All language subtitles for Thriller.40.2023.2160p.hoetinkhof79

There are two
things in the music business:

before Thriller
and after Thriller.

Mark.

The first time I heard

Michael Jackson's Thriller,
he was pop,

he was R and B, he was gospel,
he was rock.

It was everything that I loved.

And bring all of
these elements together--

dance and choreography

and theatrical moments
and the feeling,

you know,
like a musical, damn near.

The magic of it-- each track
was better than the next.

It was in your brain,
and everybody knew it.

For the 14th consecutive week,

the best-selling album
in the country

is Michael Jackson's Thriller.

If Thriller came out today,

it would still be
the greatest album ever made.

It's the ultimate blueprint
to modern pop music.

I love the way
that record is sequenced, right?

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."
The title says it.

He wanted to be starting some
shit right now. He wanted...

He's like, "I'm about
to start some shit

in the industry right now.
I'm about to blow everybody up."

This was literally
the pinnacle of everything

that began with him.

"Thriller," "Beat It"

and "Billie Jean."

To this day, when "Thriller"
comes on, I mean,

there's not a Halloween
that doesn't happen

where you don't hear that song.

But then you have
"Human Nature," "P.Y.T.,"

and then you have
"Lady in My Life."

It became
the biggest-selling album ever.

Michael Jackson.
Always keep one in the cab.

This is history.

I want to say
it's Black culture,

but it's-it's for everyone.

Thriller is the biggest-selling

album of all time.

Thriller is
a cultural phenomenon

that's lasted four decades
and seems determined

to continue going forward.

What takes your breath away is

he had the ambition to become
the biggest star in the world.

And he did it.
The fact that he had

that dream,
I mean, that-that goal,

that's what's
the remarkable story.

Ever since we were kids,

we've always wanted to dance
or keep the time to the music.

And that's part of us.

It's like, uh,
something we have to have.

And it's in us,
because I don't know

what I would do if there
was, uh... wasn't music.

Joe Jackson's role

in his children's careers would
give people a lot to talk about.

The former steelworker
had somehow gotten his family

out of Indiana,
groomed for stardom.

Now, here are five brothers

from Gary, Indiana,
ranging in age from ten to 18:

The Jackson 5.

This poor man's life has been

dissected completely.

Is there anything anybody
hasn't asked you by now?

Um...

Now, tell me,
what do you think is the success

of the Jacksons,
yourself and the Jacksons?

I would say probably,
um, togetherness.

I can't think about
Michael without thinking about

The Jackson 5 and Motown
and all of that,

so it takes me
a little further back.

Takes me to Off the Wall,

which is one of
my favorite records.

Welcome to WBLS
once again, Michael Jackson.

Thank you very much.

The name of the album is...

- Off the Wall.
- Are you?

We'll be back
with Michael right after this.

I was not the biggest
Jackson 5 fan.

I was a serious
pop music critic.

And I said, "Well, it's cute
what they're doing."

You know, James Brown,

Jackie Wilson,
that's really nice.

You know, it wasn't
what I was interested in.

And then Off the Wall
comes out,

and I was caught up
in the excitement

of learning more
about Michael and his world,

so I interview him separately.

You interview the brothers
all together, him separately.

You know, he's nervous.

He doesn't like
to do interviews.

He's sad, he's lonely, he says.

He starts talking
about his life.

He was so hurt
around 14 and 15 and 16,

when his face changed.

He got bigger.

I mean, his face had broken out.

He was so sad.

People didn't care
about him anymore.

You know, adults would come
into a party at some house,

and they would be looking
all around. "Where's Michael?"

And they'd be walking
right past him, you know?

And he got the feeling that,
"We don't care about you.

We want that little kid."

He was dead set on his focus

to be, you know,
Michael Jackson, solo artist.

And he had to.

He knew that it was time.
He knew that...

He was excited to have it all
be on his own terms.

You know, not with...
not attached to anybody.

And he knew that-that...

that he was even
gonna soar from that.

Well, Off the Wall was
an enormous success.

It-it put Michael on the map
as a solo artist.

People forget that,
before Off the Wall,

there was a period between
Motown and the Destiny album

where people thought maybe

the career of The Jackson 5
was over,

that they were yesterday's news,
forgotten boy band, really.

So Off the Wall reestablished
Michael as someone to watch.

Off the Wall was just
this incredible record,

and we knew that Mike
was coming back

with something special because

he didn't win everything that
he wanted during the Grammys,

and he only won one award,

which was
the R and B award at that.

He thought he was gonna sweep.

He thought for sure,
"I got a pop smash here."

So, when that didn't happen,
he left there with a vengeance,

just determined
to do better next time.

He was determined

to change the way
he was perceived.

Uh, there were a lot of writings
he did to himself, affirmations.

I look in the mirror,

and I would say over and over
to myself...

I'd take a deep breath,
put my feet together,

raise myself erect,
strong like a...

a hero warrior, and I'd say,

"Biggest-selling album
of all time, greatest seller,"

over and over to my mind,
and look in my eyes.

And I'd mean it.

I'd say, "Biggest-selling album
of all times."

And I wouldn't accept anything

unless this was
exactly what I wanted.

My attitude was:

I want the biggest-selling album
of all times,

to break records,
to do phenomenal work.

I came in angry.

Michael was writing.

He was writing. He was fuming.

He was still upset about

this idea that
he would be denied,

you know, major awards
for Off the Wall.

I just remember
all of the, uh...

the process of
when they were doing it.

And the, uh... the excitement

while they're recording,
just, you know...

just hearing tales, you know,
as they're coming

in and out of the studio
with it.

Westlake was
a really great studio

because y-you felt
the facility had this warmth

and this friendliness and this
casual put-you-at-ease feeling.

There was just
the most incredible vibe.

Where you could just be
creatively free to-to take...

take the music
wherever you wanted.

This is hallowed ground.
I was... I was in here a lot

'cause Quincy made
a lot of records in here.

Off the Wall was made in here.

Certainly Thriller.

Quincy worked in here a lot.

Quincy influenced everything

- we've ever done in our lives.
- Yes.

- Whether you can hear it or not.
- Exactly.

Depth of understanding of music.

That's what makes Quincy Quincy.

He's done big band.
He's done small bands.

He's done pop. He's done rock.

He's done everything.

So, just understanding
all those different genres

and-and how
to fuse them all together

is what gives you all these

wonderful applications that you
get on a Michael Jackson record.

And that sound was ma...

You know, Bruce Swedien
had a lot to do with

how that overall sound was--
the echo

and the reverbs and the...
the way he would place things.

And they were excited.

As we were making the record,

you could feel the excitement
in the room.

Knowing that we were
doing something

that was gonna be special.

Wow, I don't even know

where to begin.

I just remember
coming here to this studio,

which was like a second home,

and coming in, listening to, uh,

the demos that Rod Temperton
would provide.

And we would just start
to carve musically

and-and work our way
into the details of the demos.

Rod Temperton.

This guy was brilliant.

I mean, he was deep.

