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 →