In a recent appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live,’ Nicole Avant, daughter of the late music executive Clarence Avant, shed light on her father’s initial hesitation in promoting Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ tour in 1987.
During the episode, Kimmel showed a picture of Nicole, her family, and Michael Jackson to the audience. Upon seeing it, she reminisced:
“That was 1988, and we were in France — my mom, my dad, my brother Alex, and then Michael Jackson.”
Kimmel then asked her to confirm whether her father was reluctant to promote MJ. As shared by Nicole, when approached to promote Jackson’s first solo tour for the LP ‘Bad,’ Clarence was reluctant to hit the road with the King of Pop:
“He didn’t really know anything about promotions, so he didn’t think, but Michael said, ‘You’re going to be the perfect person; I want you in charge. We’re going to travel; we’re just going to do a world tour.’ It was my mom who convinced my dad, ‘This is great! This is great for the kids, this is great for all of us. We’re going to travel as a family!’ And we did; we got to be with one of the greatest.”
She then fondly remembered the times she watched MJ perform in backstage:
“Backstage, yeah. I would get up early and watch him rehearse; you know, that was a show in itself.”
In a 2016 interview with Variety, Clarence himself recalled the tour upon seeing a promotional poster among his memorabilia:
“Michael’s first-ever tour without his brothers. Do you know who put that one together? [taps himself on the chest, then chuckles] Turned him down three times, too.”
The ‘Bad’ tour turned out to be monumental, with 123 shows that began in Japan in September 1987 and concluded in the U.S. in January 1989. The tour grossed an impressive $125 million, positioning it as the second highest-grossing tour of the 1980s, only behind Pink Floyd’s ‘Momentary Lapse of Reason’ tour.
Clarence Alexander Avant passed away earlier this year on August 13, two years after his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
You can watch the interview below.
