Jackson performed "Billie Jean" on the television special
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, broadcast on May 15, 1983. The special was recorded on March 25 as a celebration of
Motown Records' twenty-fifth anniversary (Motown was launched in 1959). The event featured many popular Motown acts, past and present. Jackson initially refused an invitation to reunite with the Jackson 5 for a performance, but reconsidered after a visit from Motown founder
Berry Gordy, whom Jackson respected. Jackson asked to also perform "Billie Jean", which ended up being the only non-Motown song on the show, to which Gordy agreed. Following performances by
Marvin Gaye,
Smokey Robinson, and
Mary Wells, the Jacksons sang a medley of their early 1970s hits.
Jermaine Jackson was on stage with the group, marking the first time that the original
Jackson 5 lineup had performed together since they left Motown in 1975. After the group performed "
I'll Be There", they left Michael alone on stage. Jackson wore black
high-water pants, leather
penny loafers,
crystal-laden white socks, a black
sequined jacket, and a single white rhinestone glove. He addressed the audience, and then "Billie Jean" started playing. (Jackson lip-synced the entire song, because organizers feared that the evening's backing band could not replicate the sound of the recording.) Jackson glided backwards to perform the
moonwalk, before he spun on his heels and landed
en pointe. It was the first time Jackson had performed the moonwalk in public; he had practiced it in his kitchen prior to the show. Many, including Jackson biographer Steve Knopper, have speculated that Jackson's "Billie Jean" costuming and choreography were specifically inspired by a dance routine performed by
Bob Fosse in the 1974 musical film
The Little Prince. Jackson openly acknowledged Fosse as a dance influence, having told Fosse himself that he had amassed a complete home collection of Fosse's choreography work in film and television, which he watched frequently. With the performance, Jackson reached a new audience and increased the sales of
Thriller, which eventually became the best-selling album of all-time. The day after the show aired, Jackson was called by his childhood idol
Fred Astaire, who commended him. Another childhood idol,
Sammy Davis Jr., had admired Jackson's black sequined jacket during the performance and later received it as a gift. Jackson stated at the time that he was disappointed in his performance; he had wanted to remain on his toes longer than he had. Jackson subsequently said that "Billie Jean" was one of his favorite songs to perform live, but only when he did not have to do it the way he had on
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. "The audience wants a certain thing—I have to do the moonwalk in that spot," he later said. "I'd like to do a different version." In a Top 100 list compiled by
VH1 and
Entertainment Weekly in 2000, Jackson's performance was ranked as the sixth greatest
rock 'n' roll TV moment. Five years later,
Entertainment Weekly named Jackson's
Motown 25 performance as one of the most important pop culture moments in history. "It was a moment that crossed over in a way that no live musical performance ever had. There was a messianic quality to it",
Entertainment Weekly editor Steve Daly commented. David Moynihan of
NME wrote in 2009 that "Jackson's status as the world's biggest superstar was confirmed" by the
Motown 25 performance. ==Pepsi commercials==