Gary · Detroit · Los Angeles · 1958–2009
Five fingers, five places: 1 Harlem · 2 Detroit · 3 Pasadena · 4 Wembley · 5 Hollywood. Press one, or walk his life below, forwards or moonwalking back.
Twelve tiles · one life
Each tile is a real place, in the order it entered his story. Step on to light the next one, or moonwalk and glide back through the years. Arrow keys work too.
Tile 1 of 12 · Gary · 1950
2300 Jackson Street · Gary, Indiana
The family buys the small house in Gary where all the children grow up.
The Jacksons bought the two-bedroom house in January 1950; the boys slept in bunk beds in one bedroom and the girls on the living-room couch.
A granite memorial to Michael stands in the front yard.
A private family home, kept empty: look from the pavement, quietly. It is not open and not on our map.
Gary · Harlem · Detroit
1950
The Jacksons bought the two-bedroom house in January 1950; the boys slept in bunk beds in one bedroom and the girls on the living-room couch.
A granite memorial to Michael stands in the front yard. The family moved to California in 1969 and kept the house. Since 2021, road signs on I-80/94 have pointed drivers to the “Home of the World-Famous Jackson 5”.
A private family home, kept empty: look from the pavement, quietly. It is not open and not on our map.
Performers rub it for luck before they step to the microphone.
Their father drove the brothers to shows in Chicago and New York, and they won an amateur talent competition at the Apollo.
At Amateur Night there is no panel of judges: the audience decides. Performers rub the Tree of Hope for luck before they step to the microphone: a piece of a tree that stood outside the Lafayette Theater, cut down in 1934.
The historic theatre is closed for renovation; the Apollo Experience tour runs by reservation, Monday and Wednesday at 11am and 1pm and Saturday at 11am, $17.
2648 West Grand Boulevard
Motown signed the Jackson 5, five brothers from Gary, after an audition; the museum dates the signing to 1968.
The Motown Museum keeps Studio A here, with original instruments and recording equipment from 1959 to 1972.
Tours are paused while the museum builds next door; it plans to reopen in spring 2027. See the house from West Grand Boulevard until then.
Harlem, New York · Mon & Wed 11am, 1pm · Sat 11am · $17
A guided tour from the Apollo while its historic theatre is renovated. Book ahead: tours must be scheduled in advance.
Book a tour8447 Beverly Boulevard · Studio A
Westlake credits its Studio A, on Beverly Boulevard, with Thriller; Bad was made at Westlake too.
14 Apr 1982. The sessions begin at noon with “The Girl Is Mine”.
A working studio, not open to visitors: see it from Beverly Boulevard.
300 East Green Street, Pasadena
Run a finger or the pointer over the rhinestones until the glove gives up its night.
0 of 279 rhinestones catching the light.
16 May 1983
On Motown 25, broadcast on 16 May 1983, he showed the moonwalk, a backward gliding step he adapted from street dance.
He debuted one rhinestone-covered white glove in the same performance. He wore a black fedora; a Los Angeles Times critic called it his unofficial coronation as the King of Pop.
The 3,000-seat theatre was dedicated in 1932 and is on the National Register of Historic Places; it hosted Motown 25. A working 3,000-seat theatre: go to a show.
Downtown and Angelino Heights · 1983
Move the pointer, or drag a finger, to sweep the torch.
It was a backdrop for his 1983 short film Thriller.
The Palace opened in 1911 as the third Los Angeles home of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit; it is the oldest remaining original Orpheum theatre in the US. The nearly 14-minute film, directed by John Landis, is the only music video in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. In October 2024 it held its first Thriller event in 40 years, the marquee honouring him and Vincent Price.
Opens for special events and screenings; the front and marquee are free to see from Broadway.
Its exterior is the house in the climax of the 1983 Thriller video.
The Queen Anne house was built for Michael Sanders in 1887. It has since been converted to duplex housing.
A private home, now flats: see it from the street, quietly. Not on our map.
Los Angeles
Live marketplace results for Michael Jackson and Thriller location tours in Los Angeles. Check each itinerary.
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Compare toursWembley · Bad tour · 1988
On the Bad tour in 1988 he played seven sold-out shows here to 504,000 people, a Guinness world record at the time.
Tickets went on sale over the counter in November 1987, with mile-long queues around the stadium. Bon Jovi were the last band to play the old Wembley, in 2000; the new stadium’s first concerts came in June 2007.
The stadium was rebuilt on the same site; go for a match or a concert.
Pasadena · 31 January 1993
He opened by standing perfectly still for two whole minutes while the crowd roared.
He held 120 seconds.
He played the Super Bowl XXVII half-time show here on 31 January 1993. He closed with “Heal the World”, with more than 3,500 children on the field; nearly 1.3 billion people watched worldwide.
