Percussionist: Michael Jackson was healthy
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 9, 2013
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A Cirque dancer performs at BTV, he only has one leg.[Photo/China.org.cn] |
Bashiri Johnson, a longtime friend and collaborator of Michael Jackson, said that he didn't see anything wrong with the singer when they were rehearsing for This Is It, the ill-fated London concert series, when Jackson died just days before the opening show.
"Michael was healthy in my eyes, and he said 'see you tomorrow' when we finished the rehearsal," Johnson said. "He looked fantastic, energetic and prepared. But there was no tomorrow. Tomorrow never came."
Jackson's mother Katherine Jackson and children, Prince, Paris and Blanket, are currently suing promoter AEG Live for wrongful death in Los Angeles. Testimonies so far have shown that Jackson was under the influence of drugs during the tour rehearsals. Several witnesses have claimed he sometimes missed dance steps or couldn't even get on stage. Jackson missed rehearsals and in the end died of a propofol overdose, an anesthetic administered by his personal doctor Conrad Murray, who was sentenced to 4 years behind bars.
Bashiri Johnson still remembers his friend’s kindness, "Michael was never angry and upset with anybody," he said, "he would always say hello to everyone on site and hug them. He was an amazing artist with a big heart."
Johnson is currently performing alongside longtime Jackson drummer Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett in the live band for Cirque du Soleil's IMMORTAL World Tour. The tour will debut in Beijing on Friday night and run throughout this weekend, with a total of 5 shows.
The show is an enticing fusion of 3D visuals, dance, music, and fantasy. It takes audiences through the story of the greatest entertainer of the 20th century. The IMMORTAL tour won the support and approval of the Estate of Michael Jackson, the Jackson family, and other high profile entertainers. Several choreographers and musicians who collaborated with and knew Michael Jackson personally, such as Travis Payne, Greg Phillinganes and the director Jamie King, got together to produce the spectacle.
A group of the show’s dancers also went to record a show at Beijing Television (BTV), showing off their thrilling dance moves and dazzling costumes.
Michael Jackson was one of the first and most influential Western musicians to be embraced by the Chinese public when the country opened up to the outside world in the early 1980s. Even though Jackson was able to travel to Guangdong Province, near Hong Kong, in 1987, on a tourist visa, he never performed in the Chinese mainland. According to various reports, he tried to obtain the Chinese government's permission to perform in 1993 and at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The IMMORTAL World Tour, which has grossed about US$300 million globally since October 2011, will perform at the Beijing Mastercard Center from August 8 to August 11. The show will then tour to Shanghai and Hong Kong over the next two weekends.
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