The Years 1989 to 1994
On December 18, 1989, news agencies announced that Michael had stopped working on the album “Decade” (Decade), which was supposed to include his greatest songs. Because, by creating new works, he is thinking about offering another album to please his fans.
In the spring of 1990, an advertisement for L.A. Gear—using Michael’s song titled “Wanna Be Startin\' Somthin\'”—was being shown in cinemas. But Michael himself did not appear in this advertisement. This commercial teaser was later also broadcast on television.
[L.A. Gear commercial teaser]
In July 1990, the first promotional photo of Michael for L.A. Gear products was published in magazines. Jackie’s eight-year-old daughter, Brandie, and Michael’s brother also appeared in this advertisement. The teaser was broadcast on television.
Michael’s first television commercial after four years was described by the advertising industry as a creative ad that created a new direction in this industry.
One month later, in August 1990, L.A. Gear advertising teasers featuring Michael were shown in cinemas.
On August 18, 1990, it was reported that Michael had appointed Sandy Gallin as his private planner.
On March 20, 1991, in New York City, the biggest music contract in history between Michael and Sony [which had bought the CBS network in 1988] was signed. The Japanese multinational company entered into a fifteen-year contract with Michael to release six albums and films.
Michael’s name was registered in the Guinness World Records book as the highest-earning singer in music history, and to this day he has maintained this record. In this book, the value of this contract is stated as 890 million dollars, but its real value is estimated at one billion dollars.
Therefore, under this contract, Michael received, in cash, 18 million dollars as an advance payment for each album, and 5 million dollars as salary.
Michael, who is now the highest-earning singer throughout the entire history of music, receives 25% of the income from the sale of each album. He is also the CEO of his company, Nation Records, which later changed its name to MJJ (MJJ). For this position, he receives one million dollars per year. Reports of this highly profitable deal were later published in the press because it had created new standards in the field of pricing.
On April 17, 1991, a small Indian dance music company named Nation Records threatened Michael that if he used their name for his products, they would sue him. Catherine Canwell claimed that for three years they had been selling their products under the name Nation Records and had gained worldwide recognition. Therefore, Michael changed the name of his products to MJJ Productions.
In September 1991, at the MTV Music Video Awards ceremony, it was announced that the “pioneering music video” award—MTV’s most important award—would henceforth be given to winners under the name “Michael Jackson.” Benji Joy was the first person to receive the “pioneering music video Michael Jackson” award.
In November 1991, a promotional teaser for Michael’s new and long-awaited album was broadcast for thirty seconds, directed by David Lynch. The album was called “Dangerous”.
Finally, on November 14, 1991, the first music video from the album “Dangerous,” titled “Black or White,” was broadcast simultaneously on television in twenty-seven countries around the world. The number of viewers was estimated at 500 million people, and this was the highest figure that had been achieved up to that time for the television broadcast of a music video.
[Black Or White video]
In this video, people such as Macaulay Culkin [the actor who played the role of Kevin in the film Home Alone], Brandie [Jackie’s daughter, Michael’s brother], Bart Simpson, George Wendt, and Huey D [a rap singer] appeared. The “Black Or White” video was directed by John Landis [director of the “Thriller” video].
After the video’s first showing, the press went into a frenzy of excitement. Michael’s new video came with a huge event! After four years of waiting, Michael’s return was accompanied by extraordinary success.
Only a few hours after “Black Or White” was shown, the video was being broadcast across all news networks around the world, and immediately a commotion was sparked over the final segment of the video, which was somewhat violent [the part related to the black panther], leading to a worldwide controversy.
Especially mothers and fathers were upset by what the media called violent and sexual scenes involving breaking glass and Michael Jackson’s pretending to masturbate.
[The part related to the black panther from the Black Or White video]
The publisher of Michael said that Michael’s dance model in this segment shows his interpretation of the savage and animal behavior of the panther.
Michael agreed to remove this four-minute segment from the video and issued a statement about it:
“Thinking about the fact that the “Black Or White” video could have harmful effects on the behavior of children or adults troubles me. I have always tried to be a good role model. Therefore, I made changes in this video to prevent any negative influence on anyone’s behavior. I am deeply sorry for any harm that resulted from watching the final segment of the “Black Or White” video—whether to children, their parents, or others.”
