飛機出現在人們的視野中，無數人群開始激動起來“是他，是他”一個聲音從混亂的人群中傳來。其他人又開始大叫起來“就是他，就是他”。興奮之情明顯起來，越來越多的人開始大喊“就是他，就是他，那是Michael! Michael! Michael!
1992年慕尼黑的機場擠滿了數以千計的人，因為世界上最偉大的流行歌星準備拉開他單飛生涯的第二次巡演。雖然人群很有秩序，但當載著Michael Jackson的飛機將要著陸的時候，包括我在內的所有人都狂熱的期待著。Michael不僅是世界上最偉大的表演家之一，也是最神秘的人之一，現在我們將有機會親眼見到他。我不知道的是我將與Michael有一段短暫（指時間短）的友誼，有機會看到這位娛樂界傳奇的幕後一面。
那是6月，Michael 危險之旅巡迴的開始，這次巡演將要打破世界記錄，並將史無前例的鞏固他作為那時最偉大的表演家的地位。那是一次令人驚奇的表演。巡演的首場於6月27日在慕尼黑奧林匹克體育場舉行，Michael在超過72,000的人前表演。巡演計劃持續一年半，於1993年11月在墨西哥城結束，儘管因為Michael的身體，有些場次被取消了，他共表演67場，預計有3千5百萬人觀看。期間，他把所有收益捐給慈善機構包括他自己建立的“拯救地球基金會”，他在羅馬尼亞布加勒斯特演唱會版權以2千萬美元賣給HBO。這也像《Dangerous 危險》專輯一樣，創造了另一項世界記錄，它是有線電視史上的最高收視率節目，達到34%，並獲得“有線電視王牌獎”。它的舞台佈置也是驚人的，這得花三天時間完成，用貨運飛機運輸20卡車的設備到每個國家。
對我來說，我將展開我職業生涯中最刺激的冒險。作為Michael的司機和接機人，我有幸與他相處了4個月。在機場大廳接機時，我常被警察護衛隊包圍著，幾乎走不出去，更別說那些人群了。人群中的嘶喊“Michael爾”聚集起來形成震耳欲聾的轟鳴聲，感覺大地都在震顫。然而這還不算什麼，當飛機門打開穿著一貫軍士套裝，帶著紅色口罩向歌迷招手的Michael走出來，人群發出的呼喊聲就像能巴伐利亞森林中的每棵樹中迴盪。保安人員設法維持欣喜若狂的人群，但他們幾乎無法控制這些歇斯底里的人。我為許多有名的人開過車，但從沒見過公眾對Michael Jackson的這種反應。
開始工作時，我與Michael 本人基本沒打交道，我在他隨行人員的第三架車裡為他的保鏢開車，Michael 通常坐專門定制的迷你型橋車出行，車裡有著奢華的飲食和睡眠的設施。從一開始，你就知道他可不是一般的超級巨星。我們所到之處，道路和交通都被他的到來堵塞，一個警察護送隊為我們在城中開道，人群更加瘋狂。護送隊無法將我們三輛車同時護送穿城，只有一輛輛的來。 Michael坐在車裡，他的司機是Stan，我跟著前兩輛車。
然我的對講機響起“Keith”Stan呼叫道“我們後面發生什麼事了？” 我看了看後視鏡，最先我看到有幾輛摩托車，然後有幾輛加入進來然後更多輛加入進來，直到有幾打摩托尾隨在我們身後。突然，我的車被撞了一下，我們被一群40或50輛騎自行車的人尾隨著。 “我不喜歡這樣，stan” 我用對講機說到“我們得讓迷你轎車加速”。 我們三輛車都加了速，但那些自行車手一直能跟上我們不一會我們就被包圍了。又一會，他們穿插在我們三輛車中間試圖將我們分開。情況變的讓人恐慌。我的對講機又響起“我們這樣做”stan說“你盡量朝你方向的路邊靠，我往另一邊靠。我們兩車呈V字形急劇的與Michael的車拉開距離將自行車攔截下來。”我們確實這樣做了並奏效了，自行車手們不得不停下來。他們非常惱怒，咒罵我們，向我們吐吐沫，並試圖又穿插在我們中間，我們可沒退縮。我保持2英尺的距離尾隨在Michael車後，stan保持2英尺的距離尾隨在我後面，直到自行車手疲於追逐，調頭去其他地方了搞破壞去了，那時候Michael正在睡覺，他從未知道當時發生了什麼事情。
我還沒有正式的見過Michael，因為一個“災難”，我以為我要被解雇了，但事實上，我和他確成了朋友。Michael住在羅馬，他想去佛羅倫斯去看一幅他正在考慮購買的畫。大約有2000名歌迷聚集在酒店門口，想讓他出門上路可不是一件易事。於是他的保鏢想出一個對策。我們在酒店的各個出口都安排了車等候，Michael的座駕和警察護衛隊守候在大門口，最後在選擇坐哪輛車。突然我的對講機響起“keith，Michael要坐你的車”Michael的保鏢頭頭說到“準備好，我們馬上來找你”。 我打開車門，很快Michael就坐在了我身邊。我給Michael和一個朋友繫好安全帶，演唱會宣傳人的女兒坐在副駕位上。Michael從酒店到車裡只花了幾秒時間，但還是被人群看見了，尖叫聲一擁而上，不一會車就被歌迷包圍了。
兩個保安在我們前面清掃歇斯底里的圍觀者以便讓出車道，但車剛要啟動時，Michael 將手放在我肩膀上“停下”他大叫到“有人拿走了我朋友的帽子”。 我停下車很不高興，“這很不安全，Michael ”我說，保安一邊招手讓我們快走“這種情況下什麼都可能發生”我又準備啟動，
“不要走”Michael 大叫到“我想要那頂帽子”。
保安繼續清理道路，“快點”人群中一聲大吼到“快走啊，你必須動起來”
“我給你其他帽子嘛”坐在我旁邊的女孩說道。 “求你了，Michael，我們必須現在就走”
Michael同意了，人群開始敲打我們的車，我們終於啟動了。我們不得不往右轉幾個彎以便來到酒店大門，和保鏢銜接上，但當時交通管制很嚴格，我們不得不左轉到一條單行道上，我們走錯路了。 沒有可以掉回頭的路，我又左轉了幾次，突然我意識到我完全迷路了，更不要說Michael在我車後沒有保鏢保護。我又轉了幾圈，還是無果，完全找不到路了。我得告訴他們現在的情況“我迷路了”我說。
“沒關係”Michael輕聲說道“我們現在該怎麼辦？” 坐在我旁邊的姑娘可沒這麼鎮靜，“把我們帶回酒店”她大喊到“你不能在沒有保鏢的情況下，載著Michael在羅馬瞎逛，如果有人認出他怎麼辦，這會是個災難！” 她說的是有道理，Michael Jackson可是這個星球上最容易識別的人，那些歇斯底里的人也容易識別，即使他的歌迷都沒想傷害他，但這也有暴力事件發生的危險。而且，自從1980年約翰藍儂在紐約被刺殺，每個明星不得不更加注意安全。披頭四也許認為他們比耶穌都偉大，但是Michael在演藝界可以說比披頭四偉大。
必須快速做出決定。
“Michael”我說“你想讓我怎麼辦？我直接開到佛羅倫斯？”
