Michael played three solo world tours, and toured with his brothers before that. This page covers each one: when it ran, where it went, what was on the setlist, and how it was staged.
By Jordan Hale · Show counts and attendance are figures commonly cited in contemporary reporting. They are estimates, and different sources give slightly different totals.
The Jacksons · 1979 – 1981
Destiny World Tour and Triumph Tour
Album
Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980)
Billing
Group (the Jacksons)
Triumph Tour
Summer 1981, North America
Live album
The Jacksons Live! (1981)
Before his first solo tour, Michael toured as lead singer of the Jacksons. The Destiny tour ran across 1979 and 1980, overlapping with the release of Off the Wall, and the Triumph Tour played North American arenas in the summer of 1981. Solo hits such as Rock with You and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough were already part of the set.
Legs and dates
Destiny World Tour
1979 – 1980
Where: North America, Europe, Africa
Supported the Destiny album; the group's first tour after taking creative control of their records at Epic.
Triumph Tour
July – September 1981
Where: United States and Canada
Recorded for the double album The Jacksons Live!, released in November 1981.
Setlist highlights
Can You Feel It · Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) · Rock with You · Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough · Off the Wall. Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
The Triumph Tour was a step up in production for the brothers, with an opening sequence and illusions developed with magician Doug Henning. It showed Michael's growing interest in theatrical staging.
Why it matters
These tours are where Michael tested the solo songs in front of large audiences, and where the showpiece structure of his later concerts (a dramatic opening, a medley of early hits, then the new material) first appears.
Source note: Tour details from contemporary reporting and The Jacksons Live! liner notes (Epic, 1981).
The Victory Tour was the last tour featuring all six Jackson brothers, and it took place at the height of Thriller's success. It opened at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on July 6, 1984 and closed at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on December 9, 1984. Although it was billed as a Jacksons tour, audiences came largely to see Michael, and the set leaned heavily on Thriller songs.
Legs and dates
North American stadium tour
July – December 1984
Where: United States and Canada
Stadium dates across the US, with a stop in Canada. Ticket pricing and distribution drew heavy criticism early in the tour, and the system was changed.
Setlist highlights
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' · Things I Do for You · Billie Jean · Beat It · Human Nature · Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground). Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
The opening featured a large set with a sword-in-the-stone style sequence and heavy use of lighting and pyrotechnics, on a scale rarely seen on stadium tours at the time.
Why it matters
Michael announced that he would donate his share of the tour's earnings to charity. The Victory Tour was his last tour with his brothers; his next tour, three years later, would be under his own name.
Source note: Tour dates and venues from contemporary US press coverage (1984). Attendance and gross figures are commonly cited estimates.
Michael Jackson · September 12, 1987 – January 27, 1989
Bad World Tour
Album
Bad (1987)
Concerts
123 (commonly cited)
Countries
15
Attendance
About 4.4 million (estimate)
Sponsor
Pepsi
Michael's first solo world tour opened in Tokyo in September 1987 and closed at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in January 1989. It played Asia, Australia, North America and Europe, including seven nights at London's Wembley Stadium in the summer of 1988. Guinness World Records listed it for attendance and gross at the time.
Legs and dates
First leg: Japan and Australia
September – December 1987
Where: Japan, Australia
Opened in Tokyo on September 12, 1987. The early set drew on both Thriller and the newly released Bad.
Second leg: United States
February – November 1988 (in stages)
Where: United States
Arena and stadium dates across the US, split around the European leg.
European leg
May – September 1988
Where: Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, UK, Ireland and others
Opened in Rome in May 1988. Included seven sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium, attended by members of the British royal family on one night.
Final dates: Japan and Los Angeles
December 1988 – January 1989
Where: Japan, United States
Returned to Japan in December, then closed with dates at the Los Angeles Sports Arena ending January 27, 1989.
Setlist highlights
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' · This Place Hotel · Another Part of Me · Human Nature · Smooth Criminal · Dirty Diana · Thriller · Bad · Man in the Mirror. Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
The show introduced Bad-era costumes (black buckles and straps), a larger band and dance company, and a mid-show sequence of Thriller-era hits. Smooth Criminal became a set piece as the tour went on.
Why it matters
The Bad World Tour set the template for Michael's later concerts and for modern global pop tours: a corporate sponsor, stadium-scale production, and the same show reproduced across continents.
Source note: Opening and closing dates and venues from contemporary reporting; show count, country count and attendance are commonly cited figures and should be read as estimates.
Michael Jackson · June 27, 1992 – November 11, 1993
Dangerous World Tour
Album
Dangerous (1991)
Concerts
About 69 (commonly cited)
Attendance
About 3.5 million (estimate)
Beneficiary
Heal the World Foundation
Filmed
Bucharest, October 1, 1992
The Dangerous World Tour opened at the Olympiastadion in Munich on June 27, 1992 and played Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Michael said profits would go to his Heal the World Foundation. The October 1, 1992 concert in Bucharest, Romania was filmed and broadcast by HBO. The tour ended early in November 1993 in Mexico City, and the remaining dates were cancelled.