But this was not the only final segment of “Black Or White” that made it spectacular and noteworthy. This was the first time that well-known special effects called morphing were used in a music video. This revolutionary technique had only been used in two films [Willow—Terminator 2]. But it had never been used in a music video.
Once again, Michael became the founder of a new method in the music industry.
The video achieved extraordinary success and topped the best-sellers charts. The song “Black Or White,” whose guitar was played by Slash, guitarist of Guns and Roses, was the completed version of a song that had been intended for the opening segment of the album “Bad.”
In 1989, when Michael began working on the album “Dangerous,” he asked Bill Bottrell, who had written the rap lyrics of “Black Or White” and was also the production assistant for that song, to revive the song that had been forgotten.
On the 25th anniversary of the NAACP Music Awards ceremony, Michael received an award for the song “Black Or White.”
On November 21, 1991, what the music world had been waiting for for four years happened: the album “Dangerous” was released. And it broke a twenty-year tradition. For the first time in twenty years, an album was released on Tuesday instead of Monday.
Since products such as those could enter American soil on Monday, it was decided that American wholesalers would receive copies of the album “Dangerous” on Tuesday, November 21—five days earlier than the day it was officially scheduled for release.
The album “Dangerous” entered first place on Britain’s seventy-five best-selling albums chart and remained at the top for one week. And it continued to be present on this chart for 96 weeks.
This album sold faster than all number-one albums released so far. “Dangerous” took first place on the chart just three days after its release. [Michael broke his record with the next album.]
The album “Dangerous” was at the top of the best-selling albums in the United States for six weeks. It entered the top eleven on the chart of the best black albums, and in its fourth week it reached the top of the chart and maintained its position for twelve weeks.
At midnight on November 24, the doors of Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard in America opened to applicants for the release of the album “Dangerous,” while parts of the album were being displayed on a giant 25-foot screen mounted atop the tower.
The “Dangerous” CD cover, whose preparation took six months, was designed by Mark Raiden. To complete this symbolic work, which used glossy acrylic, he collaborated with Nancy Donald, the most prominent art director of Sony’s music company and Michael.
[Dangerous album cover]
Michael wanted this mysterious design so that everyone could interpret it in their own way.
For the first time since the release of the album “Off The Wall,” Michael did not collaborate with Quincy Jones as producer. Instead, he chose the most popular producers in the music industry and the technical innovators of the 1990s: “Teddy Riley, Bryan Loren, and again Bruce Swedon.”
Michael, along with Teddy Riley—the godfather of the “New Jack Swing” style and someone who had combined fast Hip-Hop songs with gentle Soul vocals and had dominated the “R&B” music charts in recent years—continued on his path.
The album “Dangerous” achieved extraordinary success around the world.
In 1991, Michael Jackson accompanied Madonna at the Oscars ceremony.
Madonna won the Best Film Song award at the Oscars for the song “Soon or Later” from the film “Dick Tracy.”
On February 3, 1992, during a press conference at the Radio Music Hall in New York City, Michael announced that he intended to hold another world tour this time in order to raise money for his newly established charity institute, “Heal The World.”
[New York City music radio station]
Following that, Michael signed a contract with Pepsi Cola in front of the cameras of reporters.
On June 18, 1992, the book “Dancing The Dream,” which contained Michael’s poems and articles, was published by Doubleday.
[Dancing The Dream book]
On June 23, 1992, at a press conference about his charity institute “Heal The World,” Michael said: “I established the charity institute ‘Heal The World’ so that it would be a voice for the voiceless (children).”
On June 27, 1992, the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany, hosted the first concert of the world tour “Dangerous.” In the 72,000-seat Munich stadium, there was no room for a pin to drop. Excited fans witnessed the performance of eighteen songs, four of which were selected from Michael’s new album. The concert’s closing event became the headline of newspapers around the world: “Michael flew over the heads of the stadium’s fans on a motor that was strapped to his back.”
In August 1992, Michael sold the right to film the “Dangerous” tour concerts for twelve million pounds to the American network H.B.O. This was the highest price paid up to that time for recording a live concert. An H.B.O. promotional teaser titled “He’s not coming to America, he’s coming to H.B.O.” was released. This promotional teaser earned the highest rating in the history of this television network.
