It certainly was not a scenario that Michael Jackson’s crew and entourage had expected when he filmed a commercial for Pepsi in 1984. The King of Pop had already become a major superstar, not only for the 10 million albums that Thriller had sold up until late the following year, but the fact that the groundbreaking video for the title track would lead to a doubling of sales by the end of 1984. He was hot as a solo item, and he and his brothers in The Jackson 5 secured a then record-breaking $5 million endorsement deal from the cola giant for the “Pepsi Generation” ad campaign that would find Jackson reworking his hit “Billie Jean” into an ad jingle.
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No one predicted that things would go very wrong on the day of filming. It was January 27, 1984, and the Jacksons were performing in front of 3,000 people at Shrine Auditorium in L.A. They were re-creating a concert environment for a specific scene in the commercial.
The setup was simple. Jackson would descend down some stairs onto the stage where his band would be playing while pyrotechnics exploded behind him. Unfortunately, very early into his descent some of the pyro went off early, and one of the embers landed on his head. The pomade he used in his hair was highly flammable, and within a second his head was aflame. The 25 year-old singer did not immediately know what had happened. He had made it down the staircase and began to twirl in a signature move. But people had noticed what was happening and immediately rushed from all sides to help Jackson.
It was a scary moment that would have freaked out any performer.
Jackson was rushed to Brotman Memorial Hospital in Culver City, California. Dr. Steve Hoefflin later told reporters that Jackson was “quite shaken up with a palm-sized area of second-degree and small area of third-degree burns. He’s in moderate pain, he’s much more tired than we anticipated. He needs sleep at this time.” However, against his doctor’s recommendation, the singer chose to be discharged a little after noon the next day to be treated as an outpatient at home.
Jackson was reportedly in good spirits during his brief hospital stay. Nurse Pat Lavalas, the burn unit supervisor, recounted how Jackson received many get-well wishes from singers Teddy Pendergrass and Stephanie Mills. Lavalas told the press, “He left in good spirits and his condition is good. He didn’t speak about the accident to us. He watched ‘American Bandstand’ this morning and people were getting his autograph. He sang a Stephanie Mills song in the bathroom. He stayed in bed and opened telegrams, and he got a big kick out of one from a fan that said, ‘I know you’re hot, but this is ridiculous.’”
The singer later received a settlement from PepsiCo for $1.5 million for the accident, and he reportedly donated that money to Brotman, where this is a burn-unit wing in his name. Thanks to the massive success of the final ad campaign, Jackson would renew his endorsement with PepsiCo in 1987 for $10 million more.
There is a darker side to the aftermath of this event. Over the next few years, Jackson would undergo reconstructive surgeries on his scalp that required painkillers to get through. One spot of hair on his head would never fully grow again, so he began wearing wigs and hats to hide that fact, which was reportedly only made public upon this autopsy in 2009. He died tragically from cardiac arrest due to an overdose of drugs in his system, including the powerful sleep aid propofol.
It turned out he became addicted to the painkillers that had helped him sleep after dealing with the pain from his burned scalp. Pepsi would nix his endorsement in 1993 after he revealed this publicly. Many fans have intimated that they felt that this event had changed the trajectory of his life, and it’s hard to argue in light of everything that happened afterward.
The use of concert pyrotechnics is concert has become more commonplace and also better controlled and monitored since then. But there have been other incidents.
At a Metallica concert in 1992, frontman James Hetfield was confused as to where he was supposed to be onstage. The pyro technician didn’t see him, and a big-colored flame ignited right by Hetfield—skin on his arm, hand, and part of his back and face was burned off by the 3,200-degree heat. His hair was fried. Thanks to him wearing a double-necked guitar, some of the flames were deflected. The band’s then-bassist Jason Newsted said at the time, “If he had been breathing in, he would have been dead.” He suffered second- and third-degree burns. Amazingly, after surgery and intense daily physical therapy, Hetfield was back onstage in 17 days.
Then there is the tragic and infamous Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003. During a Great White show, pyro that likely should not have been used in such a small space ignited highly flammable soundproofing on the ceiling that soon went ablaze. Fans rushed to escape a space without enough proper fire exits—230 people were injured and 100 died. It sounded the call for fire code changes in small nightclubs.
Even people who work on larger than life rock shows have to heed the warnings of playing with fire, for the safety of all involved.
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Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images