Legs and dates
European leg
June – September 1992
Where: Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Belgium, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and others
Opened in Munich. Stadium dates across Western Europe through the summer.
Autumn 1992: Central Europe and Asia
September – December 1992
Where: Romania, Hungary, Turkey (planned), Japan
Included the Bucharest concert filmed for HBO (released on DVD in 2004 as Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour). Ended the year with dates in Tokyo.
Opened in Bangkok in August 1993 and included Michael's first concert in Moscow. Cut short after the Mexico City dates in November 1993.
Setlist highlights
Jam · Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' · Human Nature · Smooth Criminal · I Just Can't Stop Loving You · Will You Be There · Black or White · Heal the World · Man in the Mirror. Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
The show opened with Michael launched onto the stage from beneath it, then standing motionless for a long pause, a device he also used at the 1993 Super Bowl. It closed with a staged exit in which a figure in a jetpack flew out over the stadium.
Why it matters
The Dangerous tour is the best-documented of his solo tours thanks to the Bucharest film. It also linked his concerts to his charitable work more directly than before.
Source note: Dates and the Bucharest broadcast from contemporary reporting and the Live in Bucharest release (2004). Show count and attendance are commonly cited estimates.
Michael Jackson · September 7, 1996 – October 15, 1997
HIStory World Tour
Album
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)
Concerts
82 (commonly cited)
Cities / countries
58 / 35 (commonly cited)
Attendance
About 4.5 million (estimate)
Michael's last full world tour opened in Prague on September 7, 1996 and closed in Durban, South Africa on October 15, 1997. It concentrated on Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Apart from two shows in Honolulu in January 1997, it did not play the United States.
Legs and dates
First leg
September 1996 – January 1997
Where: Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Netherlands, Tunisia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, India, New Zealand, Australia, United States (Hawaii)
Opened at Letná Park in Prague. Included a concert in Mumbai in November 1996 and closed with two nights in Honolulu in January 1997.
Second leg
May – October 1997
Where: Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland and others, then South Africa
European stadium dates through the summer of 1997, then closing concerts in South Africa, ending in Durban.
Setlist highlights
Scream · They Don't Care About Us · In the Closet · Stranger in Moscow · Smooth Criminal · Billie Jean · Earth Song · Heal the World · HIStory. Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
The show opened with a space-capsule sequence from which Michael emerged in a gold outfit. Earth Song was staged with a crane lifting him over the audience and a tank and soldier on stage, and the show relied more heavily on medleys of earlier hits than previous tours.
Why it matters
It was Michael's final full world tour. Later performances were one-off events, and the This Is It residency planned for 2009 did not take place.
Source note: Opening and closing dates and venues from contemporary reporting; show, city, country and attendance figures are commonly cited estimates.
After the HIStory tour, Michael performed only a handful of full concerts. The MJ & Friends benefit concerts in 1999 raised money for children's charities, and two 30th Anniversary Celebration concerts in New York in September 2001 reunited him with his brothers shortly before Invincible was released.
Legs and dates
MJ & Friends
June 25 and June 27, 1999
Where: Seoul, South Korea; Munich, Germany
Benefit concerts with guest artists. At the Munich show a moving bridge section of the stage malfunctioned during Earth Song; Michael finished the performance.
30th Anniversary Celebration
September 7 and 10, 2001
Where: New York, United States
Two concerts at Madison Square Garden with many guest artists and a Jacksons reunion set. An edited version was broadcast by CBS in November 2001.
Setlist highlights
Jackson 5 medley (with his brothers) · Billie Jean · The Way You Make Me Feel · Black or White · You Rock My World. Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
These were one-off events rather than tours, built around guest performers and tributes.
Why it matters
The Madison Square Garden concerts were the last time Michael performed with all his brothers on stage.
Source note: Dates from contemporary reporting of the 1999 benefit concerts and the 2001 Madison Square Garden concerts.
Michael Jackson · Announced March 5, 2009 · planned July 2009 – March 2010
This Is It (planned residency)
Planned concerts
50
Venue
The O2 Arena, London
Status
Not performed
Michael announced a series of concerts at the O2 Arena in London on March 5, 2009. Demand expanded the run from ten to fifty dates, planned from July 2009 into March 2010. Rehearsals took place in Los Angeles, directed by Kenny Ortega. Michael passed away on June 25, 2009, before the first concert. Rehearsal footage became the film This Is It, released in October 2009.
Legs and dates
Planned O2 residency
July 2009 – March 2010 (planned)
Where: London, United Kingdom
All dates were sold before rehearsals began. Ticket holders were offered refunds after his passing.
Setlist highlights
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' · Jam · Smooth Criminal · Thriller · Earth Song · Billie Jean · Man in the Mirror. Setlists changed during each tour; these songs were regular features.
Staging
Rehearsal footage shows new short films for Smooth Criminal and Thriller, a large dance company, and reworked arrangements of older hits.
Why it matters
The residency never happened, but the film gives the only detailed look at how Michael rehearsed a show.
Source note: Announcement date and planned dates from contemporary coverage; see our This Is It article for sources.