Michael passes his driving licence. One day he’s arrested by a cop thinking he has stlolen his Rolls Royce and he is put in jail but a few hours later, Bill Bray comes to his rescue and Michael is released!
Michael signs a contract with the Japanese company Suzuki to promote their scooters, with the slogan “Love Is My Message,” which is linked to the name of the scooter, “Love.” Michael makes many photoshoots all over Los Angeles (Hollywood, Vine Street, Sunset Boulevard, downtown, at Fisherman’s Village in Marina del Rey, close to Venice Beach. Santa Monica. He also films several commercial videos feautiring the song “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”. The Suzuki CL50 Love model, with a design that would now be considered vintage, is introduced by Suzuki in 1982 in Japan, and later in Europe. It was aimed at a female audience, featuring a smaller-than-usual, fully automatic scooter.
Michael does backing vocals on the song “Going Back To Alabama” by Kenny Rogers and on “The Dude”, an album by Quincy Jones.
January : The Jacksons win the NAACP Image Award for best singing group of the year.
January 30 : Michael attends the American Music Awards where he receives three awards for Off The Wall (one of them is presented by sister LaToya) and he also pays tribute to Chuck Berry. Diana Ross is his date for the evening.
January 31 : LaToya attends the 38th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
February 5 : During a Diana Ross concert at the Forum in Los Angeles, Michael gets on stage to sing “Upside Down” with her!
February 12 : LaToya performs “If You Feel The Funk” and “Night Time Lover” on Dutch TV show Musikladen.
February 20 : Encouraged by his lawyer John Branca, Michael buys his own apartment in the San Fernando Valley just a few minutes’ drive from Hayvenhurst at 5420 Lindley Avenue in Encino.
Located in a private residence built in 1973, called The Lindbrook, the two-story, 1890 square meters apartment with three bedrooms and three bathrooms costs him two hundred ten thousand dollars. Michael pays one hundred seventy-five thousand in cash, while his mother pays the remaining thirty-five thousand dollars, becoming a co-owner with her son. Katherine thus gains a certain independence from Joe, her husband, with whom relations were not the best at that time (Katherine knew that her husband was cheating on her and had just learned about the existence of Joh’Vonnie, the daughter he had in 1974 from an extramarital affair).
March : Michael is on the cover of Jet Magazine.
Michael & the Jacksons attend a press conférence to announce the upcoming Triumph Tour.
Michael gives an interview to Steve Rosen at Columbia Records’ offices in Century City, CA. Tito & Janet are with him. Michael answers Stephen’s questions through Janet. The interview is made public on May 31, 2021 on Steve Rosen’s YouTube page.
March 2 : CBS airs a Diana Ross’s TV Special featuring Michael.
Together, they perform “Rock With You” & “Ease On Down The Road” (with Quincy Jones on the piano)
March 5 : Epic releases the single “Can You Feel It”. It will peak at #77 on Hot 100 Billboard. To accompany the song, a promotional short film titled “The Triumph” is released. It’s conceived, written & produced by Michael and contains amazing special effects.
March 25 : Motown releases the album & the single “One Day In Your Life” (with old material by Michael). Michael does not promote them in any ways.
March 31 : Michael attends the Academy Awards with Diana Ross and then they go to an after party where he meets and befriends actress Brooke Schields.
April : Michael does backing vocals on Carole Bayer Sager’s song “Just Friends” produced by Burt Bacharach & Michael.
Michael undergoes a second rhinopasty surgery recommended by Dr Steven Hoefflin. He recovers at his frien David Gest’s home.
April 4 : Michael appears on the cover of ’s NME which included an exclusive interview given to Danny Baker in Los Angeles.
May : Michael goes to East Sussex to stay with Paul & Linda McCartney. He records two songs for Paul’s upcoming solo album : “Say Say Say” & “The Man”.
May 8 : LaToya’s second album “My Special Love” is released by Polydor. Janet co-writes the song “Camp Kuchi Kaiai” with sister LaToya and sings background vocals”.
June : The Jacksons rehearse for their upcoming Triumph Tour in Van Nuys, Calofornia. Rehearsals last for six weeks.
June 15 : Epic releases the fourth and last single from The Triumph album titled “Walk Right Now”. It will peak at #73 on Hot 100 Billboard.
Early July : Dress rehearsals of the Triumph Tour at a soundstage in Hollywood.
July 5 : The Jacksons fly from Los Angeles to Memphis. 6000 fans wait for them at the airport in Memphis.
July 8 : The Jacksons kick off their Triumph Tour at the United States Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.
July 10 : The Jacksons perform at the City MCC Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
July 11 : Concert at the Dallas Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
July 12 : Concert at the The Summit in Houston, Texas.
July 15 : Concert at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.
July 16 : The Jacksons attend a Circus in New Orleans.
July 17 : Concert at the Riverside Centroplex Arena in Baton Rouge.