A working stadium in the Arroyo Seco: go for a game or a concert.
6925 Hollywood Boulevard · January 2012
Wet cement in the Chinese Theatre forecourt.
It was the first time the theatre honoured a celebrity after his death. On the Walk of Fame, he was the first celebrity with two stars in the same category: one with the Jacksons in 1980, his own in 1984.
The forecourt is open to anyone walking along Hollywood Boulevard.
On 7 July 2009 more than 20,000 fans came to his public memorial here, then the Staples Center; more than 30 million watched on television.
He died at his home in Los Angeles on 25 June 2009, aged 50. The arena became Crypto.com Arena on Christmas Day 2021.
MJ, the stage musical about him, continues at the Neil Simon; it won four Tony Awards in 2022.
The London production closed on 28 February 2026; a UK tour follows in 2027. Performances are booking to 30 May 2027, with tickets from $68 to $533.
He was accused of child sexual abuse; he settled one case in 1993, and in June 2005 a California jury acquitted him of all ten charges in the case that went to trial (CBS News).
Michael, the 2026 film by Antoine Fuqua with his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead, ends in the Bad era and leaves the allegations out (NPR).
Hollywood
At 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, about 150 metres from his prints at the Chinese Theatre. Opened in 1927; David Hockney painted the bottom of its pool in 1988. Pictured: his star on the Walk of Fame.
Check roomsDowntown Los Angeles
A 1926 hotel at 939 South Figueroa Street, steps from the arena where his memorial was held. Pictured: Crypto.com Arena.
Check rooms10 places you can visit. The family house at 2300 Jackson Street and the house on Carroll Avenue are private homes and are not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Tours are paused while the museum builds next door; it plans to reopen in spring 2027. See the house from West Grand Boulevard until then.
2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit
The Motown Museum keeps Studio A here, with original instruments and recording equipment from 1959 to 1972.
Tours are paused while the museum builds next door; it plans to reopen in spring 2027. See the house from West Grand Boulevard until then.
Stay
A 1927 hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, a short walk from his prints, and a 1926 hotel by the arena downtown.
Hollywood
At 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, about 150 metres from his prints at the Chinese Theatre. Opened in 1927; David Hockney painted the bottom of its pool in 1988. Pictured: his star on the Walk of Fame.
Check roomsDowntown Los Angeles
A 1926 hotel at 939 South Figueroa Street, steps from the arena where his memorial was held. Pictured: Crypto.com Arena.
Check roomsGo there
The Apollo’s tour in Harlem, and Los Angeles tours on the open market.
Harlem, New York · Mon & Wed 11am, 1pm · Sat 11am · $17
A guided tour from the Apollo while its historic theatre is renovated. Book ahead: tours must be scheduled in advance.
Book a tourLos Angeles
Live marketplace results for Michael Jackson and Thriller location tours in Los Angeles. Check each itinerary.
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Compare toursWhat’s on
The musical is booking at the Neil Simon Theatre into May 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
His autobiography and three Epic LPs. There are no original posters for him in our store, so we have not added any.
Michael Jackson
His autobiography, first published in 1988.
Find the bookMichael Jackson · LP, Epic, 1979
Released on Epic in August 1979.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyMichael Jackson · LP, Epic, 1982
Made in Westlake’s Studio A, April to November 1982.
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Find a copyMichael Jackson · LP, Epic, 1987
Also made at Westlake; the tour reached Wembley in 1988.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 15 of 15 Moments
Gary, Indiana
The family buys the small house in Gary where all the children grow up.
Indiana puts up road signs to the Jackson 5’s home.
2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit
Motown signs the Jackson 5; their first four records go to Number 1.
253 West 125th Street, Harlem
The brothers win an amateur talent competition at the Apollo.
8447 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles
Thriller is made in Studio A, from April to November.
Twenty-two days after the last mix, Thriller is in the shops.
300 East Green Street, Pasadena
On Motown 25 he glides backwards across the stage in one sequinned glove.
630 South Broadway, downtown Los Angeles
The Palace’s marquee becomes a backdrop for the nearly 14-minute Thriller.
Angelino Heights, Los Angeles
An 1887 house on Carroll Avenue plays the climax of the film.
6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
A second Walk of Fame star, his own, after the Jacksons’ in 1980.
His children press his shoes and his glove into the forecourt.
Wembley, north-west London
Seven sold-out nights at Wembley on the Bad tour.
1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena
He stands still for two minutes before a note of the half-time show.
1111 South Figueroa Street, downtown Los Angeles
More than 20,000 fans at his public memorial.
250 West 52nd Street, New York
The musical wins four Tony Awards and keeps running.
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