Michael Jackson, who died yesterday aged 50 years, had a link with Barça. On the night of August 9, 1988, he was watched by 60,000 fans at the Camp Nou.
Steven Spielberg collaborated with the show, and nobody was left disappointed by an innovative
production that combined dance, magic and music with the latest generation lighting and laser
effects. The fans were left astounded by the performers’ deft footwork onstage and ability to
deliver each song to perfection. Maybe not everybody was a Jackson fan, but having already sold 250
million records in his twenty years in the business, there were few that could doubt the
star’s influence on world pop.
Star from early on
Born in Indiana, USA, on August 29, 1958, Michael Jackson started singing aged just four with
his four older brothers in school parties and local celebrations. In 1966, The Jackson Five debuted
with little Michael as their vocal star. In 1971, aged just 12, he recorded his first solo album:
Got to be there. It was the start of a massive musical career that peaked in 1982 with Thriller,
the highest selling album in history.
From then on, his life was mixture of media frenzy and extreme hype, along with tales of his
personal eccentricities and peculiar changes in his physical appearance as a result of aesthetic
surgery. By the time of his August 9, 1988 show at the Camp Nou, he was the undisputable king of
pop.
Fantasy at the Camp Nou
Michael Jackson’s show was one of the most astonishing ever to be put on in Barcelona.
The stage and special effects were designed by none other than cinematic genius Steven Spielberg.
Located at the Camp Nou south goal, the stage was 60 metres wide and 35 metres high, with the
ceiling holding twenty tons of lights generating 600,000 watts. Meanwhile, four video screens
showed pictures of the concert recorded by automatic cameras.
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Inaccessible star
Michael Jackson’s time in Barcelona was treated with immense security. Always surrounded by
bodyguards, and saying nothing to the media, everything he did was kept in utmost secret. It later
transpired that Jackson stayed at Hotel Ramada Renaissance, and when the news leaked, streams of
fans gathered outside in the hope of a glimpse of their idol, but were out of luck.
But there was hysteria when one of the tour organisers appeared and threw signed photos of
the star to the crowd. Undoubtedly, Michael Jackson’s popularity was inversely proportional
to his accessibility.