In the beginning of the summer of 1984, Michael Jackson was the biggest entertainer on the planet. Thriller had already rewritten every record in the music industry and the world was hungry to see him live.
The Victory Tour launched on July 6 and did not stop until December 9, covering stadium after stadium across the United States and Canada.
55 sold-out shows. 2.5 million people in attendance. A tour that grossed $75 million and broke the record for the highest-grossing tour in history at that time.
MICHAEL KEPT NONE OF THE MONEY.
The full Victory Tour live
Before the tour even began, an eleven-year-old fan named Ladonna Jones wrote him a letter accusing the Jackson family of being selfish and only interested in money over the ticket pricing controversy. Michael read the letter personally.
HE HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE AND ANNOUNCED HE WOULD DONATE HIS ENTIRE SHARE OF THE TOUR PROCEEDS TO CHARITY.
Every dollar went to the United Negro College Fund, Camp Good Times for terminally ill children, and the T.J. Martell Foundation for cancer research. The total was approximately $5 million.
The full story behind the Victory Tour
A man responded to a child’s letter by giving away millions. That is the story the media had access to. They had all the same facts sitting right in front of them.
But for the next two decades, the story they chose to tell was a different one entirely. Full of allegations, scandals, and punchlines.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Michael Jackson was the most humanitarian pop star in history in the year 2000. Over his lifetime, he gave away more than $300 million to charitable causes.
Funny how that never made the front page!