A look back at the King of Pop Michael Jackson’s low-key visit to Dubai away from the spotlight.
Dubai: In August 2005, Michael Jackson arrived in Dubai with little fanfare. Fresh from being cleared of all criminal charges earlier that year, the King of Pop was seeking breathing room away from the relentless paparazzi attention that followed him across the United States. Dubai, it seemed, offered exactly that.
Jackson had spent a couple of months in Bahrain as a guest of the royal family before making his way to the emirate, where he was welcomed by Emirati rally champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The two were photographed together, with Jackson dressed in a blue shirt and his signature fedora, as he was shown around a city that was still very much taking shape.
He toured Palm Jumeirah while it was still under construction, visited The World Islands, and took in the Burj Al Arab. Along the way, he was also said to have shown interest in buying property in Dubai.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem later spoke warmly about his time with Michael Jackson.
“The guy is a gentleman,” he told AP. “I’ve met people who weren’t even 10 per cent as famous as he is, and they are much harder to deal with. He wants to see more of this area. He likes it here.”
Buffalo wings and autographs
One of the more memorable stops during Michael Jackson’s visit was the now-closed Hard Rock Cafe on Sheikh Zayed Road. Jackson sat down for lunch, ordered a plate of Buffalo wings, and happily signed autographs for the staff.
But the meal came with an unexpected moment.
“Halfway through his meal, he asked us to bring in his shoes, which were on display at the restaurant,” General Manager John Hall recalled in a 2018 interview with Gulf News. “He looked at them carefully and said, ‘Yeah, they’re mine. Could you bring me a marker please?’ He then re-signed his name and ‘Dubai’ on them, and gave them back to us to display.”
Those shoes, along with his jacket and hat, remained on display at the cafe.
Comedian and close friend Chris Tucker later spoke about the visit during a stand-up show in Abu Dhabi, recalling that the two also made a trip to Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates during that week.
A return visit
Michael Jackson returned to Dubai in November 2005 to attend a gala marking the end of the UAE Desert Challenge rally event, where he helped present awards to the winners.
After leaving Dubai that August, he also spent time in Oman, where he was shown around by the country’s current ruler, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, who was serving in the Foreign Ministry at the time.
It was a quieter, more personal chapter in the life of one of the world’s most watched figures. Four years later, on 25 June 2009, Michael Jackson died from cardiac arrest at the age of 50. The cause was ruled as a lethal combination of sedatives and the anaesthetic Propofol.
He left behind 10 studio albums and five soundtrack albums. Two additional records featuring unreleased material were released after his death.
