Jennifer Batten on Michael Jackson’s tours
Jennifer Batten, the guitarist, lists her collaboration with Michael Jackson on three world tours as her biggest achievement. In recent days, she performed in Kansas City, and for that reason she spoke with the Kansas City Star.
She said that at age 29, Michael selected her from a group of 100 guitarists to join him on the Bad tour in 1987. She stayed with Michael for the next two tours—Dangerous in 1993 and HIStory in 1997.
On the day she was chosen, she played guitar in front of a filming camera and then left. She wasn’t told she had been accepted; she was only asked to come back to the location again for rehearsal. Three months later, she traveled with Michael to Japan to perform alongside him at the first concert of the Bad tour.
She calls the tour “a paid vacation,” the most exciting and fun thing on Earth. They performed only two or three times a week, and the rest of the time was free. She compares the concert team to “paid tourists.”
She says performing with Michael Jackson made her more aware of the crowd and the audience—about not just performing alone or playing music, but being able to excite people and entertain them.
In her performances, Jennifer plays a medley of six of Michael’s songs. For Thriller, she brings scenes of the dead onto the stage, and for Smooth Criminal, scenes from crime movies are shown.
She also dedicates a segment of her shows to Q&A with the public and says many questions are asked about Michael Jackson.
Source: eMJey.com / kansascity.com
She said that at age 29, Michael selected her from a group of 100 guitarists to join him on the Bad tour in 1987. She stayed with Michael for the next two tours—Dangerous in 1993 and HIStory in 1997.
On the day she was chosen, she played guitar in front of a filming camera and then left. She wasn’t told she had been accepted; she was only asked to come back to the location again for rehearsal. Three months later, she traveled with Michael to Japan to perform alongside him at the first concert of the Bad tour.
She calls the tour “a paid vacation,” the most exciting and fun thing on Earth. They performed only two or three times a week, and the rest of the time was free. She compares the concert team to “paid tourists.”
She says performing with Michael Jackson made her more aware of the crowd and the audience—about not just performing alone or playing music, but being able to excite people and entertain them.
In her performances, Jennifer plays a medley of six of Michael’s songs. For Thriller, she brings scenes of the dead onto the stage, and for Smooth Criminal, scenes from crime movies are shown.
She also dedicates a segment of her shows to Q&A with the public and says many questions are asked about Michael Jackson.
Source: eMJey.com / kansascity.com