I love Rod Temperton.
He wrote incredible songs,

and he was a part of Quincy's,
you know, tight team.

We did a lot of funky sounds

on "Baby Be Mine."

Quincy was just looking for...

He's always looking
for something different.

So we were brought in
because it was...

I think Quincy knew about MTV,

and he was looking
for a cinematic thing

'cause Quincy came from film.

When Michael would want...
he-he knew things

that he would want for sounds.

And, uh, he would put it
on a record player and play it.

And then I'd say, "Well, let me
go get that other synth."

So it would be in the truck,

parked in the parking lot
of Westlake,

or it would be in the hallway.

We had Anvil Cases
lined up the hall,

and we just basically
took over the place.

And we were creating sounds
and using synthesizers

in-in kind of a big way
and replacing orchestra.

So, one of the things that

I noticed about
Michael's development

as a songwriter--
I-I saw him getting

more rhythmically
and harmonically advanced,

taking steps forward
and forward and forward.

His talent was not only
developing as a singer.

- Mm-hmm.
- He developed as a...

- as an entertainer.
- Yes.

It's funny you guys
should have picked this room,

'cause I'm walking through here,
you know, and I-I just...

you know, I'm just seeing.
I can...

I almost, um, channel him,

- his spirit into this room.
- Yeah.

He had us prepared.

- We were prepared.
- No question.

And he would come in
ready to go.

He was the kind of individual
that, uh,

had a awesome work ethic.

The process was

quite a, uh, adventure

'cause most people forget
that the first single

from the album was
"The Girl Is Mine."

Obviously, you had
no bigger star in the world

than Paul McCartney.

And, you know, the pairing
of Michael and Paul,

what better flag waver
to get a project started?

Yeah,
hit it, John. Hit it, John.

So we get the call.

It's, like, Paul McCartney
and Michael Jackson.

I mean, it just didn't get
any bigger than that,

so we were kind of like,

"Oh, holy shit.
What are we gonna do?

What's this gonna be all about?"

When Paul McCartney
walked in the room,

there was a palpable
change of energy of:

"Oh, my God,
that's Paul McCartney."

- Beautiful. Whew!
- Yeah.

Do that one more time, man,
from the second verse.

Uh, that was a wonderful day.

For me, it was
a day that changed my life.

I was in the presence
of the greatest,

most successful people

in the music business.

Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson,
Quincy Jones.

George Martin was there.

Because of its catchy melody,

many think "The Girl Is Mine"
was written by Paul McCartney,

when, in fact, it was composed
by Michael Jackson.

Once the music started flowing,

it was like
here's two old friends.

Coming out of Off the Wall,

the challenge was:

Is Michael Jackson
really a pop star,

or is he just
a big R and B artist?

The way it worked was that

you were a Black artist
until you weren't,

and you weren't
when you got on the pop charts.

Michael told me

"The Girl Is Mine"
was his sneak attack.

He knew he wanted to cross over,
and what better way to do it

than to have Paul McCartney?

I've heard it
all before, Michael.

She told me that I'm
her forever lover, you know?

Don't you remember?

Well, after loving me,

she said she couldn't
love another.

Is that what she said?

Yeah, she said it.
You keep dreaming.

So, that initial session

with Michael and Paul
happens in April.

The actual formal sessions
for Thriller

didn't start
for a couple months later.

Yeah, Michael, uh, did the demos
at-at his home studio.

Quincy invited me
to go to Michael's house

to listen to some demos.

What I didn't realize was that

we would be given
our own private world premiere

of "Billie Jean," "Beat It,"
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."

Well, the songwriting process

is something that's
very difficult to explain

because it's very spiritual.

It's, uh... it really is
in the hands of God,

and it's as if
it's been written already.

That's the real truth.

As if it's been written in its
entirety before you were born

and you're just
really the source

through which the songs come.

Really, because they're...

they just fall right
into your lap in its entirety.

You don't have to do much,
uh, thinking about it.

And I feel guilty having to put
my name sometimes on the songs,

but I-I do write them.

I compose them. I write them.
I-I do the scoring.

I do the lyrics.
I do the melody.

But still it's, uh...
it's the work of God.

"Startin' Somethin'" was wild.
You know,

he had all this...

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"

has the frenetic percussion
of Off the Wall,

which is amazing because

it's like, you have these
incredibly tight drum grooves

and these programmed beats now.

I think that's why, for-for me,

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
is still my favorite.

I remember just, uh, uh, being
able to go out and do the demo

- at Hayvenhurst, yeah.
- Mm-hmm.

He had it before we got there,

and then h-he just, you know,

shared it with us
and we worked out the parts.

And we just had to perfect it,

because it's so rhythmic
and all that.

And so he knew the sound,
he knew the...

the rhythm that he wanted
to hear and everything,

so like I said, we were quick.

There's a certain approach,
you know, you want to take to...

you know,
to emphasize the feeling.

I would say that Quincy helped
glue those elements together

and make an arc
out of the progression

of how the song started to...
to the vamp at the end,

and made it seamless,
you know, including horns,

which, of course,
at-at first thought,

would be considered too jazzy,

but they blended perfectly well
in the song later on.

But there's still that...

And then at the end,

when it goes a cappella to...

That, as a DJ...
that is your best friend

because then you start
to mix in your next record

and blending in whatever
the biggest songs you have.

As a matter of fact, I asked him

what "mama se, mama sa,
ma-ma coo sa" meant,

you know,
while it was going down.

He...
"Well, it don't mean nothing.

Just sing it, you know," and...

- Yeah, and there it is,

because that was difficult
to do, I'm telling you.

He said,
"I like singing with you all

because you sound like me."

He always thought our voices
blended so well

- with-with his.
- Mm-hmm.

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"

was like... it was like
an opportunity

to kind of get into his mind.

And this idea of, like,
"Billie Jean"

and the fact that he was
living kind of in this...

this world where

you didn't really know
what was real or wasn't.

My mom had just bought

a stereo system,
and it had lights.

The drums kicked in.

And then...

I mean... What?

And I ran down the hallway
just to hear closely

what was... what was playing,
what this record was.

And it was "Billie Jean,"
and it was on

and poppin' from there.

It's actually kind of nasty,
and you can hear the room mics

and it's dirtier than you think.

You know, you always have
that moment where

you fall in love with an artist
for the first time.

Really truly great,
legendary artists,

you have that same feeling
over and over and over again.

"Billie Jean" was that moment

where I fell in love
with Michael all over again.

When Michael sings it,

he puts the funk into it
the way he does all the...

...and all the little stuff
that he puts in.

That gives it the syncopation.

And if I just go...

...he's gonna go...

Everybody loves toxic R and B.

"Billie Jean is not my lover.
She's just a girl

who claims that I am the one"?

Yeah, that's like,
was it his side chick?

You know what I'm saying?
Was it some chick who,

you know, he had an encounter
with and got pregnant?

Is this real, or is this
some delusional fan

who is saying that, you know,

they had an encounter
that they did or didn't?

