For most of his life, Michael Jackson couldn’t walk into a store without causing a stampede. So in January 2006, he tried something nobody expected.
He showed up at a shopping mall in Bahrain completely covered in a black abaya, a face veil and gloves.
It almost worked.
The disguise came at one of the lowest points of Michael’s life. In June 2005, he was acquitted on all counts at the end of a brutal, months-long criminal trial that had been covered around the clock by the world’s media.
Exhausted, Michael left the United States. He accepted an invitation from Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a son of Bahrain’s king, and moved to the small Gulf kingdom with his three children.
For the first time in years, he had a real chance at a quiet life.
Michael wanted to do something most of us take for granted: go shopping with his kids.
So he covered himself from head to toe in traditional women’s clothing, the kind that hides almost every feature. No famous face, no signature hat, no sequined glove.
But photographers still caught on, and within hours the pictures were everywhere.
Michael Jackson disguised in a Bahrain shopping mall (2006):
Some people laughed. Others saw something sadder. Here was one of the most famous men on the planet, going to extreme lengths just to spend an ordinary afternoon with his children, and still unable to pull it off.
Michael’s time in Bahrain wasn’t only about hiding. He and Sheikh Abdullah planned to launch a record label together, and Michael worked on new music while he was there, including a charity song for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The partnership later fell apart. In 2008, the Sheikh took Michael to court in London over money he said he’d advanced for projects that never materialized. The case was settled out of court before it finished.
In 2006, Michael left Bahrain and spent time in Ireland, recording at a quiet countryside studio. Eventually he returned to the US and began planning his comeback, which would become the This Is It concerts.
The abaya photos became one of the strangest images of Michael’s life. But look closer and they tell a simple story. Behind the King of Pop was a dad who just wanted a normal day out with his kids.
Even in disguise, the world wouldn’t let him have it.