Michael猶豫了會“我認為我們最好回到酒店”最後他說到，於是我又轉了幾圈終於找到回去的路。Michael一直都很鎮靜，但我想我還是能感覺到他有點緊張。終於，我找到了回去的路，但又有問題出現了。當車駛入酒店時，Michael躺在車內地板上以便歌迷看不到他，但在我們離酒店進口還有30步距離時，6輛車擋住了路，而此時又沒有保安在我們視野範圍內，“這沒什麼，Michael”我說“我們一頭跑進去吧，準備好”。 我身邊的姑娘先跑進酒店打招呼，我為Michael打開車門，一手圈著他，一手抵擋著認出他歇斯底里的人群。我們快速的穿過人群，走過旋轉門到達酒店，這時門童關上大門時卻發現Michael的朋友被困在外。 “讓他進來”我大喊道，那個朋友在人群湧入酒店之前進來了。
我徑直走上樓梯來到我的房間收拾行李，因為我確定經過這次風波後我肯定要被打回老家。過了一會我老闆進來了“你在幹什麼”他問。
“收拾，回家，不是嗎”
“你開什麼玩笑？”老闆問到“你可是單槍匹馬把他安全帶回酒店了，這通常需要9個保鏢才能做到，Michael很欣慰能回來，還對你大加讚賞”。 從那起，我與我認識的最和善的人之一開始了我們短暫的友誼。
我越了解他，我就越意識到人們關於他的談論完全是事實，雖然 Michael Jackson 是一個如此優秀的表演家，藝術家，商人，但他失去了童年而永遠無法彌補。儘管他很有商業觸覺，但他卻有一種奇怪的脆弱感，這幾乎想讓你擁抱他告訴他你會照顧他—我並不是一個多愁善感的人而說這話。Michael 喜歡玩具，玩具店，不論我們在歐洲的什麼地方，如果一看見玩具城，我們知道該在哪裡玩。
當我們在倫敦期間，Michael去了攝政街上最著名的玩具店Hamley’s，迪士尼的玩具店也在同一條街上，每一間玩具店都為了Michael將窗戶都拉上，如此一來Michael就能在私下到處看看。他花了數千英鎊買了一堆玩具，他特別喜愛魔術道具，同時他也買了一些遙控車，這些遙控車他就在Dorchester的走廊間裡開上開下的。當我們離開玩具店時，車子的後車箱以及後座全都被玩具塞滿了 - 另外，一些較特別的玩具他總是隨身攜帶，最後總是送到了兒童醫院，我們每一個造訪的城市都是如此。
不管Michael 住在哪兒，在他到達之前他的臥室裡都會安裝彈球機和電腦遊戲機，有次他在德國一個城市裡看到了他喜歡的旋轉木馬，於是就買下它並運往加州的Neverland。巡演期間他還帶了一個朋友，看見他們手拉手親密無間的友誼，我敢擔保任何時候都沒有一丁點不當之處。 人人都知道Michael 的朋友，人人都毫無問題的接受這種友誼。我們唯一的保留意見就是Michael 太開放的把自己置於含沙射影的情況中，事實上，這正發生在接下來的一年裡，稱他和青少年有不正當的關係。人們常常忘記沒有絲毫證據證明那些說法。
我了解他，我以前不相信現在也不會相信那些指控。首先，Michael 爾是如此真誠和善的一個人，我就是無法相信他能做出被指控的那些事。其次，當我在危險之旅巡迴期間為他工作時，他對待朋友的態度著實讓我吃驚，他就像一個大哥哥一樣。他可能是個音樂天才，但Michael Jackson 有時精神上就是個孩子，這也是他喜歡和孩子玩耍的原因。現在他自己的兩個孩子Prince和Paris肯定對他來說是世界上最重要的事，因為現在他與自己的孩子一起傾注他對兒童遊戲的熱愛。
雖然Michael 有著討人喜歡的溫柔性格，但在他身邊的人都很怕他，因為人們都知道他是誰。Michael 意識到了這點，但不知道怎麼應對。問題總是由擔任他30年保鏢總管的Bill Bray告訴他，因為當事情沒按計劃進行時其他人不敢說。就像你越出名，人們就越怕你一樣，我能理解高處不勝寒的感覺。 Bill是幾個少數不怕Michael 的人之一，不論什麼時候他告訴Michael 有人有事瞞著他，Michael 會困惑的說“為什麼他不直接來見我？”儘管我很興奮能見他，出於某些原因我可不怕他。我想普通人一樣對待他，這也許就是我們相處融洽的原因吧。 開始，他對我的倫敦口音很有興趣他還試著模仿。
“哈囉，朋友，你好嗎”他上車時會說。
“哈囉，Michael ，你好嗎”我用模仿他低沉溫柔的聲音回答。 他覺得這樣很有趣。
“哦，朋友”他說。
“是的，Michael ？”
“跟我說說倫敦的同韻俚語
於是我就講了。出於某些原因他對這個很感興趣並讓我教他。
“怎麼用倫敦同韻俚語說stairs”他問。
“Apples and pears”
“怎麼用倫敦同韻俚語說suit？”“Whistle and flute”
“怎麼用倫敦同韻俚語說cash？”“Bangers and mash”
“哦，朋友，這可真瘋狂” 這樣的對話持續了幾個小時。最後我給Michael 買了一本關於這個主題的書，Michael 顯然非常喜歡。
“這可真棒Keith，太感謝你了”當我遞給他書的時候。他坐在車裡看了幾小時這本書，當他發現特別的地方他會咯咯的笑起來。
有天，他對我說“我做在La-Di-Dah裡！”
“什麼，Michael ？”
“La-Di-Dah”他很準確的發出音，然後說“就是車！”
MICHAEL對我們到訪的城市很感興趣。但當我們真正到某城市去了，他卻得待在房間裡，他不可能出去不遭人圍住的。但當我們第一次去某個地方或開車去看演出，他對這些國家很好奇，因為它們與美國如此不同。出於某些原因，他對哥本哈根情有獨鍾。 「你願意住在這裡嗎？Keith」他問到。
「我不知道，Michael，我還沒怎麼看看這個地方呢」
他沉思了一會，然後宣布 :「我想去Tivoli公園」
在哥本哈根的最後一天，開完演唱會後，我們安排他去了哥本哈根最具娛樂性的Tivoli公園。那天是星期天，我們的安排十分隱秘，我們可不想吸引隨時都包圍在Michael身邊的人群。我們計劃悄悄的從側門把他帶入公園，然後在那渡過整個下午。Michael對所有的一切都異常興奮。
但當我們到達那裡，他的興奮轉變成了震驚和失望，因為已有攝影師、啦啦隊和一個樂隊守候在他要走的側門。他的第一反應就是掉頭往回走，我們花了15分鐘才說服他畢竟還是進公園看看，一旦進了公園，他還是自得其樂。我開車把他從一個地方載到另一個地方，他可不能在被圍住的情況下走路來來去去。他的反應就像一個興奮的孩子一樣「哦，太神奇了！」他說，他非常喜歡坐急轉輪桶，並堅持要坐兩次還讓我跟他一起玩。
「我不行， Michael，我還要看著車」我告訴他
「哦，Keith，你可真沒趣！」
Michael Jackson 在公園的消息沒一會就傳開了，人群開始聚集起來。Michael勉強決定玩一個小時就不得不離開，而原計劃他將在這渡過整個下午，取而代之，我們找了個當地司機帶我們去了哥本哈根的軍用和紀念品商店。Michael喜歡這些玩意。他花了大約兩個小時逛其中一個商店，買了幾套他愛穿的亮閃閃的套裝。
哥本哈根巡演期間，Michael過了生日，我們在他下榻的Frankfurt酒店為他舉行了生日派對。我們在戶外燒烤，人們在陽光照耀下的草地上非常放鬆，我們為Michael唱了“生日快樂”歌。Michael並沒有參加燒烤，因為每次他在公共場合路面都會被歌迷包圍，但有人送了生日蛋糕到他房間。 「這真的很好」Michael說道，他站在陽台上與崇拜他的人們分享了蛋糕。
