More than a few of the guests at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards referred to that evening in February 1984 as “The Michael Jackson Show.” His Thriller was the biggest-selling album of the previous year and spent 37 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.
Videos by American Songwriter
Hosting the celebration, the late singer John Denver stated in his opening remarks, “The big words this past year were ‘video,’ ‘Boy George,’ and ‘Michael …,” as he paused long enough for the audience to roar in unison, “JACKSON.”
The audience was anxious to see if the pop star would even be in attendance. Just four weeks earlier, while filming a Pepsi commercial with his brothers, his hair caught fire, causing second-degree burns to his scalp. He disappeared from public view while he recovered. The singer returned to The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for the awards ceremony. It was the same location where they filmed the Pepsi commercial, but this time, he was accompanied by actress Brooke Shields and child star Emmanuel Lewis.
They sat in the middle of the front row next to producer Quincy Jones. Jackson wore dark sunglasses and a blue and gold military-styled jacket covered in crystals with a single silver glove.
The Pre-Telecast
Jackson was nominated 12 times. Two of the categories included multiple nominations. For instance, “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” were both nominated for Song of the Year. This often “splits the vote” and handicaps the artist. Both songs were worthy, but the academy members had to choose only one, diluting the vote. The Grammys have so many categories they do not include all on the televised portion. Four of the categories Jackson was nominated in were awarded pre-telecast. “Billie Jean” won Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance Male. “Beat It” won Best Rock Vocal Performance Male.
Most-Watched Awards Show
About 52 million people tuned in to watch the ceremony, making it the highest-rated awards show up to that date. The record would stand until the Titanic sweep of the Academy Awards in 1998. The curiosity of whether Jackson would appear obviously drove viewers to tune in. The Pepsi commercial starring the Jacksons also debuted on the broadcast. To add a bit of context, the Lifetime Achievement Grammys were given to Arturo Toscanini, Charlie Parker, and Chuck Berry.
Slowed Down by The Police
Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan were introduced to present the Song of the Year Award. This was one of the categories that included two songs by Jackson. Wonder announced The Police had won for “Every Breath You Take.” Up to that point, the only other category Jackson lost was Best Pop Vocal Performance by Group or Duo. “The Girl Is Mine” (featuring Paul McCartney) lost to—you guessed it—”Every Breath You Take” by The Police.
Jackson Runs the Table
For the rest of the evening, Jackson and Thriller producer Quincy Jones got their steps in, returning to the stage to collect their bounty. First, it was the Producer of the Year award going to Jones and Jackson. Then Thriller won Album of the Year. Next was Jackson taking Best Pop Vocal Performance Male honors. Finally, Jackson and Jones made one last trek to the stage to be presented the Record of the Year Award for the hit single “Beat It.” No wonder artists referred to it as “The Michael Jackson Show.” The eight awards Jackson took home broke the record of seven trophies won by Paul Simon in 1970.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?
Not all of Jackson’s awards were for Thriller. During the recording of that project, Jackson and Jones agreed to record an audiobook and soundtrack companion album to Steven Spielberg’s massive hit movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
During the acceptance speech for the Best Recording for Children award, Jones said, “It took us three months to do the album Thriller, and one of the most dangerous joint decisions that Michael and I made was to accept to do an album for Steven Spielberg for the storybook album for E.T. … I thank Michael Jackson, who gave every pound of blood he had. As one of the greatest performers who put up with all of the hours and everything it took for all of this. And to Steven Spielberg, who has been one of the greatest sources of inspiration in my life.”
Jackson then stepped up to the podium, “Of all of the awards I’ve gotten, I’m the most proud of this one, honestly. Because I think children are a great inspiration, and this album is not for children, it’s for everyone.”
Jackie Wilson and Lionel Richie
During his acceptance speech for Album of the Year, Jackson returned to the microphone to salute two of his musical inspirations, Lionel Richie and the late Jackie Wilson. “I’d also like to say something very important. Some people are entertainers. Some people are great entertainers. Some people are followers. Some people make the path and are pioneers. I’d like to say Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer. He’s not with us anymore, but Jackie, wherever you are, I’d like to say I love you and thank you very much.”
After winning his eighth and final award of the night for Record of the Year, Jackson added, “I’d like to thank Lionel Richie, who’s here tonight. He’s a wonderful person and a wonderful songwriter. I’ve been knowing him ever since I was 10 years old.”
The following year, Richie and Jackson would co-write “We Are the World,” which would go on to win four Grammys.
Jackson wrote about the historic night in his memoir, Moonwalk, “I imagined that I felt like a long-distance runner must feel when breaking the tape at the finish line. … I identify with that person because I know how hard he’s trained, and I know how much that moment means to him.”
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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