All of those things just led you

to be more intrigued
about an artist, right?

But it was, like,
urgent and R and B.

It was... it was crazy.
It was a...

an amazing R and B record,
and his lyrics--

you know, "The kid is not
my son," I mean...

"The kid is not my son."

That first... well,
that... we-we like bad boys,

so that made us love him
some more.

And then when I saw the video,
I was losing my mind.

I lost my voice, screaming.

You know,
it was about "Billie Jean."

You know, him stepping on,
you know, the-the pavement,

it glowing and, you know,
making you feel the magic.

I'd storyboarded that, uh,
he would walk down the, uh...

the street and the paving stones
would light up.

And I showed him
which 11 paving stones

we could afford to have light up

and therefore
which ones couldn't.

And he looked carefully at them,

and-and I said,
"Well, should we rehearse it?"

And he said,
"No, let-let's just do it."

And we ran the playback,
the music,

and the chorus kicked in
for "Billie Jean,"

and he began his dance movement

down that street,
and I'll never forget it.

The-the camera
actually steamed up.

I could hardly even see him
through the-the eyepiece

because it was

so exciting to watch.

Michael is doing so much moving

that Steve isn't even getting.

There are several shots
in "Billie Jean"

where he's just being shot
from the waist up

and you can just see him doing
all kinds of stuff.

And it's like,

"Why aren't you getting that?"

But that's just how new

the medium was
to capturing dancers.

Michael opened
the door for that.

And every time they just kept
freezing him in those brackets,

and every time he'd walk,
they froze him.

And every time
he said something,

I just was losing my mind
'cause I loved him so much.

But on "Billie Jean,"

we was like, "Oh, he is
super-duper-duper sexy."

MTV refused
to play "Billie Jean."

They said,
"Well, our network appeals to,

you know, white teenagers,

and this just really doesn't
fit our format."

This is it.

Welcome to MTV Music Television.

I'm Mark Goodman.

- I'm Martha Quinn.
- I'm Alan Hunter.

You'll never look
at music the same way again.

Turn it on! Leave it on!

America, see the music
you want to see.

I want my MTV.

Some prominent Black musicians
are complaining

that they are being left out
of the video market,

specifically the Music
Television cable operation.

It-it occurred to me,
having watched MTV

over the last few months, um,
that it's-it's got a...

it's a solid enterprise
and it's got a lot going for it.

I'm just floored by the fact
that there's so many Bl...

so few Black artists
featured on it.

Why is that?

The fact is, quite frankly,
we're a rock and roll station.

MTV will deny this
till the world ends,

that they had nothing
against Black artists.

But they refused
to, uh, play Michael.

In 1975, I was named

president of
the CBS Records Group

and a vice president
of CBS, Inc.

No single record changed
the business and my life

as powerfully as
Michael Jackson's Thriller.

I screamed bloody murder

when MTV refused
to air his videos.

They argued that their format,
white rock,

excluded Michael's music.

I argued they were
racist assholes.

So Walter Yetnikoff said,

"Really? Okay.

If you don't play
Michael Jackson,

I'm pulling Billy Joel
and everybody else that I have,

uh, off of MTV."

I've never been more forceful

or obnoxious.

I've also never been
as effective.

With added pressure from
Quincy Jones, they caved in,

and in doing so, the MTV
color line came crashing down.

One of the most important

things about Thriller
was the doors that it opened

for other artists
to have the opportunity

to get on the pop charts.

Tina Turner.
My God, Private Dancer.

That's who it was.

It was Tina, it was Lionel,
it was Whitney,

it was Michael and Prince.

Revenues could just be crazy.

Thriller changes the dynamic

and the culture.

Michael shows the way
that this is possible.

Yeah, I-I grew up, uh,

during the time that Thriller
was released,

and MTV was just becoming
a really big thing.

I remember almost more vividly

the amazing storytelling
through the videos,

which is pretty interesting
'cause I think here we are

40 years later,
and the music and the video

is coming to life again
for the next generation

on TikTok.

Michael Jackson's music
has been available

on TikTok since August 2020.

I think there's a real rebirth

of the music and the video
from these songs on the album.

And it is this new generation
that's being exposed

or engaging with the music.

There are about ten million

video creations
on TikTok right now

that include music
from Thriller.

There are 17 billion views

of those ten million videos
that exist.

There are about two billion
likes on those videos,

so people putting
a little thumbs-up

or sharing or doing something
to say, "I'm excited about this.

I'm engaging
with this-this music."

Pretty massive numbers.

They're hearing it
for the first time.

They're-they're like...

You know, it's-it's
the same feeling

we maybe had
when we watched the MTV video

for "Thriller" or "Beat It."

They're having that same
experience 40 years later,

but rather than just watch,
they're actually

then making something
to engage with that music.

I was kind of upset about

the news I heard about MTV and
how they weren't showing Blacks,

and that kind of hurt me.

So I wanted to do something
that was so powerful,

so strong that everybody
would have to show it.

But I wanted to tell
a strong story.

The story had to sell itself.

And what... these so-called
videos weren't doing that.

They were terrible.
They were just a lot of nothing

put together
just to sell a song.

I wanted my things
to be powerful.

I wanted to stand out
from everything else

that when you see it,
you run to the set

and you're glued to it,
watching it.

I wanted quality.
I wanted excellence.

I wanted the best.
I wanted to perfect perfection.

One thing that I can

always say about Michael

is that you felt like
there was a sense of culture.

And the culture
would span all the way

from kind of like this Broadway,
you know, more theatrical world,

and then there was this other
element that was cultural,

that was almost like gangsters.

You know,
when you look at "Beat It"

and the idea that the people
of that era felt like,

"Oh, he's speaking to us
and with us.

He's rocking with us.
He's making music for us.

We can dance to his music."

It was an incredible move
to decide,

"We're gonna have
a rock and roll record

on this thing."

"Beat It" was straight up
rock and roll.

Michael's idea with "Beat It"

was to distance himself
from Off the Wall,

from the dance, disco.

And Michael wanted to stretch.

Creatively,
he wanted to stretch.

They wanted a
crossover hit across the board.

Rock, R and B, pop.

They called me to come in
with Michael and Quincy

to do the...

They want to go rock and roll,
let's do it.

You know, so I did it with
all... you know, all-all that,

doubled it
and made it sound huge.

And then I played
the bass on it as well.

I did play bass
on that record as well.

So I sat with them
and made that swing,

and when Michael
was dancing in the room,

I knew I was in the pocket.

When he wrote "Beat It,"

he said, "I want a kind
of guitar player on here

that will attract young,
white, teenage males."

Eddie Van Halen.

He said, "Well,
what do you want me to do?"

And Quincy said, "Well,

I want you to be you.

That's you right there."
And he pointed

to the famous, you know,
Strat that he had.

And he said, "I'm not gonna
tell you what to play.

You go be you."

I mean, Eddie ripped

these solos off
one after the other.

I remember, like, hearing

the sound coming from Studio A,

where he was doing the-the solo.

It was so loud.

