The Years 1989 to 1994
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.