November 13th 1989. “You Were There” was performed by Michael at the Shrine Auditorium - for the first and only time - after which he was heard saying he would never sing the song again, (which he never did) as it was “Sammy’s song”.
The night before the tribute show, Michael and Buz Kohan, who wrote the script, went in the rehearsal hall and wrote a song. They arranged it overnight, and the night of the show was the first time he’d ever sung it. He wanted to sing something that really related to Sammy.
Sammy Davis Jr. had helped to ease racial tensions and break down the walls separating the different races. This lead directly to Michael’s tribute and brought tears to his idol, who was then battling throat cancer and was unable to speak due to the surgery. Michael stood relatively still behind the microphone stand delivering the song only a few feet away from Davis. After Michael finished the performance with one hand raised in the air, he walked over to Sammy and hugged him warmly.
The show won an Emmy and was Sammy Davis Jr’s last public appearance; he passed away May 16th, just weeks after the program was first broadcast on February 4th 1990.
