MJ's moonwalk
05/16/1983 AD performed
Jackson performed "Billie Jean" on the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, broadcast on May 15, 1983. Recorded on March 25, it was the first time Jackson had performed the moonwalk in public; he had practiced it in his kitchen prior to the show.
The performance is considered a watershed moment in popular culture history. The special was a celebration of Motown Records' twenty-fifth anniversary (Motown was launched in 1959). The event featured many popular Motown acts, past and present. Jackson initially refused an invitation to reunite with the Jackson 5 for a performance, but reconsidered after a visit from Motown founder Berry Gordy, whom Jackson respected. Jackson asked to also perform "Billie Jean", to which Gordy agreed.
Following performances by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Mary Wells, the Jacksons sang a medley of their early 1970s hits. Jermaine Jackson was on stage with the group, marking the first time that the original Jackson 5 lineup had performed together since they left Motown in 1975. After the group performed "I'll Be There", they left Michael alone on stage.
Jackson wore black pants, leather penny loafers, a black sequined jacket, and a single white rhinestone glove. He addressed the audience, and then "Billie Jean" started playing. (Jackson lip-synced the entire song, because organizers feared that the evening's backing band could not replicate the sound of the recording.)
To begin his performance, Jackson snapped a fedora to his head and struck a pose—his right hand on his hat and his left leg bent. During an instrumental interlude, he executed a move that many believe sealed his status as a pop icon.
Jackson glided backwards to perform the moonwalk, before he spun on his heels and landed en pointe.
Many, including Jackson biographer Steve Knopper, have speculated that Jackson's "Billie Jean" costuming and choreography were specifically inspired by a dance routine performed by Bob Fosse in the 1974 musical film The Little Prince. In that film, Fosse, playing "The Snake", sings the song "A Snake in the Grass" and performs an accompanying dance that Fosse himself choreographed. The dance includes a variety of techniques that seemed to be echoed in Jackson's routine, including trademark Fosse elements such as hip thrusts, bent knees, shoulder isolations, jazz hands and kicks, as well a brief moonwalk.
Jackson openly acknowledged Fosse as a dance influence, having told Fosse himself that he had amassed a complete home collection of Fosse's choreography work in film and television, which he watched frequently. However, Jackson never specifically cited the "Snake in the Grass" routine as an inspiration.
Lattitude: 42.3313° N
Longitude: 83.0458° W
Region: North America
Modern Day United States
