HIStory World Tour

Jackson performed at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark on his 39th birthday with 60,000 fans. He was presented with a surprise birthday cake, marching band, and fireworks on stage after "You Are Not Alone". The concert at Hippodrome Wellington of Ostend, Belgium, was originally scheduled for August 31, but was postponed to September 3 following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Latin America cancellations (1997–98)

There were some initial plans to take the tour, in February 1997, to such Brazilian cities as São Paulo, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília; but these plans were suspended due to promotional issues. Jackson tried to visit Brazil again in February 1998, as well as Argentina, but these too were scrapped so that he could work on MJ & Friends.

Recordings

Throughout the tour, many concerts were professionally filmed by Nocturne Productions, but none were ever officially released worldwide. One of the Seoul dates was also recorded and released exclusively in South Korea under the title 마이클 잭슨 내한공연 (Michael Jackson HIStory Tour In Seoul). The two concerts in Munich, Germany, were recorded and later broadcast by many television channels.

Set list

1. "Great Gates of Kiev" <small>(introduction)</small>
2. "Scream" / "They Don't Care About Us" / "In the Closet" <small>(contains excerpts of "HIStory", "Great Gates of Kiev" and "She Drives Me Wild")</small>
3. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
4. "Stranger in Moscow"
5. "Smooth Criminal" <small>(contains elements of "Childhood")</small>
6. "The Wind" <small>(video interlude)</small>
7. "You Are Not Alone"
8. "The Way You Make Me Feel" <small>(September 7, 1996 – June 15, 1997)</small>
9. The Jackson 5 Medley: "I Want You Back" / "The Love You Save" / "I'll Be There"
10. Off the Wall Medley: "Rock with You" / "Off the Wall" / "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" <small>(select 1996 and 1997 dates)</small>
11. "Remember the Time" <small>(video interlude)</small>
12. "Billie Jean"
13. "Thriller"
14. "Beat It"
15. "Come Together" / "D.S." <small>(select 1996 dates)</small> / "Blood on the Dance Floor" <small>(select 1997 dates)</small>
16. "Black Panther" <small>(video interlude)</small>
17. "Dangerous" <small>(contains elements from "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, Ennio Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Theme", "Smooth Criminal", Janet Jackson's "You Want This" and "Interlude: Let's Dance", Judy Garland's "Get Happy", Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme", and a guitar intro from Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill")</small>
18. "Black or White"
19. "Earth Song"
20. "We Are the World" <small>(video interlude)</small>
21. "Heal the World"
22. "HIStory" <small>(with instrumental of "They Don't Care About Us" as a curtain call and contains elements from "Great Gates of Kiev")</small>

• Songs originally considered for the first leg of the tour included "Man in the Mirror", "She's Out of My Life", "Jam", "Childhood", "Will You Be There", "Dirty Diana", "State of Shock" and "2 Bad". "Morphine" was also rehearsed twice for the 1997 leg but was also removed.
• The medley of "Come Together" and "D.S." was removed after the Adelaide concert on November 26, 1996. "Blood on the Dance Floor" replaced them for most of the 1997 leg before being removed after August 19. Prior to this, it was omitted from the Vienna concert on July 2.
• "Rock with You", "Off the Wall" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" were performed on select dates, before being permanently removed from the set list after June 13, 1997.
• "The Way You Make Me Feel" was performed on select dates until after June 15, 1997.
• Starting on September 3, 1997, the instrumental of "Gates of Kiev" was replaced with "Smile", in memory of Princess Diana.
• On August 22, 1997, "Ben" was played at the beginning of the Tallinn concert.

Tour dates

Personnel

Lead performer

• Vocals, dance, choreographer: Michael Jackson

Dancers

1996 leg

• LaVelle Smith
• Cris Judd
• Travis Payne
• Damon Navandi
• Courtney Miller
• Jason Yribar
• Anthony Talauega
• Richmond Talauega
• Shawnette Heard
• Lori Werner

1997 leg

• LaVelle Smith
• Cris Judd
• Anthony Talauega
• Richmond Talauega
• Stacy Walker
• Faune Chambers

Band members

• Musical director: Brad Buxer
• Assistant musical director: Kevin Dorsey
• Keyboards: Isaiah Sanders, Brad Buxer
• Drums: Jonathan Moffett
• Guitars: Jennifer Batten, Greg Howe (1996 leg – replaced Jennifer Batten in Amsterdam (October 2), Tunis and Seoul), David Williams
• Bass: Freddie Washington

Vocals

• Vocal director: Kevin Dorsey
• Vocals: Kevin Dorsey, Dorian Holley, Marva Hicks (1996–1997 leg), Darryl Phinnessee (1996 leg), Fred White (1997 leg)

Credits

• Executive director: MJJ Productions
• Artistic director: Michael Jackson
• Assistant director: Peggy Holmes
• Choreographed by: Michael Jackson & LaVelle Smith
• Staged & designed by: Kenny Ortega
• Set designed by: Michael Cotton & John McGraw
• Lighting designer: Peter Morse
• Security 1996: Darrell Featherstone
• Security 1997: Bill Bray
• Costumes designed by: Dennis Tompkins & Michael Bush
• Hair & make-up: Karen Faye and Tommy Sims
• Stylist: Tommy Sims
• Tour producer and personal manager: Tarak Ben Ammar
• Personal management: Gallin Morey Associates
• Music video directors: Steve Barron, Joe Pytka, John Landis, Bruce Gowers, Martin Scorsese, Bob Giraldi, John Singleton and Nick Saxton

Sponsor

• Kingdom Entertainment

See also

• List of highest-attended concerts
• List of most-attended concert tours
• List of highest-grossing concert tours

Notes

References