回到德國漢堡，Michael和我相處的更加融洽。就像其他工作人員一樣，我也有了自己的迷你歌迷俱樂部 : 三個女孩，一個名叫Claudia的義大利人、一個叫Greta的德國人和一個叫Anna的西班牙人。在漢堡，有時當我不想待在酒店時，我們會一起去划船一小時。
回到酒店，我還在享受別人都不敢冒險嘗試的特權。有一天，我去游泳但發現Michael的兩個保鏢守衛在游泳池門口，我意識到Michael在裡面於是掉頭就走，但保鏢揮手示意我進去。
我走進游泳池，Michael的朋友和家人在游泳，他帶著耳機在池邊走來走去。他伸出手給我打招呼，然後我裝作要將他推入池中的動作。開始Michael有點被嚇到了，但不一會他發現這個遊戲很有趣。他繼續在池邊走著，不停的回頭看我做出推的動作。我想我應該是第一個這麼多年來像這樣跟Michael玩的人。
我必須承認，我也會開些玩笑。Michael在酒店一樓有4個相鄰的房間，我的房間在第五間（與他的不相鄰）。歌迷通常能找到Michael的房間並在酒店外等著，希望能看到他。有時Michael會拉開窗簾向外看，這會迅速引起人群的尖叫。那時我買了Michael標誌性的識別物之一 : 一雙白手套，有時我也會拉開窗簾，站在離窗戶比較遠的地方只能讓外面的人看見我的手，歌迷不知道最後一間並不是Michael的房間，所以我也會得到我自己的尖叫聲—即使它是為別人歡呼的。
「危險」之旅有時候真的很危險，特別是在羅馬尼亞。Michael 飛往布加勒斯特，但我們有三個人要求跨國開車前往機場去接他，我們被告知車裡要準備充足的薯片、水、可樂和其他東西，因為不管車停到哪兒，迅速會被當地人包圍的，這被證明完全是事實!有次，我將車停在一個加油站（結果加油站也沒油），人群都不知從哪跑出來的，他們蜂擁而至，在我往窗外扔了幾袋花生後才離開。同樣的事發生在我停到一個火車樞紐站，我不得不停下來，因為那沒有圍欄、沒有燈沒有任何指示，我不知道火車是否要來。
接下來的問題就是汽油。其他兩個司機和我都發現每個我們停下的加油站都沒油，有時我們三個跑到布加勒斯特去買油。那裡每個加油站都排了長隊，必須等待幾個小時。僱人幫排隊在布加勒斯特很常見，這可以讓你不用浪費時間在這上面而去上班，下班後就可以開走你的車了。
因為我們和 Michael在一起，因此有警察陪同我們可以排在隊伍前面，這種行為可會引起當地人的不滿。一個小女孩過來給車加油，她看上去很甜美，我還遞給她一張 Michael的簽名照。當她看到照片時，她的小臉上立刻容光煥發，就像我遞給她的是一滿袋金子。過了一會，她還給我，「不，不」我說「這是送給你的」，她高興的看著我，小心翼翼的將照片放好。 Michael 下榻在斯納戈夫湖宮，Nicolae Ceausescu總統在1989年被刺殺前曾在這裡渡過暑假，無法無天的犯罪事情還存在於此。這裡有兩座建築物，我們被告知可以在內開車來回而不用走路，我們還被告知天黑後不要外出。這裡到處都是全副武裝的警衛，事實上很多青少年揮舞著槍，真怕他們中一個不小心抖動了扳機。
有天我問保鏢頭頭哪裡可以洗車，「跟我」他回答到。他帶我來到一個穿著破舊年輕人聚集的地方，後來我才意識到他們都是軍事罪犯。他們為我洗了車，為了酬謝，我得給他們一些報酬。車裡堆滿了水、百事可樂、薯片、花生……他們看見這些豐富的物品，臉上呈現出無以倫比的驚異，車裡的東西被迅速一搶而光。
Michael 偉大的仁慈之心顯而易見，他捐給被稱為“第一孤兒院”的羅馬尼亞孤兒院1百萬美元。這裡的孤兒大多數都是被遺棄或者是愛滋病童，他們的處境最近正被大量媒體報導。當看到這些遭受痛苦的孤兒，Michael 非常悲傷，因此他決定為這些孩子捐贈。
在Michael 拜訪的前一天，我先去了孤兒院，碰上了著名的狗仔隊Richard Young，他帶著一個大包，一個六歲的男孩跟著他。我們周圍，工人們正在粉刷牆壁以迎接Michael 的到來。 「過來，我帶你到處看看」 Richard對我說。 「我不知道自己能否承受的住」我告訴他。 「我不帶你去看讓人傷心的一面」Richard向我保證
於是我跟他一起去了。真是讓人難過，一間房子裡有30或40張嬰兒床，你的第一感覺就是無比寂靜。甚至當你對嬰兒說話或試著逗他們時，他們也只是用空洞的眼睛盯著你。不久，我就再也無法忍受不得不離開了。
第二天就是Michael 的到訪了。我們住的宮殿在離布加勒斯特大約30分鐘的路程，有20或30個警察摩托隊和至少10輛車為我們護衛。所有的路口已經都封鎖完畢。人群為我們歡呼，Michael 非常興奮。但當我們快到孤兒院時，人滿為患，我們被迫放慢到像蝸牛一樣的速度。兩個警察從摩托車上下來，他們迅速環視四周，並開始用警棍毆打人群。 「他們在幹什麼」Michael 問到，不能相信他所看到的。 「他們需要清掃路障」我說。 「但他們沒有必要這麼做啊」他堅持，在當下他感到生氣與苦惱，如果在當時他可以下的了車並且阻止這一切的話，我敢保證他絕對會這麼做!我們在稍後得知，現場的群眾大約有4萬人。
Michael 在孤兒院呆了兩個小時，他到處轉了轉，雖然他被這些孩子所遭受的痛苦深深感動，但他也高興他有能力為這些孩子做捐贈。之後他告訴我他並沒有意識到他對羅馬尼亞的民眾來說似乎是個巨大的象徵，我相信羅馬尼亞的人民至今都還在討論著這件事。
我們在羅馬尼亞的最後一天，發生了些特別的事。
Michael 的手下安排了幾百個士兵和警察聚集在城裡的一個公園裡。然後邁克爾到達。他站在軍隊排頭開始行軍，有些軍人騎著馬，一分鐘後，他帶著軍隊小跑起來，人人抬頭挺胸。接下來的幾個小時裡， Michael 與周圍的軍人行軍，交談，跳舞。我可沒在巡演中見到過這樣的情況，MJ跳舞經過我站的地方時，他對我揮了揮手，在那一刻我覺得這一天是因我而生的。
巡演中，Michael對每個人都非常慷慨大方。慕尼黑有個叫歐洲公園的主題公園，Michael有天晚上為我們大約100個人包了這個地方開派對。他和他的朋友也來了，公園是純西方風格，裡面有沙龍酒吧和牧場，他們和我們一起玩了所有娛樂設施。迪士尼的人物也跟我們一起，與我們交談，與Michael開玩笑。
Michael總是要確保每個人都被照顧好了，即使他不吃東西，晚餐也總是為我們其他人準備妥當。只要他確定他不會被人群包圍，有時他也會跟我們去別的地方玩。在德國有次我們待在一所大房子裡而不是酒店，這所房子很令人難忘因為它就像一所“微型保齡球館”，因為我們是幾個留在那邊的人，Michael來到酒吧給每個人打了招呼，雖然他不像我們其他人一樣喝著著名美味的德國啤酒。 Michael比大多數人都有忍耐性。在蘇格蘭，他住在一所房子裡，我們住在離他1英里的酒店裡，這座酒店遠遠不能滿足我們的需求。於是我們問他我們是否能搬到另外一所酒店，Michael同意了。搬家後，有天我們被邀請到Michael的住所裡，食物和飲料早已備好，還可以玩牌等其他娛樂活動。酒足飯飽後，Michael大約在晚上10點打來了電話，他想讓我們其中一個幫他買點肯德基，我們沒有一個想出門。 「看看你們」一個助手說「你們都是司機，可現在沒有一個能開車的」。Michael對我們都沒發脾氣，他找了輛迷你出租車去買夜宵了。