On January 31, 1993, at the 27th Super Bowl, during halftime of the football game at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, and in front of the crowd of 100,000 people inside the stadium and 133,400,000 people who were watching via television, Michael performed a medley of songs: “Jam, Billie Jean, Black Or White, Heal The World.”
[Super Bowl]
[Super Bowl]
And once again, Michael left behind a new record in music history.
Michael’s spectacular performance at the Super Bowl halftime was broadcast live on television and set a record for the highest number of television viewers. This record of 133,400,000 people—one that has not been broken to this day—once again brought Michael Jackson’s name into the Guinness World Records book.
On June 28, 2000, right after the 34th Super Bowl; Michael Jackson’s 1993 performance was selected by Gordon Forbes of the USA Today newspaper as the best performance in the history of Super Bowl events.
Ten days later, another television program surprised people. — “Michael Jackson Talks to Oprah” — Michael’s first live television interview after ten years, broadcast from Neverland, attracted 100 million people worldwide. This interview became the most-watched television interview of all time, and it still maintains this record. It is also the fourth most-watched program in the lifetime of television.
This interview was an event of 1993.
In this interview, a beautiful depiction of Neverland was shown, along with an amusement park, a private cinema, and special beds for sick children who went there for entertainment.
[Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Michael]
During this interview, Michael revealed that he suffers from a skin disease called vitiligo (Vitiligo). This disease destroys skin pigments and gradually lightens the skin color. This was the first time Michael talked about the change in his skin color. But in addition to that, he also talked about his relationships. Below is a short excerpt from this interview:
Oprah: Do you go out and date someone?
Michael: Yes
Oprah: Who do you date?
Michael: Well, right now I’m dating Brooke Shields. We try not to go anywhere. Most of the time we’re at home. She comes to my house, or I go to her house. Because I don’t like to go around in public too much this way and that.
Oprah: Have you ever fallen in love?
Michael: Yes
Oprah: Were you in love with Brooke Shields?
Michael: Yes and another girl.
Oprah: And another girl? Let me ask you something. And I’m very nervous about how to ask this question. But anyway, I want to ask—have you ever had sexual relations?
Michael: Yes .......????? How did you manage to ask such a question?
Oprah: I just want to know.
Michael: I’m a dignified, well-behaved man.
Oprah: I interpret what you’re saying as that you believe that a woman is a woman, and therefore...
Michael: This is personal. What I mean is that you shouldn’t talk openly about things like this... You can say that I’m old-fashioned. But, you know, I want to say that this topic is completely private.
Oprah: So you’re not answering this question?
Michael: I got flustered.
In this television interview, the clip “Give In To Me” was broadcast for the first time.
On February 24, 1993, Michael appeared at the 35th annual Grammy Awards ceremony together with Brooke Shields. During this ceremony, Michael received the Grammy award for Legendary Artist.
[Michael — Brooke]
The Grammy award for Legendary Artist is the most important award in the music industry and the highest honor that an artist active in music recording can receive. This award is given to artists who have left their mark in the field of music recording and have helped with its development and progress.
[Michael giving a speech after receiving the legendary Grammy award]
Janet Jackson, Michael’s sister who has achieved many successes in the field of music herself, presented this legendary award to Michael.
On August 24, 1993, Michael performed the second part of the “Dangerous” tour at the Bangkok National Stadium in Thailand.
The stage of this stadium, with a length of 270 feet (82.296 meters), is larger than the widest stage in the United States located at the Radio Music Hall in New York City, which has a length of 190 feet (57.912 meters).
On the same day [August 24], a shocking report was published in media worldwide: “Michael Jackson is being pursued by the Los Angeles Criminal Police Department on charges of sexually abusing a young boy.”
Following the charges against Michael, the U.S. federal police raided his home (Neverland). They turned the whole house upside down hoping to find evidence, but they did not find anything that could prove Michael’s guilt. At that time, Michael was busy holding a tour in East Asia and was not at home.
Anthony Pellicano, the investigator of this case, said that these allegations were raised after the complainant rejected Michael’s request to take money from him.
The complainant’s father, Evan Chandler, worked as a dentist in the Beverly Hills area of New York City, but screenwriting was the job he had always dreamed of. He asked Michael to provide him with several film projects so that he could choose screenwriting as his full-time job. When Michael rejected this request, Chandler threatened to publicly accuse Michael of sexually abusing his son.
Howard Weiszman read a statement on behalf of Michael at a press conference. The statement said that Michael had committed no wrongdoing and that he intended to continue the “Dangerous” tour.
The story of these allegations had dominated for several months the newspapers, magazines, and television shows in which moral scandals were discussed.
On November 9, 1993, Elizabeth Taylor and her future husband, Larry Fortensky, flew to Mexico City to join Michael. At the same time, the media began their most severe attacks against Michael.
On November 11, Michael held his fifth concert of the “Dangerous” tour in Mexico City in front of a crowd of 100,000 people. Unfortunately, it was later revealed that this concert was the last concert of the “Dangerous” tour.
After the concert ended, Michael left Mexico City together with Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky. He had brief stops in Canada and Iceland, then rerouted to Ireland, and finally landed at Luton Airport in England. Elizabeth Taylor flew to Switzerland. And once again, the media resumed their attacks.
One day later, on November 12, 1993, Michael announced that he was canceling his other concerts from the “Dangerous” tour and that he was under care due to his addiction to tranquilizer pills. He explained that the pressure caused by false allegations against him had led him to use tranquilizer pills in order to carry out his tour.
Michael’s place of residence was not revealed, which was good news for the media worldwide to discuss and debate it.
At the same time, Pepsi—Michael’s longtime sponsor—terminated its contract with him due to the allegations raised against him and Michael’s admission of using tranquilizer pills.
“Dangerous” was considered an extraordinary success. This tour was the biggest tour that had been held up to that time. In this way, Michael broke his record that he had previously achieved by holding the “Bad” tour.
[Dangerous world tour]
On the “Dangerous” tour, Michael performed on the widest stages of that time [consisting of two floors]. He also used stage magic tricks such as those of Siegfried, Roy, and David Copperfield. Especially for the opening segment of the concerts [the toaster], when Michael was suddenly launched onto the stage, and also when, for the finale of the show, he flew over the stadium and above the heads of the audience by means of a motor strapped to his back. This tour showed why Michael Jackson is the greatest showman of all time.
On November 24, 1993, Michael Jackson’s music catalog department, MTV Music, was transferred from MCA Music to EMI. This was the biggest deal in the history of music publishing and it brought Michael Jackson 200 million dollars, of which he received 100 million dollars as an advance payment.
On December 10, 1993, after returning to the United States, Michael proved to everyone who doubted his return that they were wrong.
On December 22, Michael sent a program over radio waves to defend himself. This was the first time he personally released a statement via television.
CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC networks broadcast his statement live from Neverland.
Michael: “I was forced earlier this week to submit to an inhuman and insulting body examination by the Santa Barbara judicial authorities and the Los Angeles Police Department. They handed me a written order for a body examination, which allowed them to examine my body in addition to my genital area, my seat, my lower body, my thighs, and any part they wanted—and to take pictures... This order also forced me to cooperate with the doctor they required for all examinations, so that he could properly examine my skin condition and see whether I have vitiligo or any other skin disease. [Michael had previously spoken about his skin disease in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. After examinations by a forensic doctor, Michael’s affliction with this disease was officially confirmed. The complainant had claimed that signs of this disease also existed on Michael’s genital area]... Throughout my life, I have only tried to help thousands and thousands of children so they can have happy lives. When I see a child suffering, I cry... Don’t treat me like a criminal. Because I am innocent.”
[Michael Jackson at Neverland]
On January 26, 1994, after five months of intense negotiations, the lawyers for both sides reached agreements. The out-of-court settlement that both parties had been working to achieve was made for an amount that was never disclosed.
Michael’s nightmare was over!
The next day, on January 27, Reuters reported that the photos taken of Michael’s genital area did not match the descriptions the complainant had provided to the police.
This very important news had very little reflection in the media. Meanwhile, they had spared no effort for months to destroy Michael’s international image.
Liza D. Campbell, in a book titled “Michael Jackson: The Darkest Hours of the King of Pop,” published in 1994, wrote:
[... In 1993, Michael Jackson began trying to change the image that the media had created of him and appeared even more in public. He performed in the halftime show of the “Super Bowl,” and attended an unprecedented ninety-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey, and in the same year he received the Grammy award for Contemporary Legendary Artist. In fact, people saw more of him than what Michael had shown them over the years.
