Years later, she could laugh about it on TV. At the time, she was 17 and her mind had gone completely blank.
It was the fall of 1991. Michael Jackson was making the video for “Black or White,” the first single from his new album, Dangerous. He had a big idea for the ending. People of every color and background would sing along, and then their faces would melt smoothly into one another, one after the next.
Nobody had really seen that in a music video before. Until then, the effect had only turned up in big Hollywood movies.
One of those faces belonged to a young model from Los Angeles. She reportedly got the part mostly because she was a local girl, and she had no idea how much pressure she was about to feel.
She later told the story on a TV talk show. First, the dancers were taken into a room and shown the moves they’d need to do. She felt good about it. She had them down.
Then everyone walked onto the set. The music got turned up loud, the bright lights came on, and every step she’d just learned was gone.
So what do you do when you’re 17, the cameras are rolling for Michael Jackson’s new video, and you can’t remember a single move?
You think fast. Whatever she came up with lasts about four seconds on screen. Once you know to look for it, though, it’s very hard to miss.
Keep your eyes on the faces as they start to change near the end of the song.
Michael’s “Black or White” video, with her four seconds near the end
Did you spot her? If you did, you probably knew her right away.
That nervous teenager was Tyra Banks.
Within a few years she was one of the most famous models in the world. She landed magazine covers all over the globe and walked the runway as a Victoria’s Secret Angel. Later she created and hosted America’s Next Top Model, where she spent years coaching young women who were just as nervous as she’d been that day.
In 2019, Tyra sat down for a chat on Access Live and looked back at her early days. That included her magazine covers, her part on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the day she walked onto Michael’s set. Here she is telling it in her own words.
Tyra remembers her day on the “Black or White” set
When “Black or White” premiered on November 14, 1991, it was shown in dozens of countries at the same time. About 500 million people reportedly tuned in, which Guinness World Records lists as the biggest TV audience ever for a music video premiere.
Most of them were watching Michael, of course. Very few of them could have guessed that one of the faces near the end belonged to a future star.