3 of Michael Jackson’s Most Iconic Live Performances in the 1980s

Michael Jackson will always be known as one of the most iconic performers of our time. Here are three of his best live moments from the 80s, the decade in which Michael released Thriller and Bad, and ultimately reached peak superstardom.

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Motown 25 Anniversary Special in 1983

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was a 1983 television special that celebrated the record company’s 25th anniversary. It featured performances by Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and the Jackson 5, and, of course, the debut of Michael Jackson’s iconic moonwalk. Although that moment is easily one of his most memorable today, Jackson would admit that he wasn’t the proudest of it.

“I don’t think I’m ever pleased with my performances, and after that performance I wasn’t happy either,” Jackson would later share in an interview. “I wanted to do the five spins, then go on the toes and freeze there, and just hold it and stay there, you know, and I didn’t.”

Live at Wembley Stadium in 1988

In 1988, Michael Jackson was dancing and singing in both the U.S. and Europe for his Bad World Tour. During his performance at Wembley Stadium in July of that year, the entertainer sang for a crowd of 72,000 people, one of whom was Princess Diana.

It was before this show that the princess told Jackson her favorite song was “Dirty Diana” and asked if he was going to perform it that night. He told her that because he’d already taken the song out of the setlist out of respect for her, he wasn’t going to. But how iconic would that have been!

1981 Duet With Diana Ross of “Upside Down”

This duet has to be one of the best of the 80s, not only because it includes a performance from both Diana and Jackson, but it’s hard not to get excited simply because of how much fun these two look like they’re having.

“You know, I haven’t seen Michael now in maybe three, four months,” Ross once said in an interview, describing their friendship. “But sometimes relationships, no matter how far away you are or how long it is between relationships, there’s still a closeness. Somehow, no matter where we are, there’s this relationship. It’s a friend. When we see each other, it’s just like we saw each other yesterday.”

Photo by: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images