On Nov 8, 1996, Michael Jackson’s plane touched down at Auckland Airport. He’d come to New Zealand to play two nights of his HIStory World Tour, and the country had a welcome ready for him.
The man standing on the tarmac to meet him was one of New Zealand’s most loved entertainers.
His name was Sir Howard Morrison.
If you didn’t grow up in New Zealand, here’s who he was. Morrison was a Maori singer from the Te Arawa people, born in Rotorua on Aug 18, 1935. In 1990, he was knighted for services to entertainment. His recording of “How Great Thou Art” spent five weeks at No. 1 in New Zealand, and it’s the song he’s best known for.
Here’s that famous recording, so you can hear the voice that was waiting for Michael.
Sir Howard Morrison singing “How Great Thou Art”
Morrison didn’t come empty-handed. At the airport, he gave Michael a pendant made of New Zealand greenstone, which is a green jade.
Then the two men greeted each other with a hongi.
The hongi is the traditional Maori greeting. Two people press their noses together, often with their foreheads touching too. It’s how they share the ha, “the breath of life,” and it’s used at major ceremonies such as a powhiri. Getty Images news footage from that day shows Michael receiving the greenstone pendant and the hongi greeting from Morrison on the tarmac.
This fan upload looks back at Michael in New Zealand that year, so you can get a feel for the visit.
Michael Jackson in New Zealand in 1996
The welcome didn’t end at the airport.
When Michael arrived at the Carlton Hotel, conch shells were blown as he walked in. He was then given a powhiri, a formal Maori welcome ceremony. Morrison was there again, explaining the welcome to his guest, and he sang a hymn while Michael listened.
For a man who’d been greeted by crowds all over the world, this was something different. A whole culture was welcoming him in its own way, with one of its most famous voices leading it.
There’s more from that week in this New Zealand feature on the 1996 visit, shared by a fan.
A 1996 New Zealand feature on Michael’s visit
Then it was time to work. Michael played Auckland’s Ericsson Stadium on Nov 9 and again on Nov 11, 1996. Across those two nights, 86,000 tickets went to fans. You may also hear the venue called Mount Smart Stadium. It’s the same place, and Ericsson was its sponsor’s name back then.
This concert footage is from Auckland during that run, so you can see the show those fans came for.
Michael Jackson’s HIStory concert in Auckland, 1996
Sir Howard Morrison passed away in 2009. Thirty years on, the picture of him on that tarmac with a gift in his hand, welcoming Michael the Maori way, is still a lovely one.
There may be another Jackson visit on the way. Michael’s brothers Marlon and Jackie Jackson now list an “Australia & New Zealand 2027” run on their official tour site, with dates “to be announced.”