MJ & Friends were two stadium concerts held by American singer/songwriter Michael Jackson in 1999, with numerous other performers as well, including Slash of Guns N' Roses.[1] The purpose of the tour was to raise funds for children in Kosovo, Africa and elsewhere.[2] Jackson gave two concerts during the tour. The first one took place in Seoul, South Korea on June 25 (exactly one decade before his death) and the second one was in Munich, Germany.
Background
Munich bridge accident
At the Munich concert, while performing "Earth Song", the middle section of the bridge collapsed after ascending into the air.[3] Jackson climbed out of the pit that the mechanism landed in, and continued the song without missing a beat. The guitarist Slash was front and center on the main stage at the time: he also continued his performance without missing a beat, while dashing upstage to safety. Jackson finished the concert, but was taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital afterwards. He suffered a damaged spine, a sprained ankle, shock nerves and slight burns on his arms. None of the fans, crew or backup performers were injured. The crash was confirmed to be a mechanical failure from the crane, according to Kenny Ortega, director of the shows.
The same stunt had been performed without the incident at the first concert in Seoul.
Millennium concerts
On December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000, Jackson was scheduled to perform at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, USA and at Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia. These plans were later cancelled.