I could... I just...

It was just so loud.

Bruce Swedien and Quincy brilliantly

edited that solo together.

I mean, I think
I probably just loved it

'cause, at that moment,
it was probably everything

that I ever loved
in one song, you know?

I've done way more time googling

Lukather's tone on "Beat It"
than, um, Eddie Van Halen's,

because it's the tone
that drives

the whole record--
that's the riff.

It's the perfect way that, like,
a rock guitar could ever sit

over programmed drums
in a... in a...

like, a funky groove.

I thought his videos
were incredible.

I mean, first off,
the guy could dance.

I mean, just being in the room,

watching him groove
while we're playing.

That short film--

you see, this whole movie,

it's about a big fight
that's about to happen, right,

between two rival gangs, right?

He saw value in street culture.

He wanted to try
to figure out a way

on how to incorporate it, and...

and the beginning of it
was "Beat It."

The people that you see

in that film are a mixture
of dancers and street cats.

And not only that

is that you actually had
real gangsters on set.

Like, real Bloods and Crips

and Vatos and all that,
like, for real.

There was such a magic

in Michael and his movement.

You had B-boying

that was going on in New York.

You had popping and locking

that was going down
over here in California,

and strutting
and-and robotting, all them.

So the guy that's vibrating

in the "Beat It" short film
with the... with the glasses on,

his name is Robot Dane.

This is the first ever

street dance wave of
the United States of America.

The most relevant scene

at the time, which either was
breakdancing, locking,

popping, waving,
whatever it might have been,

he's pushing
the envelope forward,

he's teaching us some things,
he's informing us as artists,

but also, too, as performers,

he's letting us know that,
"Yo, I want to be the baddest."

As a fan or a critic,

you're always looking
for breathtaking moments,

the time when you say,

"I've never seen
anything like that.

I'm probably not gonna see
anything like that again."

The Motown show,

that's what I think was
the most important step

in the whole Thriller process
of making him the superstar.

Bob Jones was, uh,

vice president of publicity
at Motown.

He says,

"We're doing a Motown show."

I rented a tuxedo,
and, uh, I went to the show.

People just went crazy.

I was home in front of the TV.

Waiting for him
to take us there.

First, we didn't know
what he was gonna do,

because he was up there
with his brothers.

The Jacksons leave,

the brothers leave,
and Mike stays out there.

And in the audience,

you could hear
just kind of like:

"What's-what's getting ready
to happen now?"

And, you know,
Mike goes through the whole...

"Those were some great times.
I love the-the old songs."

You know,
th-those were good songs.

I-I like those songs a lot,

but, especially, I like...

- "Billie Jean"!

- ...the new songs.

And then here comes

"Billie Jean."

The tape that you can see

of "Billie Jean"

and the stuff you see
going on in the audience,

it does not capture what was
happening in that crowd.

These people were going

absolutely berserk.

Mike just turned it
the fuck out.

I mean, he just laid a bomb
on that room.

I was at that show

at the Pasadena
Civic Auditorium.

And he's moving different.
He's got his own moves now.

He's not so much doing
what-what he learned growing up,

and he was excited about it.

We just was happy to see

Michael Jackson perform, period.

Nobody seen the moonwalk coming.

He does the moonwalk.

That's the breathtaking
moment, okay?

And after the show,
I couldn't believe it.

I had to go backstage
and to ask somebody,

"Was there
a special trick floor?

How did he do that?"

You know,
this was the performance

that really changed
space and time.

A few of his dances,
we call 'em timekeepers.

And he created a whole
vocabulary of timekeepers,

whether it's with his hip...

...or with his...
you know, his side,

- stomping with the ankle.
- That's right.

Or he'll stomp with the foot.

With that, you can sing.

You see what I'm saying?

And it looks like
you're dancing.

- But you're really not.
- It's an illu...

It's-it's a bit
of a trick, right?

And you go...
you walk over here.

And switch the mic,

flip the coat,
put the hand in the pocket.

You could do a few things
here and there that only...

only you can do if you know
your song and your music.

You know, when you see

him glide across the floor
or pop,

it's a special effect.

He saw magic in that dance.

Look at that--
if you pause each moment,

it's an iconic silhouette.

It's the hat,
it's the arms, it's the...

it's the tapping of the leg.

Right? The kick.

To see a Black man
standing on his toes,

seeing that
and not being conscious of it

has made generations
of Black, brown,

white, whatever color kids
feel like anything was possible.

It's bigger than I think
we, uh, think and acknowledge.

After Mike finished,

the producer had to get
on the microphone and say,

"Ladies and gentlemen,
please, please,

gather yourselves
and take your seats.

We have more show to tape.

There's much more show coming."

And it took a minute for people
to get their ties back together

and the women to put
their wigs back on.

Okay, I have
one question for you.

Who was the unfortunate artist

- who had to come on--

I don't remember.

I think that was
the moment that he had

his breakout moment
from the... from the group.

That song, "Billie Jean,"

and the way he performed it
on that night

set the standard of what it was
to be a megastar.

The next day after the show,
Fred Astaire called my house.

He said,
"I saw the show last night.

I taped it. I watched it
twice this morning."

And he said,
"You were incredible.

You're a hell of a mover,
and you really put them

on their A-S-S," he said.

And I said, "God, thank you.

It's so wonderful
for you to say that,

'cause I think you're the best."

And that was my r-reward,
'cause I think he's brilliant.

To a classical dancer,

it's about your line,
it's about the shapes

that you're-you're making.

And Michael does that.

That, to me, is very similar
to a trained dancer,

even though he wasn't trained.

He would've been
the ideal ballet dancer.

The proportions of his body.

He was lean, uh, and long, um,
and just had, like,

a natural instinct
when he moved.

But there... but there was
such precision and clarity.

He was a perfectionist,

and that's what dancers are.

Um, you know, you don't commit
that type of time

and sacrifice your body,

the injury, all of those things,

if you don't have the passion
for it and the love for it.

And all of that sums up Michael

as a dancer, as a performer,
as an artist.

Michael Jackson
didn't invent dancing on film,

but his particular synthesis

of the Nicholas Brothers
on one hand

and Bob Fosse, Astaire,
popping, locking,

moonwalking-- no one had ever

put those elements together
before like that.

You can see it
all the way through from

"Billie Jean"
and "Beat It" and "Thriller,"

all the way through
to all of these other artists.

Look at MC Hammer,
"U Can't Touch This."

Then you go forward to, like,
Usher and Justin Timberlake.

And then you go farther forward
to Justin Bieber,

Doja Cat, Bruno Mars.

Michael is emulated.

If you look at BTS,
you can see it.

I'm all in with BTS.

I love those guys.

Every move they do
is all Michael Jackson.

Michael created that.

The entire K-pop wave,

they've all studied Michael

in terms of stage clothes,
video clothes and stagecraft.

There's a great video
if you watch BTS.

There's a lot
of Michael Jackson.

You see it in their dancing.

So, the entire K-pop movement,

they're students of the game.

