When Michael Jackson played Neyland Stadium, no ticket tax, rain or drama kept fans away

Forty years ago this weekend, Michael Jackson became one of the legendary few artists ever to perform at Neyland Stadium. The King of Pop's three-night run in Knoxville brought with it drama of every kind.

A convention the same August 1984 weekend meant hotel rooms were nearly impossible to find. Death threats almost forced Jackson to cancel, and rain poured down on opening night.

When the tour left after the third performance, it still owed Knoxville a grand sum of $40,000.

A verbal agreement between UT officials and tour promoters was enough to generate the first rumblings around the city, even before the excitement - and upset - surrounding the Neyland concert peaked.

"Jackson Tour May 'Beat It' to Knoxville," read a June 28, 1984, Knoxville News Sentinel headline teasing the potential performance at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville venue.

'Workin' Day and Night'

By July 3, a different topic had made News Sentinel headlines: Could Knox County collect a 5% amusement tax on tickets? The answer, apparently, depended on whether Neyland Stadium could be considered a theater, in which case it would be exempt.

County law director Dale Workman was skeptical ahead of plans to meet with James Jones, the tour promoters' attorney.

"I told him I was willing to have him show me how Neyland Stadium is a theater," Workman told the News Sentinel in 1984.

Workman later ruled Neyland was indeed not a theater - a decision insiders said could bring in as much as $170,000 for Knox County, the News Sentinel reported July 12, 1984.

Worries arose as the event drew closer that no one from out of town - fans or the Jacksons - would have a place to stay. The four major downtown hotels of the era had signed a joint contract to bring the AMVETS convention to town, and thus there was little available in the way of rooms near the city's center.

The Jacksons would have to stay at the Airport Hilton, the News Sentinel reported July 4, 1984, a prediction that turned out to be correct.

Visitors' frantic vying for hotel rooms made Bill Housley, director of sales for Knoxville Convention and Visitors Bureau, recall the World's Fair of just two years earlier, the News Sentinel reported Aug. 4.

Fans and haters await MJ's arrival in Knoxville

Even in 1984, people had it out for Jackson.

"All I hear is Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson," Anne Burnett, an employee at the Kingston Pike Cat's Records and Tapes, complained to the News Sentinel on Aug. 5.

Self-described "22-year-old closet Jackson fan" and News Sentinel reporter Todd Copilevitz defended Jackson from the haters in one 1984 article.

"Michael Jackson. The mere mention of his name brought a look of dismay to a co-worker's face. 'My 2-year-old thinks Michael Jackson is the one running for president,' he said," Copilevitz wrote. "Obviously, he did not comprehend the significance of the sequin-gloved wonder."

Another Jackson defender was Beth Wolfe, who wrote a letter to the editor in 1984.

"I am 15 and a truly devoted Michael Jackson fan. I have over 100 posters of him and the Jackson 5 and Jackson's records," Wolfe wrote. "But that is not why I am writing to you. Why is everyone blaming Michael for all of the things going wrong with the Victory Tour and the high prices of the tickets?"

That high ticket price was $29.75, but the time it took to purchase one was even costlier. At the Millers Department Store at West Town Mall on the afternoon of July 27, the average wait to get Michael Jackson tickets was eight hours, the News Sentinel reported the day after.

That price was enough to send at least one person over the edge. An anonymous letter sent to the News Sentinel read: "$30 a ticket is too damn high. Michael Jackson too damn greedy for money. His damn brothers too. When Michael comes to Knoxville I will assassinate him. He will die."

The letter was deemed a hoax, but it wasn't the only death threat Jackson received prior to playing in Knoxville. With the arrival of a second letter to UT - racist and more violent than the first - the tour was briefly called off. But with added security precautions, it was decided the show would go on, the News Sentinel reported Aug. 7, 1984.

Jackson was invited to the Guinness Book of World Records Museum in Gatlinburg for the unveiling of his wax figure lookalike while in East Tennessee, the News Sentinel reported July 19, 1984. It's worth noting that there were more than 30 News Sentinel stories published related to Michael Jackson's visit to town.

...And the crowd goes wild

The Saturday, Aug. 11, show was the most popular, and the crowd didn't have to face the rain from the night before. Attendees heard songs like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean," according to Setlist.fm.

Marlon, Tito, Randy and Jermaine Jackson performed with Michael Jackson, and lasers and dry ice added to the ambiance, the News Sentinel reported Aug. 12, 1984.

"The Jackson magic in Neyland Stadium last night enthralled the largest audience yet to see the show," the News Sentinel reported Aug. 12, 1984.

There were 50,239 people in attendance on Aug. 11, Jim Murray, spokesperson for Stadium Management Corp., told the News Sentinel in 1984.

"They stood, they cheered, they screamed, they danced. And some even cried," according to the News Sentinel on Aug. 12. "But they never sat down during the entire 110-minute show last night."

The tour did leave town still owing $40,000 for Knoxville-provided security and traffic control but finally paid the last bill on Aug. 23, 1984, the News Sentinel reported.

Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: When Michael Jackson played Neyland Stadium, no ticket tax, rain or drama kept fans away