每場演唱會之前，Michael有群觀眾，他們是當地的孩子。他對他們很熱情友好。他會回答他們的問題，給他們簽名，和他的小歌迷擺姿勢照相。孩子們當然也很興奮，他們就像其他任何人見到Michael一樣興奮。當我們回到倫敦，我的孩子 : 5歲的Michael和4歲的Sheryl，被邀請去見Michael，他們都興奮瘋了。
那天，Michael因為嗓子疼取消了演唱會，因此他與孩子觀眾的會面也取消了。我的孩子們非常失望，但理解有些事情確實會發生。一個工作人員了解到我們的孩子很渴望見到Michael也對失去這個機會很生氣。直到Michael有天拿給我兩張他的簽名照，我才知道Michael知道了整件事。 「我知道這不能補償會面被取消，但至少這也有點意義」他說，並將照片遞給我。我看著照片上面寫著「送給Michael，愛你的Michael Jackson」和「給Sheryl，愛你的Michael Jackson」。我被深深的感動了，Michael通常簽名時只把他的名字籤上，很少像這樣寫上私人祝語的。
當他要長途旅行時，Michael通常會乘坐飛機或東方快車，取決於他當時想坐什麼，我們其他人會開車到達新目的地。這件事發生在我參與巡演的最後一段時間，那時Michael在伊斯坦堡站，而讓人傷心的是，我從沒機會跟他說再見。 Michael乘坐飛機，我開奔馳車與他專門訂製的迷你座駕隨行到土耳其，當我行駛到土耳其首都時，我意識到這可不像我們走過的其他國家。一輛尾隨在我們後面的車超車時碰撞上我的車和迷你轎車，我追上去讓他知道他要為這種行為負責。突然那輛車停下，一個男人跳下來，我本想與他講講道理，但還沒反應過來時，那男人拿了把槍指著我。我乖乖的回到車裡，這可是我在土耳其最後一次追車。
我們到了伊斯坦堡與Michael會面，並在飯店裡安頓下來，這裡一如往常有全天供應的美食，漂亮的房間等。但Michael一點都不舒服，經過深思熟慮，他決定取消演唱會，並且回到倫敦調養。我載他去機場，途中與警察發生了點摩擦：一輛車逼我離開道路，毫無疑問，這是故意給Michael Jackson找麻煩，與此同時其他車輛還碰撞我們。這可是一次不愉快的經歷：我的擋風玻璃都被撞碎了。讓人欣慰的是，我最終將Michael送到了機場。Michael從來沒有對這件事說太多，他顯然鬆了口氣終於可以離開了。 最初演唱會只是被延到到Michael好轉的時候，但大家都不知道的是事實上他離開了這個國家。幾天後，Michael還沒好轉，因此所有演唱會都被取消了。這可給我們帶來了問題。土耳其是個美麗的國家，但就像我已經發現的，這裡的生活比在西歐困難多了。我不是第一個知道Michael已離開的人，我能想像演唱會發起人知道Michael一去不返時會是什麼反應的。 最終，我相信明智的辦法是，我們決定在官方公告發出前我們還是離開這裡。Michael的人一個一個從酒店溜出來，我們輪換著將他們送往機場。最後，我們不得不想辦法把自己和車弄出這個國家。幸運的是我們的奔馳車性能很好，警察有幾次試圖攔截我們，我們很容易超車逃脫了。
穿越國境到希臘時我們還是很緊張，但我們剛到西歐的領土我們的緊張就煙消雲散了。不久我與家人團聚了，我與Michael在旅途渡過的4個半月時間就像一場夢。
這就是我與Michael Jackson共度的時光：一個音樂天才、一個真正善良和藹的人，一個朋友共度的時光。我為他現在有了自己的孩子而感到高興，我希望他未來能幸福快樂。對於他的音樂和表演，我能用其他人對他的描述來形容-你是最棒的。
這些年來我見過Jackson家族的其他人，說實話他們可不如Michael 。我最先見到Latoya，Michael的二姐，我在協和式飛機上見到了她，以及她當時的丈夫同時也是她經紀人Jack Gordon。我很快就認出了Latoya，即使我沒有，很顯然她也是個明星。Latoya很享受她得到的關注，她向人群拋媚眼，扭動身體，一會取下一會帶上太陽眼鏡，一幅明星樣。 Jack走在她後面提著行李箱，我走上前對他說“Gordon先生，讓我來幫你吧” 瞬間發現我犯了個錯，我沒有向Jack Gordon報上我的名字，他用厭惡的眼神看著我“我們以前見過嗎”他冷冰冰的說道。
“不，先生，沒有”但自從你經常站在Jackson家族一員旁，而我在報紙上見過Latoya大約18243張照片，並且我知道她嫁給了她的經紀人，她的經紀人就叫Jack Gordon，很顯然你就是那個人。我是對的？不是嗎？你就是Jack Gordon？你是不是跟Latoya一起的，她有個更出名的弟弟名叫Michael Jackson，而我最近剛與他相處了幾個月，他比你們任何人都有禮貌？現在我會載你們到倫敦，這可是我的工作，我想說你的妻子的妝太濃了！
事實上，我沒這麼說，我只把他們的行李箱子放進車裡，但我確實這樣想過。
我也見過 Jermaine Jackson ，非常短暫，當在切爾西Conrad酒店我被叫去見他和他家人時，Jermaine走來顯得斯文禮貌。他和家人剛吃了吃飯，並給了我一個三明治，我非常感激的接受了，這種工作幾個小時甚至一天都吃不上飯。
然後他們回房間換衣服去了，我在外面等著。我等啊等啊等啊……終於大約兩個小時後，一個工作人員出來了。 「對不起讓你久等了」他說「他們不決定出門了」
「就沒人來告訴我一聲？」
「他們，呃……忘了你在外面等」工作人員說完就進去了。
哦，好的，我想，幸虧還有三明治。
A Dangerous-tour driver talks about his time with Michael
THE PLANE HOVE in to view and around me, the enormous crowd began to stir. ‘It's him!' called a voice from somewhere deep within the melee. The call was taken up by another fan. 'It's him! It's him!' The excitement was palpable, as more and more members of the crowd took up the chant, 'It's him! It's him! It's Michael! Michael! Michael!'
