Most of us have a bad day at work now and then. But very few bad days are as scary as the one Michael Jackson had in January 1984.
At that time, Michael was the biggest pop star on the planet. His album Thriller had made him famous worldwide, and big companies wanted him to sell their products. Pepsi, the soda brand, signed Michael and his brothers, a family band called The Jacksons, to star in a TV commercial.
On January 27, 1984, they filmed the ad at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. About 3,000 people filled the seats to make it look like a real concert. Michael was just 25 years old. The plan was simple. He would walk down a staircase while small fireworks went off behind him and a Pepsi version of his hit song “Billie Jean” played.
Michael Jackson Hair on Fire With Pepsi Commercial 1984 [HD]
On the sixth take, something went badly wrong. A firework went off too close to him and set his hair on fire. For a few seconds, Michael did not even know he was burning. He kept dancing while flames rose from the back of his head. Then his brothers and the crew rushed over to put the fire out.
Michael was rushed to the hospital with serious burns on his scalp. He was later moved to the burn unit at Brotman Memorial Hospital in Culver City, California. Even after he healed, he kept coming back to visit other burn patients there.
Pepsi paid Michael $1.5 million to settle the case. He did not keep a single dollar. He gave it all to the hospital that treated him, and it named its burn unit the Michael Jackson Burn Center.
Michael Jackson Documentary Explores The Pepsi Accident That Altered His Life | TMZ Explains
Just one month after the accident, Michael walked into the Grammy Awards and won a record-breaking eight trophies in one night.
The burns left him with pain and hair loss for years. But what still touches people is what he chose to do next. He took the worst day of his career and turned it into help for strangers who were hurting just like he was.