Jan.12 in history

19 Years Ago --- Jackson Celebrates With Loren, Douglas The Gazette January 12, 1987 Michael Jackson was one of more than 200 celebrities on hand to honor film stars Sophia Loren and Kirk Douglas at the fourth annual American Cinema Awards Foundation dinner over the weekend. Loren flew from Switzerland to be at the affair to raise money for arts scholarships and the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital. --- 18 Years Ago --- Jackson To Make First Solo U.S. Tour The Washington Post January 12, 1988 Michael Jackson will kick off his first-ever solo American tour Feb. 23 in Kansas City, performing multiple dates there and in 13 other cities. He'll break off to play in Europe during the late spring and summer, then return to finish his American tour. Washington is not one of the cities on the first leg of the tour, but there's a good chance it will be included on the second leg. Jackson will start off playing indoor arenas; the tour will most likely expand to outdoor stadiums in the late summer and fall. After dates in Kansas City on Feb. 23 and 24, Jackson will perform at New York's Madison Square Garden on March 3, 5 and 6; the first date is a benefit for the United Negro College Fund. That concert, which is expected to raise half a million dollars, will be part of Jackson's continuing support of the UNCF: He is currently underwriting 97 scholarships for the organization. The only other specific dates right now are St. Louis (March 12 and 13), but Jackson will follow them with concerts in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Louisville, Houston, Chapel Hill, N.C., Cleveland, Denver, Miami and Pittsburgh before leaving for Europe. Jackson's "Bad" may be kept out of the top spot on the album sales charts by the sound track for "Dirty Dancing," but he's proving to be a potent draw on the international concert circuit. His five upcoming shows at London's 72,000-seat Wembley Stadium sold out immediately; previously, the record for sellouts by a single act stood at three shows. In Japan, where he kicked off his first-ever solo tour last year, Jackson had 14 sellouts, drawing 570,000 fans; no performer has ever drawn more than 200,000 on a single tour there. And the overseas news for "Bad" is good: It's No. 1 in 23 countries and has sold 11 million copies worldwide (4 1/2 million in the United States). A new single from the album, "Man in the Mirror," will be released at the end of the month. The previous single, "The Way You Make Me Feel," became Jackson's 15th straight Top 10 hit, giving him the longest streak of consecutive Top 10 singles since the Beatles had 20 in a row. --- --- Jackson To Do New York Benefit Toronto Star January 12, 1988 Singer Michael Jackson's first solo concert in New York will be a March 3 benefit at Madison Square Garden to raise $500,000 for scholarships for minorities. The concert will be among the first on Jackson's U.S. tour, which follows sold-out concerts in Japan and Australia and the release of his Bad album. So far, 97 scholarships have been granted by the Jackson fund. Tickets for the New York show will be donated to charities and disadvantaged youths and the scholarship money will be raised through a solicitation campaign. Pepsi will finance the show. --- 15 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson Thrills South Coast Shoppers Orange County Register January 12, 1991 The telephone call came out of the night, from a white stretch limousine cruising the freeways: The Gloved One was coming to South Coast Plaza. He wanted to shop. Now. Singer Michael Jackson -- he of the sequined glove and the multimillion-selling albums -- pulled up to the shopping center just before 9 p.m. Thursday. Ringed by bodyguards wearing jackets with significant quantities of shoulder padding, Jackson dashed past the carousel and up an escalator. At first, a few customers simply pointed, but then the squeals broke out. Jackson disappeared into Beaujon Paris, the women's apparel shop he had called from his limo. Employees firmly closed the doors on the growing crowd outside. "I was going crazy," said Cynthia Christie of Mission Viejo, who spotted Jackson and rushed after him with her two sons in tow. "I just came in to buy some bread pudding and there he was." And what did he buy at Beaujon, where the clothing glitters with sequins and rhinestones? A tight-lipped sales clerk, who gave her name only as Joanne, said Friday, "I can't divulge anything." But according to Susan Maples, a plaza spokeswoman, Jackson was just looking. "Apparently he didn't buy anything," she said. After about 15 minutes in the store, Jackson dashed back into the waiting limo. Shielded by its dark windows, he signed his name on receipts, balance sheets and torn pieces of notepaper passed in by his bodyguards. "I shook his hand," Brett Christie, 8, repeated over and over, holding up a crumpled paper with the singer's autograph. Fans peered into the car, and someone yelled, "Stick your head out." As the limo pulled away, Jackson emerged from the car's sunroof for a moment and waved. And then he was gone. --- 13 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson Time Chicago Sun Times January 12, 1993 It's Michael Jackson