Prince Jackson is the oldest son of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. He doesn’t do a lot of television, so when he sat down this week on the KTLA 5 Morning News in Los Angeles, fans leaned in to watch.
Then the anchor put him on the spot.
Jessica Holmes, who hosts the KTLA 5 Morning News, asked Prince to do his father’s famous “Thriller” choreography right there on the air. Everybody knows that routine. You’ve seen it a thousand times, the claw hands and the stiff little zombie walk that has been scaring and delighting people since 1983.
Prince politely said no.
And here’s the sweet part. He told KTLA that he couldn’t do it out of respect for his father. That was his reason, nothing about nerves or a sore back, just a son who didn’t feel right copying the man who made those moves famous.
But he went further than that. He had a confession about why he steers clear of the routine, and it goes back to the making of this year’s movie about his dad.
Prince was an executive producer on “Michael,” the big film about his father’s life. He has said being on set was a privilege and the experience of a lifetime, working shoulder to shoulder with people at the top of their craft. He was around for just about everything, including the day they recreated the “Thriller” video.
To film those scenes, the crew learned the dance so everyone could do it together, and Prince jumped in with them. He told KTLA he was keeping up just fine right up until the routine reached one particular move.
The hip shake.
That was where he tapped out. He said that as soon as they got to the part where you shake your hips, that was it for him, and he wasn’t doing it.
You can’t really blame him. Michael could make that one little move look loose and cool and completely natural. The rest of us, his own son included, tend to feel a bit silly trying it.
This isn’t the first time Prince has owned up to not having his dad’s moves. Years ago he said the very same thing with a laugh, and it’s become a gentle running joke in the family.
Here he is back in 2018, telling TODAY that he can’t dance like his father while he keeps up his dad’s charity work.
Prince Jackson in 2018, laughing that he can’t dance like his dad
Now take another look at the move itself. This is the original “Thriller,” the short film that started all of it, and the hip shake Prince won’t touch is right there in the middle of the number.
Michael Jackson’s original “Thriller” short film
It’s a lovely little window into who Prince is. He could have hammed it up for the cameras and got an easy laugh. Instead he set the dance aside out of love for his father and told the story with a smile.