Gigs & Festivals Jacksons v AEG Timeline

Jackson announcement today

By | Published on Thursday 5 March 2009

Michael Jackson

It’s thought that Michael Jackson will this afternoon announce an open-ended residency at The O2 in East London to kick off on 9 Jul. Basically he’ll continue to perform at the Dome until demand for tickets stops or he drops down dead, whichever comes first I guess. There will a minimum of ten dates from what we gather. All this should be confirmed at a press conference at 4pm this afternoon.

The deal between Jacko and Dome owners AEG has reportedly been in development for two years, which would explain all the past Jackson comeback show rumours that have done the rounds. AEG have a record for putting on successful residencies at The O2, of course, it having hosted multiple night runs by The Spice Girls, Take That, Kylie and Prince’s 21 night run since opening in 2007.

The residency will see Jackson’s first proper shows since 2001 taking place, and presumably Jacko and AEG hope they will bring out the Jackson faithful in their hordes, helping put a few million quid into the singer’s bank account to help tackle those much previously reported debts. That said, some say that while Jackson’s megafans remain insanely dedicated, there’s a lot less of them now than a few years back – though the shows would still have a certain curiosity factor that could boost ticket sales.

There’s already speculation as to whether Jackson would be fit enough to do a multiple night run, given all the recent reports of his ill-health, though a residency is a lot less gruelling than a proper tour and Fox News gossip man Roger Friedman wrote this week that the singer had undergone and passed medical tests that gave him the all-clear to do the London shows. Nevertheless, William Hill are already taking bets on whether Jackson will show up for the first O2 gig – they are offering 5/1 odds he won’t.

Elsewhere in Jacko news, the singer has reportedly begun legal action to try and stop an auction of his belongings at the LA-based auction house run by Darren Julien. Jackson’s people had been involved in planning the auction, but it seems Jacko had asked to see an inventory of the proposed goods for sale before it was published, and he claims the auction house announced what was under the hammer without doing so. Julien is yet to respond to the lawsuit.



READ MORE ABOUT: