Michael Jackson Heal the World and opening of the Royal Towers Atlantis resort Bahamas 1998

Michael Jackson performed and sang Heal the World on the 12th December 1998 in the Bahamas. Michael was an invited special quest for the “Celebration of Atlantis Rising” on Paradise Island, businessman and entrepreneur Sol Kerzner’s new Royal Tower resort.

1600 special guests partied away and enjoyed performances by Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, James Ingram and appearances by actors Leonardo Dicaprio, Julia Roberts and even Oprah Winfrey!

Michael Jackson Suite

It is true that at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas there is indeed a “Michael Jackson Suite” named after the King of Pop who came and stayed there and opened the resort. The suite is usually sold out (even for years at a time) and costs(ed) many thousands of dollars – some said $25,000 per night!

After I was featured on Michael Jackson’s official website a few years back I found an email from the Bahamas Atlantis resort asking me if we could speak about doing an event at the resort. Although, in the end it didn’t happen, I spoke with the management and was very interested to hear how Michael performed and opened the resort. At the time, I didn’t even know it existed or that Michael Jackson performed at it’s opening ceremony. It certainly did sound amazing and almost like a private event. It certainly was not reported worldwide but was (obviously) locally and also broadcast in a small part on the local news.

Heal the World Live

Michael Jackson performed Heal the World on his History and Dangerous Tours and he also performed it at the Superbowl, with Boys to men live, a certain fundraising event and the Bill Clinton charity gala. Other than this he only performed this live at Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

It is also interesting to note that this is the only time that Michael Jackson sang the verses to this song live. On tour and elsewhere he sang the last bars of the song live but never the first verses … this performance being the exception.

The event was obviously pre planned because they had the Heal the world instrumental lined up and it looked liked Michael had an obligation to perform because he was handed the microphone and obviously did not want to sing. In the end he did sing along side a group of children and he sang it very well … not an easy song to sing live!

You can watch a small segment of the performance below (video)

We also see Michael being mobbed at the resort and guarded by his trusty bodyguard Wayne Nagin. An extremely rare performance!

By Anthony King (c)

Tweet

Related articles

MICHAEL JACKSON DANGEROUS TOUR BUCHAREST LIVE CONCERT/DVD
MICHAEL JACKSON’S HISTORY WORLD TOUR 1996
MICHAEL JACKSON’S DANGEROUS WORLD TOUR 1992
MICHAEL JACKSON’S BAD TOUR 1988

———————————————————————————————————
DVDs: Michael Jackson moves Dance like Michael Jackson and learn the moves at home!
———————————————————————————————————

Anthony King’s Thriller Dance Workout DVD!
Two full MICHAEL JACKSON Style dance class routines with the classic moves plus additional lessons: Learn the MOONWALK, Learn the SIDE SLIDE, Learn the CIRCLE SLIDE. Special features include Anthony King’s demonstration Michael Jackson dance videos in London, special video clips, Reverse angle chapters, behind the scenes, interactive motion menus and much more!




Anthony King’s King Of Dance DVD!
Learn to dance like Michael Jackson with the full BILLIE JEAN style workout routine lesson and moves plus additional lessons: JAMES BROWN SHUFFLE! HOW TO SPIN LIKE MICHAEL JACKSON! PLUS a classic MOONWALK, SIDESLIDE and CIRCLE MOONWALK refresher lesson. Special features include slideshow and helpful notes and diagrams, gallery and much more!




Anthony King’s DON’T STOP DANCE WORKOUT DVD!
Learn the classic “MICHAEL JACKSON MOVES” learn the KICKS, turns and “MJ WALKS” in a classic workout routine! Learn the “YOU ROCK MY WORLD” walk, the classic MICHAEL JACKSON SHUFFLE, “SMOOTH CRIMINAL” Robotics and much more! Anthony King is back to teach you NEW moves and a new routine inspired by Michael Jackson’s “BAD”, “SMOOTH CRIMINAL” and much more!