2015 was certainly a lot quieter in comparison to the previous year! Much of this year seemed to be dominated by auctions and unique photographs that photographers seemed to forgot they had! How can you just forget about having such a rare gem in your possession? Here’s a run down of some of the moments in MJ world 2015
January: The three Michael Jackson Waxworks by Madame Tussauds land in Beijing to a grand welcome.
The trio spent much of 2014 travelling around the world, thrilling people at all Madame Tussauds global museums.
The Ultimate Collector Book Volume V: HIStory from 1995 to 2000 is released worldwide.
February: A Motown 25 Boxset is announced consisting of 144 track CD collection featuring artists from the TV special.
Tracks from Michael and The Jacksons are included.
Febraury: The Estate of Michael Jackson announce a brand new deal for Merchandise and Brand management with Authentic Brand Group. ABG
take over the contract from Bravado Merchandise who had previously held the rights since 2009. It’s promised that ABG will usher in a new era
of the Michael Jackson Brand.
March: A collection of images from the late Herb Ritts go on exhibition, featuring famous shots of Michael.
April: Global Number 1 album Xscape is now almost a year old and has been nominated for a Billboard Award.
Unfortunately, it didn’t win, losing out to G I R L by Pharrell Williams
May: Costumes from the Bad & Dangerous Tour go up for auction at Juliens, including one of the famous Gold Leotards made
famous in the opening half of the Dangerous World Tour
May: The most devastating news for the fan community this year was the news that Neverland would finally be going up for sales.
In a statement, the Estate insisted that they had explored options for saving the 2,700 acre ranch but felt they were unable to do so.
The ranch was later listed on property sites across the world with a $100,000,000 price tag.
May: Phoenix ComicCon featured Michael’s famous Making of Thriller footage and short film, followed by a tutorial of the 80s zombie moves!
June: MTV Japan dedicated June 25th to Michael with over 8 hours of programming including Michael’s most famous short films.
July: Artist Seaton Brown reveals a tribute to Michael made entirely from Soda cans! This is the second piece by Brown.
July: A prototype for the famous BAD jacket goes up for auction. The Jacket reveals some of the early buckle and zip ideas for the costume.
Thankfully, the final piece looked far more professional and tailored.
August: The Estate’s annual Michael Jackson Birth Day Celebration takes place at the MJONE theatre in Las Vegas. The highlights of the day
include special performances from the cast, multiple cakes and a book signing.
September: Kingvention – The First European Michael Jackson Convention takes place in London, celebrating 20 years of the HIStory album and era.
Attended by over 250 fans from across the globe, Kingvention welcomed three special guests, a screening, gallery, shop, numerous exhibits and
an afterparty…and a live drum band!! The event also saw the HIStory Statue Bust make its first ever public appearance.
September: Batala London perform They Don’t Care About Us at Kingvention 2015
October: The new video for the 2015 release of Say Say Say is revealed on Paul McCartney’s Facebook.
The video features numerous dancers, dancing through the city.
November: Fedora’s from the Bad World Tour go up for auction. A notable fedora was that from the live version of Smooth Criminal
November: The full length, unreleased version of Michael’s 1988 Pepsi commercial featuring ‘Price of Fame’ leaks online.
The footage includes an alternative version of the song with lyrics unique to the Pepsi campaign.
November: Photographer Nicola Goode releases a never-before seen image of Michael titled ‘The Autograph’. The image was from
a project that never came to fruition.
November: The 12″ Vinyl for Say Say Say is re-issued with a new cover and new remix in selected countries around the world.
December: Greg Gorman, who photographed Michael in the BAD era reveals an unseen image of Michael. The image causes quite a stir and leaves
the fan community divided due to its ‘alternative’ nature for Michael Jackson. Despite confusion, it’s revealed the image is real.
December: It’s revealed that Spike Lee’s ‘From Motown to Off the Wall’ documentary will première at the Sundance film festival in 2016.
Further details reveal the cover art and the Estate’s involvement in the project.
December: The Estate and Sony Music make the official announcement that Thriller has broken another record; becoming the
first album in history to sell 30 million copies in the U.S. The album is now the top awarded album in Gold & Platinum history.
Sadly 2015 didn’t see any official releases for the 20th Anniversary of HIStory, however 2016 marks the 25th Anniversary of Dangerous and the 15th Anniversary
of Invincible so there is lots to celebrate!!! Be sure to keep checking MJVibe daily for news updates!