You can look at a number
of millennial hip-hop artists--

Polo G being one of them--

23, 24 years old, from Chicago,

yet he's very much in trance
with Michael Jackson

and he uses
Michael Jackson music

and imagery
in some of his music.

It was just a night
I was riding around,

I was riding in my car,
and I was just listening

to Michael Jackson interviews.

I wasn't listening to music.

I was just listening
to his interviews.

And I just came up
with this idea, like,

maybe I should do, uh, this song
and this instrumental

and just really mess
everybody head up

'cause I know they wouldn't

be expecting that
from a young artist.

'Cause I remember my grandma
had this same exact album.

My auntie, who was her daughter,

she was a big
Michael Jackson fan,

so she always had us
listening to him.

So I remember her
having this one exactly.

It's pretty wild.

It says how powerful the imagery
that Michael created was.

On Thriller,

his life was evolving, you know,

and his vocal approach
was different.

There's vocalists,
and there's stylists.

Style wins.

When you can hear a person sing

and recognize them
fr-from the first couple bars,

you know you got
something special.

They have a special tone,

a special voice,
a special delivery.

Now, Michael had all of that.

In just the way
he loved to dance

and-and he loved to perform,

he turned all of that melody
that he was so great with

into percussive melody.

Well, that's what he did.
He would sing drum parts.

He would sing bass lines.

He would, uh... all with
his rhythmic inflections.

We call it
"drums in your mouth."

He would beatbox.
He was an amazing beatboxer.

But beatbox with melody
and sing, you know,

not just beatboxing.

He would, you know,
integrate melody with it.

And you can hear it
on "Beat It," you know,

just the way he would attack
each syllable.

I think of all of his melodies
and his songs,

and they're
completely percussive.

I mean, they're incredibly
rhythmically hooky,

and, you know, all those songs,
and the songs that he wrote

have these very aggressive
staccato rhythms.

I feel like "Billie Jean" and
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin',"

they're really short and stabby.

They're always, like...
there's a tiny bit of, like,

anger and, like, contempt
in the... in the...

in the way that
he's singing and writing.

The greatest soul singers are
not afraid to feel the music,

you know, just do
what the music tells them to do.

For all the new cats,
all the new-school cats

that are going on record
and ad-libbing,

and they say, like...

I'm sorry,
Michael did that first.

I'll prove it to you.

Why was he yawning
on a record, though?

It shows the freedom

and how comfortable
he felt in the studio

without worrying
about people's judgment

or, like, "Yo, what's that?"

Because you know he was
bringing the freaking skills.

You knew he was bringing
ultra talent and imagination,

for him to be like,
"You know what?

I feel like yawning right here."

I-I don't know what that one is.
I don't know what...

I don't... but I love it.

And I'm listening
to his ad-libs.

He's doing all that...

He's doing all this
rhythmic stuff.

Michael had such a clear vision

of what he wanted, and Quincy,

he knows who wanted to work
with each other.

There's a number of things
going on.

We have "Beat It,"
drums being done

by Jeff Porcaro at Sunset Sound;

Steve Lukather
in Studio B at Westlake;

Studio A, Quincy and Bruce.

Quincy's going back and forth
between A and B,

across the hallway.

Then you add
the E.T. storybook album,

and-and then...
then it's just a lot going on.

Quincy had become friends
with Steven Spielberg.

And I remember one day he...
Steven invited Quincy

down to the set
when he was working on E.T.

And, uh, E.T. was there,

and the guys who were operating
it at the time were there.

And I think somewhere
in the course of it,

Steven had said to Quincy,
said, "You know,

"I want to do a rec...
we should do

a record of some sort."

So Quincy, I think,

came to Michael and-and said,

"Steven wants us to do
the E.T. storybook album,"

where Michael would narrate
the story of E.T.

and Michael would write
and sing a song for the album.

And Michael was a big fan, too,

so, "Quincy, let's do this."

So they started doing it
in the midst of doing Thriller.

I've always loved film, and, uh,

we're talking,
in the stage of doing, uh,

Quincy Jones and myself
and Steven Spielberg,

uh, working on a project.

The problem is nobody bothered

to call Walter Yetnikoff

and clear the rights
because the album was

going out
on Universal MCA's label.

I'll never forget, uh, one day,
I was at a-a meeting

and I get a call,
so I get on the phone

and Walter says, "Tell Michael
to stop kissing the monster."

"Walter, what are you
talking about?"

"Stop kissing the monster!"

So, if you look at
the E.T. storybook album,

Michael's got his arm
around E.T.

They're like pals, and that's
what Walter was talking about.

It wasn't just an album.

It was a whole box set
with posters

and a picture
of Michael with E.T.

So Walter filed
an injunction against,

uh, MCA and Universal

and made them take the album
out of the stores.

It was already shipped.
It was already a huge hit.

They had to pull the album back.

Epic wasn't happy,
and they felt it was sort of

holding up their record,
the-the Thriller record.

Yeah, they sued, you know.

"No, you can't have our artist,
da-da-da-da-da."

You know, and Walter was
litigious anyway,

and so he-he went...
he went in hard.

And MCA responded hard,

and it was, you know,
all hell broke loose.

And he said,
"John, is he mad at me?"

I said, "What do you think,
Walter?"

"You-you just sued him
and Steven Spielberg

and Quincy Jones,
and you wonder...

you're wondering
if he's mad at you?"

Uh, and he goes,
"What can I do to make it up?"

And I said,
"You give him the owner...

ownership of
his master recordings:

Off the Wall, Thriller
and everything to come."

And he said, "Done."

To get your masters back
in the middle of a contract,

I don't think had ever,
ever happened.

Rod came with his songs.

Michael had his songs.

And if those worked,
they worked.

If they didn't, they-they went
looking elsewhere.

"Carousel" was a great song,

and fortunately
or unfortunately, you know,

there was only room on the album

for one mood like, uh,
"Carousel" or-or "Human Nature,"

and "Human Nature" was the
choice we had to make, you know.

Toto was big at that time.

Toto, who I just adored,

we worked together a lot,
and, um, they sent over

two demos that they thought
would be right for Michael,

and all of a sudden, there's...

at the end,
there was all this silence.

And then it said... it said...

And-and I tell you, I get...

I get goose bumps
just talking about it.

And I said, "What the hell
is that?" You know?

That's what took "Carousel" out.

I said, "This is where
we want to go,"

'cause it's got such a...
a-a wonderful flavor.

- I'll tell you what.

Tonight, I want to do...

...one of my favorite songs.

Everybody sing!

The song that always haunts me
is "Human Nature."

- Um... Yeah.
- What a beautiful record.

That's-that's one of those
records that you just say,

"I wish I would've did
that record."

And that always,
for me, is the...

the test of if I love it or not.

I remember
one experience in the studio,

Rod Temperton,
one of the writers on the album,

and he said, "Michael,
if you only had three hits

off this album,
would you not be happy?"

I said, "I'd be very angry."

And they all started laughing.

I said, "I expect eight hits
off of this album.