time! These are exciting days for Jackson, whose 90-minute prime time live interview with Oprah Winfrey on Feb. 10 was just announced. In addition, he'll receive the NAACP's Image award on Saturday in L.A., which will be taped for airing a week later. And on Super Bowl day Jan. 31, Jackson will be the halftime entertainer, which could draw almost as many viewers as the game itself. He'll receive no fee for performing at the Super Bowl, but the NFL will donate $100,000 to his Heal the World Foundation... Jackson's interview with Oprah will be all talk, no performing. --- 11 Years Ago --- Jackson Vows To Sue Over Sex Claims Buffalo News January 12, 1995 Michael Jackson has ordered his lawyers to sue newspapers, TV shows and anyone else spreading "vicious lies and rumors" claiming there was a videotaped sexual encounter between him and a 13-year-old boy. The London Sun and Today newspapers carried reports last weekend about the purported 27-minute black-and-white video. The story was carried Monday and Tuesday by TV's "Hard Copy" and other shows. The reports said one of the entertainer's own security cameras captured an explicitly sexual Christmas holiday encounter between Jackson and the teen-ager, whose name wasn't disclosed. The reports are based on allegations by Victor Gutierrez, a free-lance writer who claims he saw the tape. He said it was given to the boy's mother, who wants to sell it back to Jackson. "Enough is enough!" Jackson said in a statement. "I will no longer stand by and watch reckless members of the media try to destroy my reputation. I intend to protect myself and my family." Jackson attorney Howard Weitzman said the tape does not exist. There was no immediate reaction from the London tabloids. "Hard Copy" senior correspondent Diane Dimond said she stood by her reports. In his statement, released through Weitzman, Jackson said the whole thing was a lie. The tabloids said Los Angeles authorities had reopened the Jackson child-sex investigation. But prosecutors said the case remains closed. --- 10 Years Ago --- Clark's Message On Michael: He'll Be Back The Salt Lake Tribune January 12, 1996 Michael Jackson may be making his comeback -- his latest one, anyway -- on the American Music Awards. Then again, he might not. Either way, producer Dick Clark says, he'll be back. "I like the man," Clark says. "I truly admire him." "He's a tortured individual. I wish he were happier." Jackson has been a centerpiece of the awards show. He did the first one, 23 years ago, as a teen. When he received the Award of Merit, it sent the show to its record ratings... Now Clark hoped to have Jackson sing one of the numbers that would have been in his HBO special. The special was dropped after Jackson collapsed during rehearsals. "I'm the guy who said [to Jackson], `You love going to Disneyland; buy a fat suit,"' Clark said. "He said, `What's that?'" So Clark explained about celebrity disguises. "He was becoming a hermit, a recluse." That continues, Clark says, encouraged by a dark turn of human nature. "Every one of us has a horrible little kernel of hate deep inside us," Clark says. Subconsciously, he says, we want the mighty to fall. Usually, they do; often, they come back. --- 4 Years Ago --- CBS Pleased With Ratings Spike The San Diego Union Tribune January 12, 2002 CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves was so pleased with the unexpectedly high ratings posted by last fall's special -- which replayed clips from Burnett's 1970s comedy-variety show -- that Thursday he said the network is "talking about all sorts of things," most likely a series of specials. A special celebrating the 50th anniversary of "I Love Lucy" also drew impressive ratings for CBS, as did a Michael Jackson concert and a movie based on "Gilligan's Island," prompting Moonves to say TV's "big events became a different animal" from the celebrated mammoth miniseries of past years. Moonves and CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellem spoke to critics who are meeting here to preview spring programming. --- 2 Years Ago --- Michael Jackson's Fans To Rally At Arraignment The Gazette January 12, 2004 A news conference scheduled for today will provide more details about plans for show of support. Michael Jackson's family, friends and fans are planning a massive show of support when the pop superstar is arraigned on child molestation charges late this week. Fans and family of Jackson, including his brother Jermaine, scheduled a news conference today at the family's complex in Encino to announce their plans for the singer's arraignment, scheduled for Friday in Santa Maria. Jackson's fan clubs plan to have cars and buses travel to the courthouse, said Angel Howansky, who's helping co- ordinate the event. "We've had fans calling from out of state who are flying in just for the arraignment," said Howansky, who added that she was helping without pay. Also today, more than two dozen Jackson lawyers, bankers and managers will meet at the Beverly Hills Hotel to discuss the singer's business affairs, said Jackson family friend Brian Oxman. "Rumours will be set to rest, and it's to explain how Michael is to handle further actions in connection with his business," Oxman said. ---