The Moonwalk Turns 30: A Truly Perfect Beauty

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Moonwalk, Rolling Stone magazine writes in an article:

Thirty years ago, on this very day, the world first witnessed Michael Jackson performing the Moonwalk. The big moment arrived at the end of his solo performance of "Billie Jean"; as part of the special show «Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever», which had been recorded six weeks earlier at the Pasadena Stadium in California and broadcast at the time on NBC.

The Moonwalk lasted only two seconds, and of course it wasn't the first version of the backward-foot move (for example, James Brown had been performing a similar move for years onstage, called the backslide). But the Moonwalk was a new move whose proof was credited to Michael. He later said that he was inspired by the backslide performed by kids from poor neighborhoods. Still, that night Michael completed the foot move beautifully and turned it into the Moonwalk. The Moonwalk captured the minds of people all over the world, and the next day children across America were trying to perform the Moonwalk.

At that time, four months had passed since the release of the album Thriller, and "Billie Jean" was the most popular song in the country, but Jackson's performance at Motown 25 took his fame to a completely different level than before. You could even say that night was Michael Jackson's peak. With those same two seconds, he overshadowed the entire dazzling Motown 25 show performed by the best artists from the Motown company—among them the first joint performance of Diana Ross with the Supremes since 1969, and also performances by Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, and the Four Tops.

At first, Michael wasn't willing to perform at Motown 25. He had a contract with CBS Records, and the organizers wanted him to perform the best songs of the Jackson 5 together with his brothers onstage. In the end he agreed, but on the condition that he would also bring "Billie Jean" to the stage. "Billie Jean" was the only song on the program that had not been released by Motown, and by coincidence it became the most important part of the Motown 25 show.

Watch this performance in good quality on YouTube.

Source: eMJey.com / rollingstone