On the road

The Tours

From the Jacksons' farewell run to three record-shattering solo world tours and a comeback residency cut short, Jackson turned the concert stage into a spectacle. The figures below are sourced; grosses are kept era-accurate.

0HIStory tour grosshis highest-grossing tour

0HIStory attendance35 countries, 5 continents

0Wembley, 7 nights (Bad)a Guinness World Record

0This Is It showssold out in ~4 hours

1981

Triumph Tour

with The Jacksons

~42–46shows

2countries

~600Kattendance

~$5.5Mgross

Set a record with four sold-out shows at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Recorded for the live album The Jacksons Live! (went gold, 2M+ sold).
Staged with illusions by magician Doug Henning — including Michael's signature smoke "disappearance."

1984

Victory Tour

his last tour with his brothers

55shows

2countries

~2.5Mattendance

~$75Mgross

The highest-grossing tour in history at the time (~$75M) — amid controversy over its then-steep $30 ticket.
The only tour featuring all six Jackson brothers; fans came chiefly to see Michael at Thriller's peak.
Michael donated his entire ~$5M share to charity, and announced at the final show it would be the brothers' last performance together.

1987–1989

Bad World Tour

his first solo world tour

123shows

15countries

~4.4Mattendance

~$125Mgross

Michael Jackson's first-ever solo concert tour.
Set Guinness World Records — seven sold-out Wembley Stadium nights (504,000 fans), plus the largest-grossing tour and largest audience of its time.
A Pepsi-sponsored spectacle with a rig of ~700 lights, 40 lasers, and giant screens.

1992–1993

Dangerous World Tour

for charity

70shows

5continents

~3.9Mattendance

$100M+gross

The Bucharest concert was sold to HBO for $20M — then the highest fee ever paid for a TV concert.
Profits went to charity, including his own Heal the World Foundation.
Five sold-out nights at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca (~550,000); the tour was cut short amid his health issues and the 1993 allegations.

1996–1997

HIStory World Tour

his biggest-grossing tour

82shows

35countries

4.5M+attendance

$165M+gross

His highest-grossing tour — and the highest-grossing tour of the 1990s by a solo artist.
The Prague opening drew ~125,000 people, among the largest single audiences of his career.
Included his first solo shows in Africa and the Arab world; staged by Kenny Ortega.

2009

This Is It

the residency that never was

50shows planned

O2London / AEG

~750Ktickets sold

~4 hrsto sell out

Announced as his "final curtain call" after a 12-year live absence — among the fastest-selling concert events in history.
Cancelled by his death on June 25, 2009, just 18 days before the first show.
The rehearsal footage became the 2009 film Michael Jackson's This Is It. What happened →

Sources