There were thousands of people mobbing the airport that day in Munich in 1992 as the world's greatest pop star was about to kick off only his second solo tour. And although the crowd was well behaved, there was a kind of feverish anticipation surrounding all of us, me included, as the plane carrying Michael Jackson came in to land. Michael is not only one of the greatest entertainers in the world, but also one of the most mysterious, and we were actually going to see him in person. Little did I know that I was to form a brief friendship with the man himself and get a glimpse behind the scenes of a show business legend.
Back then, though, it was June and the start of Michael's 'Dangerous' tour, a tour that was to break world records and establish him more firmly than ever before as the greatest performer of the age. It was an astonishing endeavour. The first date of the tour was in the Olympic Stadium in Munich on June 27, when Michael performed in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 72,000 people. The tour was scheduled to last a year and a half, finishing in Mexico City in November 1993 and although some of the concerts were cancelled due to Michael's illness, he performed in sixty seven concerts to approximately 3.5 million people. In the course of it he donated all profits to charity, including his ,own Heal the World charitable foundation, and his Bucharest concert was sold to HBO for $20 million. This created another world record, as did the recording: it gained the highest audience on any cable channel- 34 per cent - and won the Cable Ace Award. The staging was phenomenal; it took three days to erect and cargo planes had to fly twenty truckloads of equipment in to each country.
As for me, I was about to embark on one of the most exciting adventures of my career. I was to spend four months as one of Michael's drivers and, as his plane taxied towards the airport building, stopped and was instantly surrounded by a police escort, I could hardly contain myself. Nor could the crowd. The cries of, 'Michael! We love you!' had gathered in crescendo to a deafening roar; it felt as though the ground were shaking. That was as nothing, though, as to when the door of the plane opened and Michael stepped out dressed in his usual military garb and red mask and raised a hand to his fans; the noise the crowd made must have reverberated from every tree in the forests of Bavaria. The security just about managed to contain the ecstatic hordes, but they very nearly had mass hysteria on their hands. I have driven some of the biggest names in the business, but I've never seen anything like the public's reaction to Michael Jackson.
To begin with] didn't have anything to do with Michael personally. I was driving his security men around in the third car of the entourage, while Michael usually travelled in a customised minibus luxuriously kitted out with facilities for eating and sleeping. Right from the start, though, you could tell he was no ordinary superstar. Everywhere we went, roads and traffic were blocked off for his arrival, a police escort drove us through the cities and the crowds went
absolutely wild. We didn't have an escort for our three-strong convoy between the cities, though, which led to one potentially nasty incident.
Michael was in the van and another driver, Stan, and I were following behind in two cars. Suddenly my walkietalkie bleeped. 'Keith,' said Stan, 'what's that coming up behind us l'
I looked in my rear view mirror and at first I saw what looked like a couple of motorcycles. Then a couple of more joined them and a couple more until there were several dozen in pursuit - and it suddenly hit me with a jolt that we were being followed by a gang of forty or fifty German bikers.’I don't like this, Stan,' said in to my walkie-talkie. 'We'd better get the minibus to speed up.'
All three of us put our feet on the accelerators, but the bikers were gaining on us and it wasn't long before we were surrounded. After another minute, they'd got their bikes in between the various cars in an attempt to separate us. The situation was getting pretty frightening. Then my walkietalkie bleeped again. 'What we're going to do is this,' said Stan. 'You go as close to the curb as you can on your side and I'll do the same on the other side. Then we'll come in sharply behind Michael's bus in a V and cut him off from the bikes.' We did exactly that and it worked: the bikers were forced to slow down. They were furious, yelling curses at us, spitting and trying to get in between us all again, but tills time we didn't falter. I kept my car exactly two inches behind Michael's bus and Stan drove exactly two inches behind me until at last the bikers got tired of the chase and turned back to create havoc elsewhere. Michael was asleep at the time; he never knew what had happened.
I still hadn't properly met Michael, though, and it was only because of a near disaster, for which I thought I'd be dismissed, that we actually became friendly. Michael was staying in Rome and wanted to go to Florence to look at a picture he was considering buying. There were something like 2,000 fans in front of the hotel, however, and getting him out of the hotel and on the road would be no easy matter. So his security people formulated a plan. Various cars were stationed at various exits from the hotel, while Michael's official car and police escort was round at the front. The choice of which car to take would be made at the very last minute. Suddenly my walkie-talkie bleeped. 'Keith, it's going to be your car,' said Michael's head of security. 'Get ready. We're coming to you:
I opened the car door and quite suddenly Michael Jackson was beside me. I bundled him and a friend in to the car, while the daughter of the concert promoter got in the front beside me. It took just a couple of seconds for Michael to move between the hotel and the car but in that time he was spotted, screams went up and a moment later the car was surrounded by fans.
There were two security men in front of us: they managed to clear a path between the hysterical bystanders so we could drive off. But just as we were about to move, Michael put his hand on my shoulder. 'Stop!' he cried. 'Someone's taken my friend's hat!'
I stopped, but I wasn't happy. 'It's not safe, Michael,' I said, as the security men frantically waved us on. 'In a crowd like this anything could happen:
1 made to move again. 'Don't go!' cried Michael. 'I want that hat!'
They security men were going ballistic. 'Come on!' yelled one as the crowd roared and surged around us. 'Get going! You've got to move!'
'I'll get you another hat,' said the girl in the seat beside me.
"Please, Michael, we've got to move now.'
Michael finally agreed and so, just as people were beginning to bang on to the car, we moved off. The plan had been to execute a series of right turns to bring us back to the front of the hotel, where we could link up with security, but the traffic was so solid we were forced to turn left in to a one-way street - and we were going the wrong way.
There was no way I could turn round, though, and so, horn blaring and lights flashing, I edged up past the traffic. I then made a few more left turns - and suddenly realized. I was totally lost, to say nothing of the fact that I had Michael Jackson in the back of the car and no security men to protect him. For a while] drove around, but it was no good. There was nothing for it: I was going to have to admit what was wrong. 'I'm lost: I said.
'That's okay,' said Michael in his soft voice. 'What shall we do?'
The girl sitting beside me was not taking things so calmly. 'Get back to the hotel!' she cried. 'You can't drive around Rome with Michael and no security. What if someone recognises him? It could be a calamity!'
