Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration

Description: In late November 2001, the CBS television network aired a two-hour special in honor of Michael Jackson's thirtieth year as a solo entertainer (his first solo single, "Got to Be There", was recorded in 1971). The show was edited from footage of two separate concerts Michael had orchestrated in New York City's Madison Square Garden on September 7 and September 10 of 2001. The shows sold out in five hours. Ticket prices were pop's most expensive ever; the best seats cost $5,000 and included a dinner with Michael Jackson and a signed poster. Jackson reportedly earned $7.5 million for each of the two concerts, which is over $150,000 per minute. The concerts are mentioned in the VH1 biopic Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story, which notes that the last of the two concerts wrapped up just hours before two hijacked jet planes were crashed into the Twin Towers of Lower Manhattan's World Trade Center (see September 11th terrorist attacks). Marlon Brando appeared a few hours before Jackson's performance to speak about humanitarian work but it was not broadcast due to poor response from the audience. Raw footage can be found online.