Nine, all of 'em."

That is how I am. I'm sorry.

And my attitude was always
reaching out for more.

Never being satisfied.

And right at this very moment,
I'm on my fifth hit record.

Five. "Human Nature"
is number ten.

And I've broken a record that
has never been done before--

five hit songs for one album.

Always reaching out for more,
striving for excellence.

It's so engaging

because the idea

was to have something
for everyone.

There was a song that I didn't
really know too much about

that was called "Starlight,"

and it was a disco song
that Rod Temperton wrote.

You know,
so it really evolved from

this click here at 1:18.

And so, okay, we lay the click
down, and the idea was:

"Let's put it...
let's put a new version down.

Let's put some tracks down
and see where it goes."

So we-we started
with this drumbeat.

Four on the floor,
kind of dance song.

And then... backbeat.

Claps on the four.

And then the hi-hat part
was like this.

Five, six, seven, eight.

And then open hat.

There we go.

And then the cowbell.

Here we go.

So, another thing
about Michael and Quincy

is they like kind of like

a little bit of a feel
to the music.

So, this is straight time.

And then we add
a little bit of shuffle to it

so it just kind of pushes it
a little bit like that.

So it's in.

And then the bass line
ended up being kind of like a...

something I never
would have expected,

like a little bit
of a Latin rhythm, like...

Which sounded like
a conga line to me, but...

And there was the-the opening.

Just layering
all the parts to "Thriller"

was one of the most fun sessions
I've ever done in my life.

At 24, Michael had become more

than a master singer,
dancer, songwriter.

He was a super salesman
of his own mystique.

Michael's passion for
world conquest was singular.

He lived, breathed, slept,
dreamt and spoke

of nothing but
number one successes.

Thriller stayed number one
for months.

In the long period of its
unprecedented success, however,

when it occasionally fell to
second place for a week or two,

Michael panicked.

Hysterical, he'd berate me

for failing to pump up
the promotion.

"I'm pumping, Michael," I'd say.

"I promise you I'm pumping."

And I was.

After Thriller had sold

about three or four million copies,

I got a call about 12 noon.

On the phone was
the record company saying,

"Hey, listen,
if you're not busy,

we need you
to get over here right now."

Michael was going to be
presented a-a plaque

for the-the Thriller record.

And we were wondering,
why were we waiting?

In came Jane Fonda.

Jane?

I love Michael,
and I admire him.

He's the only person I know
that writes music

that you can dream to
and dance to

and love to and work out to.

And I do all of 'em to it.

- Come here, Michael.

In retrospect, I know

exactly what he was doing.

He understood
the importance of having

a big white star
giving him this plaque.

Uh, Michael has a number one
single on the pop charts,

number one album
on the pop charts,

number one single
on the R and B charts,

number one album on
the R and B charts.

And I think that starts...

that's sort of
an historic record.

But I don't think we understood

where it was gonna go until

the "Thriller" video came out.

As far as the record company

was concerned,
the album cycle was done.

They were thrilled
with whatever it sold,

and Michael said, "No, no,
we're gonna... we got more."

"Thriller,"
of all the songs on the album,

uh, seems like you can do
much more video-wise--

no, movie-wise--
than any of the songs

'cause of the story
and all the visuals

and monsters and stuff.

And so I came up with an idea

of thinking that
I really want to change,

metamorphosis
into some other creature.

I... and I-I saw
American Werewolf In London.

I really liked it.

And-and I said,
"Who's the director who did it?"

And they said,
"John Landis, John Landis."

I said, "Great.
That's who we got to get."

So I said,
"Get in touch with him."

So I get this call, and he says,

"Michael Jackson,"
and I really thought...

"Little Michael Jackson
of The Jackson 5?"

I mean, I thought,
"He's a kid," you know?

And he told me
he had a song, "Thriller,"

and he wanted me
to make a video.

And I said, "Why?"

His brother showed him
on the bus

the tape of American Werewolf,
I think to scare him,

but he loved
American Werewolf in London.

And he was obviously fascinated
with Rick Baker's work.

And so he called me and said,

"I want to turn into a monster.
Will you do it?"

And the record label
wouldn't pay for it.

And, uh... and we talked,
and I said,

"Michael, you know,
you shouldn't pay for this.

You shouldn't
pay for it yourself."

And he said,
"Branca, figure it out."

Nobody wanted him to do this.

This was entirely his own thing.

And everybody else-- his people
and the record company--

said, "Next album. Let's...
We've already... Michael, hello.

It's the most successful album
of all time. We want..."

So they thought
"Thriller" was outrageous.

Its budget was
$1.2 million dollars.

That's at a time when
the average music video budget

was only $50,000 dollars.

So I went... I went back to
the office and thought about it.

And I thought up this idea
of a making-of.

Went to MTV and Showtime,

and-and Michael was
the biggest thing on the planet.

And I said, "We'll give you

a making of
Michael's next video.

We need a million two."

And they came back,
and they said yes.

We're trying to bring back

the motion picture shorts,

which we will do with, uh...
with "Thriller."

A lot of the videos--
I hate to use the word "video"

'cause I like to think of it
as a film, which it is--

we're doing a short film--
a lot of 'em are so terrible.

And I wanted "Thriller"
and "Beat It" to be a stimulant

for people to make
better videos or short films.

I really did, 'cause, I mean,
I love MTV, watching it.

You know, I think it's great,

but a lot of stuff I see,
I'm not so crazy about.

He wanted to turn into a...

at first, a-a wolf man,

like the werewolf
in American Werewolf.

His desire was
to turn into a monster

on camera.

We had the character turn into

a four-legged hound
from hell, a...

you know, a beast.

And Michael wanted to do that,
and I told him,

"Michael, it would be
so difficult

for you to dance with four legs,

you know,
and for the puppeteers.

No."

So then it was gonna be

more of a traditional
wolf man character.

And Rick Baker did the first
design, and it was great

but truly terrifying.

And I said,
"Aah! Whatever we have him

turn into,
he's got to be attractive."

Scary but...

kind of cool and elegant,
you know?

So his second design,
he made him that "were-cat,"

and it's a much more graceful design.

Are you all right?

- Go away!

Michael Jackson was

a very slight person.

99 pounds soaking wet.

So, how do you develop
a presence on screen?

For "Thriller,"

you know, it was supposed to be

a satire of
a teenage horror film,

so he's in a letterman's jacket.

And then, with his red jacket
for that theater,

I was trying to create
a silhouette that was

sexy, masculine, impressive,

and... and gave him
weight on screen.

So, with Michael's fascination

with monsters, I said, "Well,
you'll become two monsters.

You'll become a werewolf,"

and then when we decided
on dancing zombies, a zombie.

Doesn't make sense,
but who cares?

You know, it's a fantasy.

And he really enjoyed
the process of the makeup,

and he really enjoyed
wearing the makeup.

Most actors hate it,
and he loved it.

He's so dynamic, Mike,

and he has such power
and such charm.

As I had seen it,
just looking at, you know,

"Can You Feel It"
and everything I saw,

it's like,
"Why isn't he being sexual?"

I mean, he's a rock star.

So one of the first things
for me was

I wanted a girl to make him sexy

and to also...

to be gaga in love with him.

The big eyes, you know.

And I saw
over a hundred actresses

and dancers
and all kinds of people.

And when Ola came in,

one, she was desperate, desperate

to be with Michael Jackson,
and she was adorable.

Michael Jackson
isn't Michael Jackson

as a werewolf.

Michael Jackson is

another person totally
with the mask.

And I like, you know,
when he's so shy.

I have something
I want to tell you.

The only time I really

explained something to him,
I said, "You know, Michael,

I want you to know when you say,
'I'm not like other guys'..."

I'm not like other guys.

"...it will get a laugh."

And he was clueless. He said,
"Why would this get a laugh?"

I said, "Because you're not
like other guys."

But at least he was prepared,
'cause it got a huge laugh

and, uh...
and so he was in on it.

You know, I think he would have
been terribly upset otherwise.

From the beginning of the film,

going to the theater,

then you're walking out,
and then Michael has

that cat-and-mouse sort of, uh,

walk that he's doing
with Ola Ray.

That's like an ode back to, uh,
classic, uh, musicals, right?

The cat-and-mouse chase.

Right?
Th-Then, you know, the-the man

playing up
to the woman and all that.

And it's a dolly shot.

And I said, "Mike,
here's what we're gonna do.

As long as Ola
could keep the beat,

you do those lyrics,

you can never be more than
this many feet away from her."

The big difference between

a costume designer
and a fashion designer is,

for us, it's all about
dramatic context.

So, where are they gonna be?

They're gonna be in an alley
and a movie theater.

And what are they doing?

They're on a date,
and Michael is gonna

be playful and be seductive.

She's dressed in blue.

She's cool.

She's relaxed. She's in jeans.

They did have
a leopard print on them,

but, you know, tight jeans,
little jacket.

She couldn't have been cuter.

I think, to the audience,

with what she's wearing
and her attitude,

she's sending off
every good vibe.

And I'll say,
"Okay, well, that was fine.

I don't want fine.

You're Michael Jackson,

so it has to be great.

Because if you can't be great,

why the fuck do I have
Michael Jackson here?"

So he goes, "Okay, John."

And he did the next take.

He was great!
You know?

Michael Peters
and Michael Jackson

came up with the choreography,

and it's fascinating choreography

because the dancers were allowed

more rehearsal than usual.

At that point already,

Michael had established
certain moves,

so my first instruction
to Michael Peters was spooky,

and the second one was:

"I don't want any Michael move."

And they go into this

popping routine, right?

This goes back to the whole
thing of where Michael Jackson

crosses the technique
and the street world, right?

And he was so inspired by
popping and waving and all that

so that he had to put them
in the film.

How would a zombie dance?

And then looking at it,
and it was...

it just made
a lot of sense to me

that they weren't just locking
or they just weren't popping

or they just weren't
doing jazz dance.

The angles,
the lines were all...

demented and crooked, and it...

I'd just never seen
anything like that before.

On those zombies,

those costumes
were just made of rags.

We call it aging,
distressing and dying.

Then, of course,
Rick Baker's work

was just masterful on everybody.

This is a song about
watching a movie.

Yo. A Blockbuster night.

He made a whole movie.

He entertained us.

He gave us R and B,
he gave us horror,

he gave us sci-fi, but
he gave it all to us in music.

He-he was just a-amazing.

After the video came out,

it tripled its sales.

They sold six million of these.

This made MTV a powerhouse

and then created this whole
rock video business.

It was extraordinary.

And it's that moment when

the audience falls
madly in love,

that the audience
creates the icons.

He could write the songs.

He could produce them.

He could sing them.

He could perform like no other.

And he also was a fashion icon.

I've seen little tiny kids
in red jackets.

I've seen old grandpas
in red jackets.

I've seen girls in red jackets.

I've seen everybody
wearing that jacket.

It was huge worldwide.

They were buying the leather
jackets that Michael...

They were buying everything.

They were buying Michael Jackson
posters, calendars.

I love you, Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson!

Anything with
Michael Jackson on it

does continue to sell.

I work in a record store,
and it still

just flies out of the store
every week.

And we're talking about a record

that's a year and a half,
almost two years old,

and people are still
freaking out about it.

There have
always been fan clubs,

Michael's fans
more passionate than most.

This club calls itself
the P.Y.T.'s.

We love you!
We love you, Michael!

And if nothing else,
"Thriller" was always

gonna be played
in the month of October.

Like, there's this big thing
in Mexico that happens

where, I'll tell you, the-the...
every... people fly in for it.

They're all in their costumes,
and they do

the "Thriller" dance,
thousands of people.

And people are still,
you-you know,

dancing to this song
like it's...

like it was just done,
like the...

like the short film
just came out yesterday.

"Thriller," a long time coming.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Probably
the single biggest video

for MTV ever.

After their initial reluctance,

MTV became a huge supporter
of Michael Jackson,

especially the "Thriller"
short film.

They heavily promoted
the premiere.

At some point, it felt like
the "M" in MTV

stood for "Michael."

And everybody was talking about
how they were gonna cut school

to go home to watch
the "Thriller" video

because it was a twelve o'clock
world premiere on MTV.

And he was acting,
he was eating popcorn,

and then he turned
into a monster.

There's something about music,
I think, that has...

that triggers so many different
emotions in people,

so you're tapping
into all of that

to a larger and larger
and larger audience,

and it just exponentially grew.

So, the spring of '84,

the record's already out,

it's already selling
because Michael's now gone

from being a pop star
to a phenomenon.

The Guinness Book of
World Records is giving him

an award as the biggest-selling
album of all time.

It's a thriller
of a party tonight

for Michael Jackson at
the Museum of Natural History.

That's where Jackson's
being honored

for his album that's broken
all the records.

This was the payoff
for the fans tonight,

that momentary glimpse
of superstar Michael Jackson

with his date for the evening,
Brooke Shields.

Thriller,
with 25 million copies sold,

was the best-selling album ever.

Today, we surpassed 25 million
copies for Thriller.

Michael Jackson, the number one
artist in the world!

- Thriller eclipsed them all.

At one point,
the damn thing was selling

a million copies a week.

Michael had become
a global obsession.

And just think,
you all came to see me.

No, I know why you're here,
and with good reason.

To see one of the most talented,
most popular

and most exciting superstars
in the music world today,

Michael Jackson.

Michael,
welcome to the White House.

But being with Michael

at that moment in time,

this is... "Thriller" is now
out on television.

And there was Michael mania,
you know.

He called me, and he said,

"Have you ever been
to Disney World?"

So the park was open, and there
were people walking around.

Here's Michael,
here's Mickey and me.

Suddenly, we look around,

and there are people

as far as you can see
in every direction--

behind us,
in front of us, around us--

and they're getting
more and more hysterical.

"Michael! Michael!"

And you see Mickey Mouse
is going like...

"Holy shit!

We're never getting out
of this alive!" You know?

You know, Thriller was

the biggest album in the world,
Michael was the biggest star,

and he wanted to go out
and tour Thriller.

But Joseph--
you know, uh, Mr. Jackson--

had other ideas.

He wanted to bring
all the family back together.

He brought in Don King

as the recommended promoter
of the tour.

And he got the brothers
and Mrs. Jackson, Katherine.

Everybody was all for it.

Michael was hesitant,
to be honest.

He felt like he had done
Thriller on his own,

and he wanted to tour
as a solo artist.

But he was persuaded
to go along with it.

This tour is
a bonanza of marketing,

so everybody wants
to get in on this.

And Quaker Oats, you know,
they had made a deal.

They had a tentative deal
with the Jacksons

to be the sponsors
of this thing.

And then Don King says, "Listen,
I've already made a deal.

I made it with Pepsi."

Michael was not
into the sponsorship

'cause he-he said,
"This isn't my thing.

I don't drink Pepsi.
This is all for my family."

And Michael did not want
to do the Pepsi deal.

'Cause he said to me,
"Okay, Branca, listen to me.

I got to do this
'cause my family wants it,

but you have to write two things
in the contract.

Number one: I'm never
holding a Pepsi can.

And number two: I can't be

on the screen
for more than three seconds."

So it's in the Pepsi contract,

no more than three seconds
and never holding a Pepsi can.

So if you ever watch
that commercial again,

you'll-you'll see.

It's interesting because

if Don King had not made
the deal with Pepsi,

Michael's hair wouldn't
have gotten burned.

I was actually
at the Pepsi commercial,

and I had an all-access pass.

When I arrived at
the Shrine Auditorium Downtown,

Michael and the Jacksons
were onstage

performing "Billie Jean."

The audience had been invited,

you know,
and they were told to scream

and the whole thing.

They didn't have to be
instructed to do that.

They were crazy about, you know,

seeing the Jacksons
and Michael there and...

They did a run-through,
and after they came offstage,

Michael was just in a great mood

and he was having fun,
fooling around.

And then they called them
back out

and said,
"We're gonna do this again."

And it went horribly wrong.

Filming the Pepsi commercial,
there was a big explosion.

And it burned Michael's scalp

very severely.

The audience
didn't know what was going on.

And when they took
Michael offstage,

I went backstage,

and it was just absolute chaos.

They put him in a stretcher--

you know,
an ambulance stretcher--

and they took him offstage
to a paramedic truck.

And Michael Jackson
was smart enough...

- ...to be covered up,

but he had his glove out.

That was the photograph
that went around the world

of him with the glitter glove.

People were crying,
you know, in the audience.

And people were running
with the ambulance

as it was taking him away.

It was just an incredible thing.

When I got home,
it was all over the news.

Jackson was rushed
to a hospital last night

after suffering second-
and third-degree burns.

But his doctor said

the famous patient
was doing well.

He slept several hours
last night.

He was up watching TV
at approximately one o'clock.

He's comfortable this morning,
although he is continuing

to have discomfort
in the scalp area.

People don't realize

he had to go to emergency
treatment in a burn center,

and he was troubled by the pain
from that burn

for the rest of his life,

which led to pain pills
and whatnot to-to ease the pain.

Because he needed painkillers,

he was in pain,
life couldn't stop.

He had a book full of things
that he had to do.

You know, a schedule
that just could not stop.

The opening of the Victory Tour

in Kansas City
was a massive event.

It's at Arrowhead Stadium.

It's a giant football stadium.

- I love you, Michael.
- I love you, Michael.

I love you so much.

This is gonna be
the best concert of the century.

- Don't you think?
- Definitely.

I have to ask Michael Jackson
to marry me today.

We would do about anything
to see Michael Jackson.

You're looking
at a sneak preview

of what is perhaps
the most controversial

rock concert tour in history,
the Jacksons' Victory Tour,

opening tonight in Kansas City.

The Victory Tour
sold out in Kansas City.

Then it was on to Dallas, Jacksonville,

New Jersey, New York
and Knoxville.

It's currently scheduled
in some 13 cities

with more sites
yet to be announced.

Preparations are
well underway tonight

for the Jacksons'
Victory Tour concert.

The Jacksons'
massive stage was beginning

to take shape
as early as Thursday.

There's not too many places

that you can stick
a monstrous stage like this.

Most of the performances,
more than 50 in all,

will be in stadiums
like the Silverdome.

The shows of the Victory Tour

were much more
mainstream America,

and that was a testament
to how big Michael had become

and to the penetration
of the album.

The irony of Thriller is that

there was never a tour
solely dedicated

to the biggest LP of all time.

The Victory Tour was a mix

of vintage Jackson family music
and hits from Thriller.

But it was
the Thriller material

that turned the crowd out
every night.

Michael has been
nominated for 12...

- 12 1983 Grammy Awards.

The highest number in history.

So we went to the 1984 Grammys

at the Shrine Auditorium.

I didn't get the feeling
he was nervous.

I actually got the feeling that

he was excited.

And I don't think I had any idea

even the magnitude of it.

Michael Jackson was nominated

for 12 Grammys overall,

including Album of the Year
and Record of the Year.

The Record of the Year is...

"Beat It," Michael Jackson.

For Album of the Year...

The winner is...

- Thriller!

Best Pop Vocal Performance,
Michael Jackson.

I made a deal with myself,
if I win more...

one more award,
which is this award,

which is seven,
which is a record,

I would take off my glasses.

He deserved it.

You know, it was... it was due.

In February 1984,

between Michael and Quincy,
Thriller won a dozen Grammys.

Well, as we know, Thriller is

a huge, huge success--
the album--

but, uh...

the joy of doing
something phenomenal

'cause everybody waiting
to see the next big,

you know, Michael Jackson short.

And I thought "Thriller"
was the perfect vehicle.

- We're gonna come out.
- No.

- No one's gonna like it.
- No, no, no, no, no.

But 40 years from now, Michael--

My part will be.

I don't know about you.

All right, and stop.

- Cut.

Who's your biggest inspiration?

Who inspired you the most?

Michael Jackson.

Michael saw that he could

touch greatness
with Off the Wall,

knew he was still going
against racist radio

and people that wanted
to put him in a box.

But you have to be
so in the rarefied air,

...0001%, to even be able to,
like, project yourself to that.

That idea that I can take

dance music and visuals

and turn the world on its ear,

that idea that he crystallized
in "Thriller"-- not going away,

and I don't think
it's ever gonna go away.

So, whether it was

"Human Nature"
and his amazing voice,

you know, "Beat It"
and looking at

the references that were there,
because every time

you saw a video,
you got a new idea of, like,

who he was as an artist
and what he was selling.

Right? There was his hair
and his clothing, his wardrobe.

All of those things
were informing the culture.

He was establishing
the standard.

Thriller.

Man, there has never been
anything like that.

Michael Jackson's Thriller.

What's the problem?

Come on, I'll take you home.