It is official, the hottest tickets on the planet, and the
fastest selling tickets in London ever, are completely sold out.
Nearly 1 million fans have bought tickets to see the undisputed
King of Pop live at the O2 Arena in London, in days of frantic
fan frenzy and saturated media coverage from every civilized land
on Earth. The amazing news of Michael Jackson's return to the
stage caused 750,000 tickets to sell at an average rate of 40,000
an hour, over 650 tickets per minute - an astonishing 11 per
second.
Fans from countries around the world paid top dollar, who will
fly across the globe to see one or more of his now 50 dates set
in London. The biggest star in the world is back, and those who
the fools said he was over with, can dream on. An overwhelmed
Ticketmaster stated of the most anticipated concert in history
since Elvis Presley in Las Vegas, “This was undoubtedly the
busiest demand for tickets for an event which we have ever, ever
experienced."
Originally released in the US 25 years ago on November 30, 1982
by Epic Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson's sixth solo album and
second with producer Quincy Jones, with the late David Williams
on lead guitar, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for
the Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international
superstardom. Introducing the "robot" and the "moonwalk" into the
international lexicon of club land dance moves via the pulsing
sounds of Thriller, Michael Jackson revolutionized all aspects of
mainstream pop culture, from radio airwaves to the newly emerging
art form of music videos, becoming the world's most popular
entertainer in the process.
Thriller made history as the first and only record to be
America's top-selling album two years running in 1983 and 1984.
In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best
Selling Album of All Time, an achievement which remains
unsurpassed to this day. Jackson’s Guitarist David Williams
(1950-2009), who toured on Thriller, likewise was last year named
by the Guinness Book of Records as being the most
prolific guitarist on the most hit records of all time.
Named the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" by the
Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson carries on this year as
one of the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop
culture. Only those who are near him, or even near those who are
near him, can understand some of what is the madness that is
created by those desperate for a piece of him- the biggest star
in the world. Michael mania is at all time high. Let the music
begin.
©The Hollywood Sentinel,By Bruce Edwin and © 2009, Sony / Legacy
Music