She had a point. Michael Jackson is one of the most recognisable people on the planet and the hysteria that surrounds him is such that, even if his fans don't mean to do him any harm, there is a real danger that violence could erupt. Besides, ever since the terrible assassination, of John Lennon in New York in 1980, every star has had to be more cautious. The Beatles might have thought they were bigger than Jesus but Michael was arguably bigger than The Beatles at that point in his career. A swift decision was needed.
'Michael,' I said, 'what do you want me to do? I could head for Florence and we could look for the other cars there?'
Michael hesitated. 'I think we'd better go back to the hotel,' he said eventually and so I turned the car around and we made our way back. Michael was very calm about it, but I thought I could sense that he was getting a little tense. Eventually] found my way back, but now we had a further problem. Michael was lying on the floor of the car when we drove up to the hotel so the fans couldn't see him and mob him, but we were a good 30 feet from the hotel entrance, a path that was blocked by six rows of parked cars, and no security men in sight. 'There's nothing for it, Michael: I said. 'We're going to have to run for it. Get ready.'
The girl beside me went ahead to alert the hotel. ] went round to Michael's door and opened it. Michael leapt out. ] threw one arm around him and used the other to ward off the crowd, who nearly had an attack of hysteria when they realised he was in the car after all. We charged through them at speed, got back through the revolving doors in to the hotel, at which point a guard locked the door - and realised that Michael's friend was trapped outside. 'Let him in!' I screamed and the friend got through just before the crowds closed on the hotel.
I went straight upstairs to my hotel room to pack my bags, because I was sure I’d be sent home after that cockup. A moment later my boss came in. 'What are you doing?' he asked.
'Packing. I'm off home, aren't I!?'
'Are you joking?' asked my boss. 'You got him back in to the hotel safely all on your own; it usually takes up to nine security men. Michael is very relieved to be back and he's talking in a very complimentary way about you.'
And so it was that I began a brief friendship with one of the nicest men I have ever known.
The more I got to know him, the more I realised that although Michael Jackson is a brilliant performer, artist and businessman, it's completely true what people say about him: he lost his childhood and he's never been able to make up for that. Despite his business acumen, there's a strange sort of vulnerability about him, which almost makes you want to hug him and tell him to look after himself - and I say that not as a sentimental man. Michael loves toys and toy shops - wherever we went, allover Europe, if we saw a Toys R Us in any given city, we knew that's where we'd end up later.
While we were m London , Michael paid a Visit to Hamley’s, the famous toy shop on Regent Street , as well as to the Disney shop on the same street. Each shop blacked out its windows so that Michael could look around in private. He spent thousands of pounds on toys; he particularly loves magic sets and he also bought some remote-controlled cars, which he drove up and down the halls in The Dorchester. When we left the shops the whole of the trunk and the back of the car were filled with toys - and apart from a few special ones that he took on with him, they all ended up at children's hospitals, as they did in every city we visited.
Wherever Michael stayed, pinball machines and computer games would be installed in his suite before his arrival. On one occasion he saw a merry-go-round that he liked in a city in Germany , bought it and had it shipped back to his Neverland estate in California . He also had a friend with him on the tour, and having seen the friendship at close hand, I can vouch for the fact that never at any moment was there one tiny signal of impropriety about it.
Everyone knew Michael's friend was with him and everyone accepted it unquestioningly. Our only reservation was that Michael was leaving himself open to innuendo and indeed, that is exactly what happened the following year when it was alleged that he had had improper relationships with young teenagers. It is often forgotten that not one shred of evidence has ever been produced to substantiate those claims.
Having known the man, I didn't believe the allegations then and I don't believe them now. For a start, Michael is such a genuinely nice man that I simply do not believe him capable of the actions of which he's been accused. Secondly, when I was working for him during the 'Dangerous' tour, his attitude towards his friend struck me as simply that of a big brother. He may be a musical genius, but Michael Jackson sometimes has the mentality of a child himself and that is why he loves to play with children. The fact that now that he's got two children of his own - Prince Michael Jackson Jnr and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson - must be the greatest thing in the world for him, because now he can indulge in his love of children's games with his very own offspring.
But despite his enormously likeable and gentle personality, everyone around Michael is frightened of him because of who he is. Michael is aware of this, but doesn't quite know what to do about it. Problems would be reported back to him via Bill Bray his head of security, who has been with him for thirty years, because people just do not dare tell Michael when something has not gone according to plan. It would seem the more famous you are, the more people are scared of you. I can see why they say it's lonely at the top. Bill is one of the few people who isn't scared of Michael and whenever he told him of another case of someone hiding something from him. Michael would say in bewilderment, 'But why doesn't he come and see me himself?' For some reason, though, despite the fact that I was so excited to meet him, I wasn't frightened of him. I treated him normally, which is perhaps why we got on so well.
For a start, he was fascinated by my cockney accent and started trying to mimic it. 'Hello mate, how are you?' he'd say when he got in to the car. 'Hello Michael, how are you?' I'd reply in an attempt at mimicking his own voice -low and very soft - which he would think was great fun.
'Oi, mate!' he'd say. 'Yes Michael?'
'Tell me about cockney rhyming slang.'
So I did. Michael became terribly interested in it for some reason, and got me to start teaching it to him. 'What's the cockney rhyming slang for stairs?' he'd ask.
'Apples and pairs.'
'What's the cockney rhyming slang for suit?' 'Whistle and flute.'
'What's the cockney rhyming slang for cash?' 'Bangers and mash.'
'Oi, mate! That's wild!'
And so it would go on, for hours. Eventually I bought Michael a book about the subject, which he absolutely loved. , 'That's great Keith, thank you so much,' he said when I handed it over. He'd sit in the car going through it for hours, giggling when he came across something he particularly liked. One day, he turned to me and announced: 'I'm sitting in a La-Di-Dah!'
'Come again, Michael?'
'La-Di-Dah,' he pronounced triumphantly, before revealing: 'It's a car!
MICHAEL WAS VERY interested in the cities we visited. When we were actually in situ he tended to stay in his room because he couldn't go anywhere without being mobbed, but when we entered a place for the first time or drove around it on the way to a show, he'd be very intrigued by these countries, which were so different from his own. For some reason, he was particularly taken with Copenhagen . 'Would you like to live here, Keith?' he asked.
'I don't know Michael, I've hardly seen it.'
He mused for a while. Then he announced: 'I want to go to Tivoli Park .'
And so, after he'd done his concerts, we arranged for him to visit Tivoli Park , Copenhagen 's foremost amusement park, on the last day of his stay. The visit was to be on a Sunday and the arrangements were very hush-hush because we didn't want to attract the usual hordes that surround Michael wherever he goes. We planned to smuggle him in at a side entrance and spend an afternoon there. Michael was extremely excited by the whole thing.
His excitement turned to shock and then disappointment when we got there, though, because the side gate through which he was to slip in opened to reveal banks of photographers, cheerleaders and a band. His first inclination was to turn back and it took us a good fifteen minutes to persuade him to go in after all, but once there he began to enjoy himself. 1 drove him from one ride to the next - he couldn't walk between them because he'd be mobbed - and his reactions were like those of an excited child. 'Wow, that was fantastic!' he'd say on re-entering the car. '1 loved that!' He enjoyed the ride on which you were whirled round in buckets so much that he insisted on going on it twice and asked me to come on it with him, too.
