Neverland & Fans
The ranch and the people outside it. Neverland's rides and zoo, the fan gatherings and impersonators, the memorabilia, and the scale of a following that followed him everywhere.
Part of Michael Jackson
12 moments in this segment.
- - Fan frenzy - arriving in Japan (1987). AP archive of the mania that met Michael everywhere, fans mobbing his every arrival.
- - Fans faint at the sight of him. The Beatlemania-scale hysteria, fans fainting and weeping at his mere presence.
- - Fan frenzy - the sunglasses moment. The crowd erupts as Michael simply removes his sunglasses, the scale of the hysteria.
- - Fan-cam - a "Billie Jean" surprise. Audience footage of the electricity when "Billie Jean" begins live.
- - Fans demonstrate against Sony (2002). In 2002 Michael publicly feuded with his label; fans demonstrated outside Sony in London on his behalf.
- - The fans. Wherever Michael went, the fans followed in their millions, a devotion few entertainers have known. The subject dates from 1988; this photograph was taken in 2004.
- - Fans outside the courthouse (2005). Italian fans keep vigil outside the Santa Maria courthouse during the 2005 trial.
- - Neverland Ranch. In 1988 Michael builds Neverland Ranch, a private fairground and zoo, which became both a symbol of his fame and, later, the centre of the allegations against him. The subject dates from 1988; this photograph was taken in 2009.
- - The Hollywood Walk of Fame star. Michael’s star on the Walk of Fame became a shrine after his death.
- - Inside Neverland (2009). A walk through the by-then-shuttered Neverland Ranch after his death.
- - The Holmby Hills home. The Los Angeles mansion where Michael spent his final years and died in 2009.
- - Kingvention - the fan conventions. Years after his death, fan conventions like Kingvention keep the King of Pop’s community alive.
