#OnThisDay March 25th, 1983. Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, a television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's 25th year and broadcasted on NBC on May 16.
Among its highlights were #MichaelJackson's performance of "Billie Jean". As the other members of the Jackson 5 left the stage, Michael transitioned dramatically into his own solo spot.
Widely hailed as his breakthrough performance as a solo artist, he danced while singing to his own pre recorded vocals of "Billie Jean", which at the time was in the middle of a seven-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 music charts and was the only non-Motown song performed on the show.
This was also the first time he performed what would become his most famous signature move, the moonwalk.
Michael Jackson and The Jacksons recorded what became a moment in musical history for the 25th Motown Anniversary. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
Michael Jackson's passage from music superstar to a world historical and cultural figure was ritually enacted on May 16, 1983, with his mythic dance performance of the 'moonwalk' on the Motown 25 television special, which was beamed to almost 50 million viewers around the globe. Jackson's uncanny dexterity, disciplined grace, and explosive imagination coalesced in a series of immortal movements, which, in their turn, freeze-framed the recrudescent genius of street dance, summarized the important history of Fred Astaire-like purposeful grace in executing dance steps, and extended the brilliant tradition of African-American performers like Bojangles, Sammy Davis, and Katherine Dunham surging against the odds to create vital art. The grand finale of Motown 25 reinforced this notion that the 'real' sound of Motown belonged to 'Yesterday' rather than 'Today'.
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