'I can't Michael, I've got to watch the car,' I'd tell him. "Aw, Keith, you're no fun!'
As ever, though, it took no time at all for word to get around that Michael Jackson was in the park and crowds soon began to gather. Michael reluctantly decided after an hour that he'd have to leave rather than spending the whole afternoon there as planned, so instead we got a local driver to take us to the city's military and souvenir shops. Michael loved those. He spent about two hours in one of them, buying up more of the bright uniforms he so loves to wear.
It was Michael's birthday during the tour and we held a birthday party for him in the grounds of his hotel in Frankfurt . We had a barbecue and people relaxed on the sunny lawn as we serenaded him with 'Happy Birthday'. Michael didn't come to the barbecue himself, because every time he was in public, he'd be besieged by fans, but someone took a birthday cake up to his room instead. 'That's really nice,' said Michael, and he came out on to his balcony and shared the cake with members of the adoring public.
By the time we went back to Germany - to Hamburg Michael and I were getting on better than ever. By this time I, like the rest of the crew, had acquired my own mini fan club - three girls: an Italian, a German and a Spaniard. The Italian was called Claudia, the German was Greta and the Spaniard was Anna. In Hamburg , we'd sometimes take a boat out together for an hour, when I wasn't ensconced in 'the hotel.
Back at the hotel, I was still taking liberties that other people just wouldn't dare risk. One day I went for a swim but found two of Michael's security men guarding the door to the pool. I realised Michael was in there and turned to go, but the men waved me in.
I went in. Michael's friend and his family were swimming in the pool, while Michael walked round the edge, wearing a pair of earphones. He lifted a hand in acknowledgement of my presence, after which, on his next, circuit of the pool, I pretended I was going to push him in. At first Michael looked a little shocked, but after a moment he found it absolutely hilarious. He was in stitches. He continued his walk, but kept looking at me and making pushing movements. I should think that I was the first person to behave like that with Michael Jackson for very many years.
I must admit, I also played a few jokes. Michael had four adjoining rooms on the first floor of the hotel and I had the fifth (not adjoining.) The fans always discovered which suite Michael was staying in and would wait outside, hoping for a glimpse of him. Occasionally Michael would pull the curtains back and look out, which would prompt a roar of acknowledgement from the crowd. So I bought a pair of white gloves, one of Michael's trademark items of clothing at the time, and I would occasionally twitch my own curtain back, standing well away from the window so that only my hands could be seen. The fans didn't know that the last room wasn't Michael's, and so I too got my own roar of acknowledgement - even if it was actually meant for someone else.
The 'Dangerous' tour occasionally lived up to its name, particularly in Romania . Michael flew in to Bucharest , but three of us were required to drive the three main cars across country to meet him there. We were told to make sure the cars were full of bags of crisps, bottles of water, Coke and so on, because whenever a car stopped, it would be immediately surrounded by the locals. This turned out to be absolutely true. At one point I stopped at a garage (which turned out to have no petrol) and people appeared literally out of nowhere. They were swarming round the car and only went away after I'd thrown packets of peanuts out of the window. The same thing happened when I stopped at a railway junction - 1'd had to stop as there were no gates, no lights and no indication as to whether a train was coming or not.
The next problem was petrol: there wasn't any. The other two drivers and I found every garage we stopped at was empty and the three of us somehow coasted in to Bucharest running on empty. There we found that petrol stations attracted the most enormous queues in which you had to wait, literally, for hours. It is common practice in Bucharest to hire someone for the day to queue for you, which means that you could go off and do a full day's work and come back to find that your car, hopefully, is ready.
Because we were with Michael, the police escorted us to the front of the queue, which didn't go down too well with the locals, and a little girl came to fill my car up. She looked so sweet that I handed her a signed picture of Michael. Her little face completely lit up as she looked at the picture: it was as if 1'd given her a bag full of gold. After a moment, she handed it back. 'No, no,' I said, 'it's for you.' She looked at me quite wonderingly and carefully stashed the picture away.
Michael was staying at Snagov Lake Palace , the summer residence of President Nicolae Ceausescu before he was killed in 1989. Ceausescu might have fallen but a state of lawlessness remained: there were two buildings in the palace compound and we were told to drive between them rather than walk between them. We were also told not to go in to the grounds after dark. The place was overrun with armed guards - actually teenage boys waving machine guns - and there was a real fear that one might suddenly get trigger happy.
It was a strange set-up. The next day I asked the head of security where I could wash my car: 'Come with me,' he answered. He took me to a compound filled with scruffy young men who, I realised after a moment, were army convicts. They cleaned the car for me, but in the course of doing so, I had to open the boot for them. It was filled with water, Pepsi, crisps, peanuts ... The look on their faces was one of absolute amazement to see such abundance inside the car and I felt so sorry for them that I didn't try to stop them when a few cans and packets rapidly vanished.
Michael's enormous humanity was most obviously on display when he made a $1 million donation to a Romanian orphanage called Orphanage Number One. The plight of Romanian orphans, many of whom had either been abandoned or were HIV positive, had been in the news a great deal recently. Michael had been extremely distressed when he had seen pictures of the suffering, and so he decided to make a donation as a way to help.
The day before his visit, I went to see the orphanage and was met on the steps by Richard Young, a well-known paparazzo. A six-year-old boy had latched on to him and was carrying his bags around, while around us, workmen were whitewashing the walls in readiness for Michael's visit. 'Come on, I'll show you around,' Richard said to me.
'I'm not too sure I can take it,' I told him.
'We won't go to the bad bits,' Richard assured me and so we went in. It was very distressing. In a room with thirty or forty cots, the first thing you noticed was the absolute silence. Even when you spoke directly to the babies and tried to amuse them, they would merely stare at you with blank eyes. I couldn't take it after a short time and was forced to leave.
The next day it was time for Michael's visit. The palace was about a thirty-minute journey outside Bucharest , but we had no trouble to begin with: we' bad twenty or thirty police motorbikes escorting us and at least ten cars. All the junctions had been blocked off in readiness. We roared in to the city to cheering crowds with a highly excited Michael in the back, but as we got close to the orphanage the crowds were so great that the car was forced to slow down to a snail's pace. A couple of the policemen were then knocked off their bikes; they promptly whirled round and started beating the crowd with truncheons.
'Why ate they doing that?' asked Michael, unable to believe his eyes.
They need to clear the road,' I replied.
'But there's no need to do that,' he insisted. He was by now angry and upset and if there had been any way of him getting out of the car and putting a stop to the violence, I am absolutely sure he would have done. We later learned that the crowd was about 40,000 strong.
Once inside the orphanage Michael spent a couple of hours looking around and although very moved by the suffering he saw there, he was very pleased that he was able to make the donation. He later told me that he hadn't realised what an enormous gesture this would seem to the Romanian people, who; I believe, talk about it to this day.
And then, of course, there were the concerts. Capacity was supposed to be 60,000 but there must have been twice as many people as that present. Michael put on his usual brilliant show, but what stood out for me was the backstage catering arrangements. All the food was kept in cages - and standing over it was an armed guard.
On our final day, something very special happened.