But the media’s muffled voices gradually became like the sounds of wild predators whose noses had caught the scent of blood.
August 17, 1993.... [after turning over the Jackson house and taking several boxes containing photos and video tapes]... One source from the police department told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times: “There is no medical evidence or recorded tape. This search did not involve finding evidence that would show that a crime had occurred.”
Since no evidence was found by searching Michael’s house, the child sexual abuse investigators—who were leading the investigation into this case—focused on questioning other boys who were said to have had a friendship relationship with Michael, hoping that one of them would confirm the complainant’s story. The thirteen-year-old complainant provided the police officers with the names of four other boys whom he believed had been sexually abused by Jackson. These four boys, one of whom was Macaulay Culkin, were well-known friends of Michael. During the interrogations, these four boys denied any wrongdoing by Michael Jackson.
J. Randy Taraborrelli, who wrote the biography book of Jackson, Magic and Madness, had consistently—and surprisingly—supported Michael and called these allegations extortion. In an interview with Time magazine, he said: “I have witnessed many extortion attempts by the Jackson team, and they never led to anything. When I was busy writing Michael’s biography, each of those damned servants, servants, chauffeurs, and head chefs would tell me that if I wanted to obtain information about Michael’s private life, they could help—on the condition that I pay them one hundred thousand dollars.
I wrote books about Diana Ross, Cher, Carl Barnett, and Razin Arnold, but I didn’t have such an experience with any of those books. I was only a writer, and they wanted money from me. Now imagine what it would be like for Michael with his millions of dollars...]
Liza D. Campbell also writes about the complainant’s family and how the allegations were presented in this book:
[... The complainant’s father (Evan Chandler) worked as a dentist in the Beverly Hills area, but he had screenwriting ambitions in his mind. At that time, a film had recently been made based on one of his screenplays, which he had written based on an idea from his son.
The complainant’s parents married in 1974 and separated in 1985. The result of this marriage was a daughter and a son (Jordy Chandler — the complainant), whose custody was handled by their mother. At the time the allegations were raised against Jackson, both of them had remarried and were fighting with each other over custody of their son. Evan Chandler also had not been able to keep up with paying his son’s monthly support of sixty-eight thousand four hundred dollars.
The complainant’s mother, who accompanied her son in all meetings with Michael, first became aware of the allegations through the police—not through her former husband and son. Completely shocked, she said she had no information about the possibility of such an unfortunate event.
Multiple experts in child abuse and family legal issues have pointed out that in family wars of this kind, one of the parties often raises a charge of sexual abuse of the child in order to achieve a result. In Jordy Chandler’s case, his father tried, by raising these allegations, to make the mother—who had custody of his son—appear incompetent, and thereby take custody of his child for himself.... In order for Jordy to spend more time in Neverland [Michael’s home], he broke his weekly appointments with his father.
One expert in this field believes that some physiotherapists in their interviews with children who are claimed to have been sexually abused refer to certain matters themselves; so that the children’s minds are directed toward that specific topic and they actually say what they have heard. Also, according to a lawyer, the complainant is a thirteen-year-old boy trapped in a family war. These categories of children are the least reliable people. Because they are forced to behave in a way that satisfies both parents. They try to protect themselves. Sometimes they take the side of one of their parents and say things that parent wants.
But what doesn’t match here is that the complainant kept choosing to go to Neverland during his visits with his father.
In an interview with Anthony Pellicano, the investigator of the case, Jordy complains that his father had always forced him to stay at home and write scripts for him, and that the only thing he wanted was money.
It was said that Evan Chandler, the complainant’s father, had asked Michael to do something so that he could earn twenty million dollars by having several film projects at his disposal over four years with an annual income of five million dollars. Otherwise, he would raise the charge of sexual abuse. When Michael rejected Chandler’s request, he became very angry.
Chandler had asked Michael to allow his son to meet him on July 11. At the end of that same week, Chandler refused to hand the boy over to his mother. The mother’s lawyer filed a petition on her behalf to have her son returned. The judge ordered Chandler to return the boy to his mother at 6 p.m. on August 17.
On the morning of the day the boy was supposed to be handed over to his mother, his father took him to a physiotherapist. There, he claimed that Jackson had sexually abused his son. He also described the details of this relationship. But he had no intention of suing Michael and making these allegations public