If such a thing as a quiet year exists, the world of Michael Jackson is not familiar with it! From new releases, to auctions, collaborations to milestones, 2017 proved to be another one of those years where the foot is firmly on the peddle and we speed forward with MJ-related news and releases bouncing off left and right. Here’s a run down of just some of the moments from Michael Jackson’s World in 2017.
January – Benny Collins, Michael’s production manager for Bad and Dangerous Tour passes at the age of 68. Collins was popular with the crews and Michael himself and was an integral part of the live shows. Rest well Benny.
February – Thriller surpasses the 33x Platinum mark in the U.S reaching 33 million album-equivalent units and continuing its reign as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. To mark the occasion, a plaque was presented to the Estate of Michael Jackson
March – Michael Jackson – The Ultimate Collection, a package of Motown era songs is released in Germany by Universal Music
March – MJVibe launched the first poll to determine #1 Michael Jackson impersonator, as voted for by the fans! The poll received over 9,000 votes with Rodrigo Teaser being crowned 2017 #1 Impersonator, as chosen by the fans.
April – Rumours hit the internet that an official range of Michael Jackson clothing through fashion label Supreme is to be released. The range is the Estate’s first major team up with a successful fashion house. Surpeme stores often have large queues outside with people waiting to make a purchase.
May – The Michael Jackson Supreme range is officially released featuring an iconic image from the Billie Jean Short Film. The collection sells out on the first day.
May – More of Michael’s iconic clothing goes up for auction, this time including the In the closet outfit and the jacket from Leave Me Alone. This continues a slow and ugly trend of Michael’s most famous costumes being dispatched around the world.
June – The first official book from the Jacksons goes on Pre-order. The book is made available from October and is beautifully put together featuring high quality images and thoroughly researched accounts. An absolute must have for any fan.
June – The third installment of Despicable Me is released, featuring an 80s loving villan who dances to various hits from the decade including Michael’s ‘Bad’. The track is included on the soundtrack album.
June – Madame Tussauds Bangkok launched a brand new music room and used the Michael Jackson incarnation to attract the crowds, complete with dancers and a wax Britney Spears.
June – Sixteen11 Media Group Ltd publishes the third Michael Jackson Ultimate Collector Book in the series, ‘Invincible From 2001 – 2008’. Compiled Sebastian Mille & Fabrice Ancellet the book features items available to collect from the time period. The book sells out in the first month of sales.
July – The biggest show of 2016, Stranger Things releases its trailer for season 2, featuring none other than Michael’s legendary ‘Thriller’. The trailer garners over 13 million views.
July – The judge rules in favour of Quincy Jones in the long-running lawsuit against the Estate. Jones is awarded $9.4 million and makes it clear that “This lawsuit was never about Michael, it was about protecting the integrity of the work we all did in the recording studio and the legacy of what we created.”
August – High-end Italian Sunglasses manufacturers ‘illesteva’ released their strictly limited collection of Official Michael Jackson sunglasses. The design is inspired by Michael’s Victory Tour look and is limited to 280 pairs. The sunglasses sell out in the first month.
August – The legendary Bad Album turns 30.
September – Kingvention – The European Michael Jackson Convention returns to London for the 3rd year and welcomes over 300 fans from across the globe. Dorian Holley, Steven Paul Whitsitt and Eddie Garcia feature as special guests and fans are treated to unseen images of Michael, a dance masterclass and a live performance from Holley. The 14 hour event finished with a Club 30s evening celebration.
September – The Estate of Michael Jackson and John Landis unveil Thriller 3D and the Venice Film festival.
September – The Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music release ‘Scream’, a Halloween themed compilation album featuring some of Michael’s greatest hits along with songs such as ‘Somebody’s Watchin’ Me’ and ‘Threatened’. The album reaches number 9 in the UK on the first week of release.
September – Ahead of the release of Scream, Sony host a series of official album launch events around the world which includes a screen of some of Michael’s short films, Ghosts and the long awaited Thriller 3D, followed by an after party.
October – To accompany the various Halloween Themed Michael Jackson projects, Socks maker ‘Stance’ release an official range of Michael Jackson Thriller themed socks. The socks come as individual pairs or in a boxset.
October – The newly created cartoon, Michael Jackson’s Halloween debuts in the U.S in time for Halloween.
November – Thriller turns 35 years old. The World’s Biggest Selling Album is celebrated by fans across the world who mark the occasion with various images, videos and factual postings.
December – Following an online competition, the Estate released a new before seen image of Michael, taken from a series created for artist Will Wilson to paint the album’s cover.
December – Featuring the cast of Michael Jackson One, the Estate release a tribute video to Blood on the Dance Floor. The video takes the original short film and mixes it with new footage produced by Jamie King and the MJ One Cast.
December – Leon Kompowsky – Aka Michael Jackson (the character voiced by Michael in the 1991 episode ‘Stark Raving Dad’) in the Simpsons returns to the hit series to once again sing Happy Birthday to Lisa in a flash forward episode.
December – Sony Music and The Estate of Michael Jackson renew their landmark record deal to come in to effect from 1st January 2018.
A busy year again and a lot to keep up with if you’re an MJ fan! Strangely this year, Thriller wasn’t marked for its 35th Anniversary as suspected and there was little mention of Bad’s 30th anniversary. But 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the legendary Bad World Tour so there’s plenty to celebrate. Be sure to keep checking MJVibe for daily news updates!
2017 it was an excellent year to MJ Legacy. And let’s not forget that in December, the judge correctly shelved the lawsuit filed by Wade Robson against MJ’s companies.
Lots of stuff went on last year in MJ’s legacy. His name will forever live on, and now he is pure energy to feed back as love into the universe. I love you, Michael. And I will be sure to look into buying that MJ travel guide and J5 legacy book.
Ja viele dinge sind veröventlicht worden aber es wahr nichts wirklich für fans dabei was wir nicht schon besasen nichts neues auser die animations Serie Halloween die andern dinge warn nichts neues von daher eigentlich enteuschent für fans hate mir mehr erhoft
Ja viele dinge sind veröventlicht worden 2017 aber es war nichts neues auser die animations Serie für fans entäuschent weil die andan dinge jeder fan schon hat was die estate projecte angeht
The legend will always live on in our hearts. Future generations will enjoy his music and dance and see him for the outstanding performer and humanitarian he really was and always will be. Love lives forever.