July 18 : Concert at the Mobile Municipal Auditorium in Mobile.
July 22 : Michael allows himself to be photographed by Todd Gray in the Presidential Suite of the Peachtree Hotel in downtown Atlanta. Over the course of forty-five minutes, Gray took more than 70 photos of Michael.
Concert at the Georgia, The Omni Coliseum in Atlanta. The proceeds ($100,000) will be donated to the Atlanta Children’s Foundation, in response to a series of murders and kidnappings that have been affecting the city’s children for months.
July 24 : Concert at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro.
July 25 : Concert at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte.
July 26 : Concert at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton.
July 28 : Concert at the Lakeland Civic Center in Lakeland.
July 31 + August 1 : Concerts at the Landover Capital Centre in Washington D.C.
August 2 : Concert at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.
August 4 : Concert at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Canada.
August 5 : Concert at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada.
August 7 : Concert at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.
August 8 : Concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
August 9 : Concert at the The Coliseum in Richfield Township.
August 10 : Concert at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus.
August 12 : Concert at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta.
August 14 : Concert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.
August 15 : Concert at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford.
August 16 : Concert at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
August 18 : Concert at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Andy Warhol and Katherine Hepburn attend the concerts and pose for pictures with Michael.
While in NYC, Michael visits Katherine Hepburn in her Manhattan home.
August 19 : Second concert at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.
August 21 : Concert at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
August 22 : Concert at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
August 23 : Concert at the UD Arena in Dayton.
August 26 : Concert at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee.
August 28 : Concert at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois.
August 29 : Concert at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
August 31 : Concert at the Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.
September : Michael is presented with a Scotty Award for Off The Wall. He poses for pictures with the award (specific date and place remain unknown).
Michael is on the cover of Rock & Soul magazine.
September 02 : Concert at the Checkerdome in St. Louis.
September 03 : Robert Hilburn interviews Michael and his brothers for the Los Angeles Times on the tour bus from St. Louis to Detroit.
September 04 : The Jacksons perform in Detroit.
September 05 : The Jacksons perform at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois.
September 06 : The Jacksons perform at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
September 08 : The Jacksons perform at the Kemper Arena (now Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City, Missouri.
September 10 : The Jacksons perform in Denver, Colorado.
September 13 : Michael’s interview with Robert Hilburn is published in the Los Angeles Times.
Concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.
September 15 : Concert at the ASU Activity Center in Tempe, Arizona.
September 17 : Concert at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego.
September 18 + 19 : Concerts at the The Forum in Inglewood.
September 19 : Dick Clark presents the full version of the “Triumph” short film on American Bandstand.
September 20 : Many celebrities including Magic Johnson, Tatum O’Neal, Margot Kidder, Jody Watley, Dick Clark, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Steven Spielberg, Janet, Prince & Patti Austin attend a party to celebrate the end of the Triumph Tour at the Forum Club. That night, in the middle of the empty seats of the theater, Michael, wearing his uniform, cap, and dark glasses, gives an interview to Scott Osborne for the local channel KNXT, who asks him about his future plans.
September 22 : Concert at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California.
September 23 : Birth of Marlon Jackson Jr, third child of Marlon & Carol.
The Jacksons perform at the Las Vegas Convention Center in in Winchester, Nevada.
September 25 : Concert at the The Forum in Inglewood, California.
September 26 : Last concert of the Triumph Tour at the The Forum in Inglewood. The whole Jackson family attends the show.
Late september : The Jackson family hosts a party at Jackie’s house with the Triumph Tour crew to celebate the end of the tour.
October : The Jacksons are on the cover of Ebony magazine.
The Jacksons work on their first live album, selecting songs from several dates and re recording some vocals and sounds.
October 3 : Michael gives an interview to Randy Taraborrelli with Janet by his side.
October 10 : LaToya performs “Stay The Night” on the Soul Train Show.
October 16 : While at the Studio 55 in Los Angeles, Michael sings backing vocals on the song “Don’t Let A Woman Make A Fool Out Of You” by Joe Carrasco.
October 28 : Michael and Janet attend the opening night of Liza Minnelli at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Michael poses for pictures with Gregory Peck, Joel Grey, Audrey Hepburn and Liza Minnelli.
October 29 : Janet plays Charlene on Season 4 of Diff’rent Strokes.
November : Michael starts working on demo songs such as “Bille Jean”, “The Girl Is Mine” or “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” at his Hayvenhurst home studio.
November 5 : Michael is on the cover of Jet Magazine in which he is voted most popular male entertainer.
November 11 : Epic releases The Jackson Live, the first live album the group recorded during the Triumph Tour. The live double album is culled from recordings made on the tour’s stops in Buffalo, New York, Providence, Rhode Island; Atlanta and New York City. The live album will go on to sell over two million copies worldwide.
Jackson Dynasty 