By early 1984, Michael Jackson was experiencing a level of success few recording artists had ever seen. At a lavish celebration in New York, CBS Records and Guinness were honoring the extraordinary success of Thriller. Walter Yetnikoff, the powerful head of CBS Records, was preparing to introduce Michael to the room as the “greatest artist ever.”
Then came a moment Yetnikoff apparently never forgot. In his memoir, he recalled Michael quietly leaning toward him just before the introduction and saying he needed to “tinkle,” then asking whether Yetnikoff could take him to the “potty.” It was an almost startling contrast between the superstar the world saw and the softer, unusually childlike person Yetnikoff said he knew privately.
Michael Jackson at the 1984 Thriller Celebration
Footage from the 1984 celebration helps put that tiny exchange into perspective. Michael was standing inside one of the biggest victory laps of his career. Thriller had reached a historic sales milestone and Guinness had recognized it as the world’s best-selling album. Yet behind the ceremony, cameras and enormous expectations was the private moment Yetnikoff later described.
And the celebration was hardly the end of Michael’s remarkable run. Only weeks later, the music industry gathered again for the 1984 GRAMMY Awards. This time the scale of his success became impossible to miss. Michael won eight GRAMMYs that night and Thriller took Album Of The Year with Quincy Jones. Walter Yetnikoff was there again as Michael celebrated onstage.
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones Win Album Of The Year for Thriller
That second clip makes Yetnikoff’s story even more fascinating. The quiet young man who had reportedly used the words “tinkle” and “potty” with one of the most powerful executives in music was also standing onstage during a record-breaking GRAMMY night. At only 25, Michael had moved from child star to the center of the global music industry.
That contrast became part of what made Michael Jackson so difficult to define. He could command a stage, change the possibilities of music videos and turn Thriller into a worldwide phenomenon, yet people who dealt with him privately sometimes described a far more innocent and vulnerable personality. Watch the rare celebration and the GRAMMY moment above to see just how enormous Michael’s world had become when this tiny private exchange took place.