performed on select dates, before being permanently removed from the set list after June 13, 1997. "The Way You Make Me Feel" was performed on select dates until after June 15, 1997. Starting on September 3, 1997, the instrumental of "Gates of Kiev" was replaced with "Smile", in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales. On August 22, 1997, "Ben" was played at the beginning of the Tallinn concert.
Tour dates +List of 1996 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold and number of available tickets Date City Country Venue Attendance September 7, 1996PragueCzech RepublicLetná Park125,000 / 125,000 September 10, 1996BudapestHungaryNépstadion50,000 / 50,000 September 14, 1996BucharestRomaniaStadionul Național70,000 / 70,000 September 17, 1996MoscowRussiaDynamo Stadium50,000 / 50,000 September 20, 1996WarsawPolandLotnisko Bemowo120,000 / 120,000 September 23, 1996ZaragozaSpainEstadio La Romareda45,000 / 45,000 September 28, 1996AmsterdamNetherlandsAmsterdam Arena250,000 / 250,000 September 30, 1996 October 2, 1996 October 7, 1996TunisTunisiaEl Menzah Stadium60,000 / 60,000 October 11, 1996SeoulSouth KoreaOlympic Stadium100,000 / 100,000 October 13, 1996 October 18, 1996TaipeiTaiwanZhongshan Soccer Stadium80,000 / 80,000 October 20, 1996KaohsiungChungcheng Stadium30,000 / 30,000 October 22, 1996TaipeiZhongshan Soccer Stadium— October 25, 1996 SingaporeNational Stadium26,000 / 35,000 October 27, 1996Kuala LumpurMalaysiaStadium Merdeka80,000 / 80,000 October 29, 1996 November 1, 1996MumbaiIndiaAndheri Sports Complex70,000 / 70,000 November 5, 1996Pak KretThailandImpact Lake Front Concert Grounds40,000 / 40,000 November 9, 1996AucklandNew ZealandEricsson Stadium86,000 / 86,000 November 11, 1996 November 14, 1996SydneyAustraliaSydney Cricket Ground86,000 / 86,000 November 16, 1996 November 19, 1996BrisbaneANZ Stadium40,000 / 40,000 November 22, 1996MelbourneMelbourne Cricket Ground130,000 / 130,000 November 24, 1996 November 26, 1996AdelaideAdelaide Oval30,000 / 30,000 November 30, 1996PerthBurswood Dome60,000 / 60,000 December 2, 1996 December 4, 1996 December 8, 1996ParañaquePhilippinesAsia World City Concert Grounds110,000 / 110,000 December 10, 1996 December 13, 1996TokyoJapanTokyo Dome180,000 / 180,000 December 15, 1996 December 17, 1996 December 20, 1996 December 26, 1996FukuokaFukuoka Dome80,000 / 80,000 December 28, 1996 December 31, 1996Bandar Seri BegawanBruneiJerudong Park Amphitheater40,000 / 60,000+
+ List of 1997 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold and number of available tickets Date City Country Venue Attendance January 3, 1997HonoluluUnited StatesAloha Stadium70,000 / 70,000 January 4, 1997 May 31, 1997BremenGermanyWeserstadion85,000 / 85,000 June 3, 1997CologneMüngersdorfer Stadion60,000 / 60,000 June 6, 1997BremenWeserstadion— June 8, 1997AmsterdamNetherlandsAmsterdam Arena— June 10, 1997 June 13, 1997KielGermanyNordmarksportfeld55,000 / 55,000 June 15, 1997GelsenkirchenParkstadion50,000 / 50,000 June 18, 1997MilanItalySan Siro65,000 / 65,000 June 20, 1997LausanneSwitzerlandStade olympique de la Pontaise35,000 / 35,000 June 22, 1997BettembourgLuxembourgKrakelshaff45,000 / 45,000 June 25, 1997LyonFranceStade de Gerland25,000 / 25,000 June 27, 1997ParisParc des Princes95,000 / 100,000 June 29, 1997 July 2, 1997ViennaAustriaErnst-Happel-Stadion50,000 / 50,000 July 4, 1997MunichGermanyOlympiastadion150,000 / 150,000 July 6, 1997 July 9, 1997SheffieldEnglandDon Valley Stadium43,031 / 48,000 July 12, 1997LondonWembley Stadium212,601 / 216,000 July 15, 1997 July 17, 1997 July 19, 1997DublinIrelandRDS Arena43,261 / 43,261 July 25, 1997BaselSwitzerlandSt. Jakob Stadium50,000 / 50,000 July 27, 1997NiceFranceStade Charles-Ehrmann30,003 / 36,260 August 1, 1997BerlinGermanyOlympiastadion78,187 / 78,187 August 3, 1997LeipzigFestwiese54,483 / 55,000 August 10, 1997HockenheimHockenheimring85,000 / 85,000 August 14, 1997CopenhagenDenmarkParken Stadium47,402 / 47,402 August 16, 1997GothenburgSwedenUllevi50,000 / 50,000 August 19, 1997OsloNorwayValle Hovin37,904 / 40,000 August 22, 1997TallinnEstoniaTallinn Song Festival Grounds75,000 / 75,000 August 24, 1997HelsinkiFinlandHelsinki Olympic Stadium91,106 / 96,000 August 26, 1997 August 29, 1997CopenhagenDenmarkParken Stadium50,161 / 50,161 September 3, 1997OstendBelgiumHippodrome Wellington 55,000 / 60,000 September 6, 1997ValladolidSpainEstadio José Zorrilla20,000 / 26,000 October 4, 1997Cape TownSouth AfricaGreen Point Stadium70,000 / 70,000 October 6, 1997 October 10, 1997JohannesburgJohannesburg Stadium106,495 / 108,000 October 12, 1997 October 15, 1997DurbanKings Park Stadium50,000 / 50,000Total 4,520,158 / 4,600,000 (98%)
Personnel
Lead performer Vocals, dance, choreographer: Michael Jackson
Dancers 1996 leg LaVelle Smith Cris Judd Travis Payne Damon Navandi Courtney Miller Jason Yribar Anthony Talauega Richmond Talauega Shawnette Heard Lori Werner
1997 leg LaVelle Smith Cris Judd Anthony Talauega Richmond Talauega Stacy Walker Faune Chambers
Band members Musical director: Brad Buxer Assistant musical director: Kevin Dorsey Keyboards: Isaiah Sanders, Brad Buxer Drums: Jonathan Moffett Guitars: Jennifer Batten, Greg Howe (1996 leg – replaced Jennifer Batten in Amsterdam (October 2), Tunis and Seoul), David Williams Bass: Freddie Washington
Vocals Vocal director: Kevin Dorsey Vocals: Kevin Dorsey, Dorian Holley, Marva Hicks (1996–1997 leg), Darryl Phinnessee (1996 leg), Fred White (1997 leg)
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 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 personal manager: Tarak Ben Ammar Personal management: Gallin Morey Associates Music video directors: Steve Barron, Joe Pytka, John Landis, Bruce Gowers, Martin Scorsese, Bob Giraldi, John Singleton and Nick Saxton
Sponsor Kingdom Entertainment
See also List of highest-attended concerts List of most-attended concert tours List of highest-grossing concert tours
Notes
References
Bibliography