Michael's people arranged for several hundred soldiers and policemen to gather in a park inside the town. Then Michael arrived. The troops, some on horseback, started marching with Michael at their head: after a minute Michael broke in to a run as the troops marched on, completely straight faced. And so for the next couple of hours Michael walked, talked, ran and danced around the marching troops in one of the most enjoyable sessions I have ever seen on a tour. The day was made for me when he danced past where I was standing and gave me a little wave.
Michael was extremely generous to everyone on the tour, and there were over one hundred of us. In Munich there's a large theme park called Europa Park and Michael booked it one evening for the whole party. He and his friend came along too; the theme was Western style, with a saloon bar and ranches, and they went on all the rides along with the rest of us. Characters from Disneyland wandered amongst us, talking to us and making a fuss of Michael.
Michael always made sure everyone was very well looked after. Although he didn't eat when he was there, dinner was laid out for all of the rest of us. He would sometimes mingle with us in other places, as well, as long as he was sure he wouldn't be mobbed. In Germany we once stayed in a large house rather than a hotel, which was memorable because it "featured a miniature bowling alley. Because we were the only people staying there, Michael felt able to come down to the bar and say hello to everyone, although unlike the rest of us, he didn't partake of the famous and delicious German beer.
Michael was far more tolerant of our normal human frailties than most people would have been. In Scotland , he stayed in a house, while we stayed in a hotel about a mile, away - a hotel that proved to be totally inadequate. We asked if we could move to another hotel and Michael agreed. While the move was taking place, we were asked to the house in which Michael was staying, where food and drink were laid out for us, along with playing cards and other entertainments. The drink flowed rapidly, with the result that when a call came from Michael's room at about 10 p.m. saying that he wanted one of us to go out and collect some Kentucky Fried Chicken, not one of us was in a fit state to do so. 'Look at you lot: said an aide. 'You're his drivers and none of you are capable of driving.' Michael took the whole episode in very good heart, though, and sanctioned a mini cab to go out for his late-night snack.
Before the start of every concert, Michael would have an audience with the local children. He was very friendly to them: he'd answer questions, sign autographs and pose for photographs with his young fans. The children absolutely loved it - they were as excited as anyone else about meeting Michael Jackson. When we returned to London , my children - Michael, five, and four-year-old Sheryl - were invited to the meeting and were wildly excited at the prospect.
In the event, the concert was cancelled because Michael had a sore throat, with the result that his audience with the children was cancelled, too. My children were bitterly disappointed but understood that these things do happen. Another member of the crew, however, found out that my kids had been desperate to meet him and were dreadfully upset to have missed out. I didn't know that Michael knew anything about it until he came up to me one day with two signed pictures of himself. 'I know this doesn't compensate for the meeting being cancelled, but at least it's something,' he said, as he handed them over. I looked at the photographs and on them he'd written 'To Michael, love Michael Jackson; and 'To Sheryl, love Michael Jackson.' I was particularly touched by this, as Michael usually just puts 'Michael Jackson' on his photographs - and only very rarely a personal message.
When he was travelling longer distances, Michael would usually go by plane or on the Orient Express, depending which one he felt like taking, while the rest of us would drive our cars to each new destination. This happened towards the end of my leg of the tour when Michael was performing in Istanbul when sadly I was never able to say goodbye.
Michael was going to be flying in to the city, while I drove a Mercedes behind his customised minibus through Turkey , and it was while I was on my way to the country's capital that I had the first indication that Turkey wasn't going to be like the other countries we'd driven through. A car came up behind me and carved up both me and the minibus, so I chased him down the road to show he couldn't get away with that kind of behaviour. Suddenly the car stopped and a man jumped out: I did likewise to have a word with him. Just as suddenly, the man pulled a gun on me. I got back in to the van and it was the last time I gave chase to any car in Turkey .
Once we got to Istanbul we all met up with Michael and settled down in to the hotel, where we lived in our usual luxury: food set out for -us at all times, beautiful rooms and so on. However, Michael wasn't at all well and after much deliberation, it was decided he shouldn't do the show, but return to London to recuperate instead. I drove him to the airport and had some trouble with the police en route: one car tried to force me off the road, assuming, no doubt, that it would be a great coup to cause trouble for Michael Jackson, while others were cutting me up. It was a nasty experience: my windscreen was smashed and it was with some relief that I got Michael to the plane. Michael never says very much on these occasions, but he was plainly relieved to be leaving ..
Initially the concerts were merely postponed until Michael felt better and it wasn't common knowledge that he'd actually left the country. After a couple of days, though, it became apparent that Michael still wasn't better and the concerts were to be cancelled all together. This presented us with a problem. Turkey is a beautiful country but, as I had already discovered, life is rougher there than it is in Western Europe . I wasn't the only one to make this discovery and so there was concern about how the promoters would react when they discovered that Michael had gone and wasn't coming back.
Ultimately and, I believe, wisely, we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that it would be best for us all to leave before the official announcement was made. Michael's party started trickling out of the hotel in dribs and drabs and we ferried people in relays to the airport. After that was done, we had to get ourselves and the cars out of the country and so we ended up racing through Turkey in three blacked-out Mercedes. It was lucky they were good cars, because the police tried to stop us on a number of occasions, and in each case we got away simply by outspeeding them.
We were still nervous even after crossing the border in to Greece but by the time we made it back to Western Europe our nerves were gone and life returned to normal. Shortly after that I was reunited with my family and the four and a half months I spent on the road with Michael seemed like just a dream.
In the course of those months, Michael did forty-one concerts and I saw every single one of them. The openings were the most amazing stagecraft I have ever seen - and I've seen just about everyone. There would be a dramatic burst of music, which would build up in intensity along with flashbacks of Michael throughout the years. Then the lights would go down, the music would become increasingly frenzied and the stage would suddenly explode in fireworks as Michael himself exploded out of the floor from a 'toaster', something that made headlines all over the world. The crowd would go absolutely wild. Michael would stand absolutely still for as much as a minute - and it takes an inordinate amount of charisma to be able to stand on stage alone holding a crowd of thousands - then he would suddenly turn and hold his pose for another minute as the crowds erupted again. At the end of the concerts, he would leave wearing a jet pack - another world first.
And so that was my time with Michael Jackson: a musical genius, a truly kind and nice man and, for a very short time, a friend. I'm so glad for him that he has children of his own now and I wish him nothing but happiness in the future. And as for his music and his performances, I can only quote what someone else said in a very different context - baby, you're the best.
I met a couple of other members of the family over the years and to be honest, they aren't a patch on Michael. The first was Latoya, his younger sister, whom I met off Concorde with her then husband and manager, Jack Gordon. Of course, I recognised Latoya immediately and even if I hadn't, it would have been obvious she was a star. Latoya absolutely loves the attention she gets and was playing the crowds for all she was worth: fluttering her eyelashes, wiggling around, putting on and taking off sunglasses and generally acting the star. Jack was struggling behind her with the suitcases so I went over to him: 'Mr Gordon,' I said, 'let me help.'
It immediately turned out that I had made a mistake in Jack Gordon's book in talking to him without holding up a name board, as is the usual practice. He looked at me in a wary manner. 'Have we met before?' he said in a tone that could easily have served as an ice pick.
'No sir, we haven't. But since you're standing right behind a member of the Jackson family, whom I recognised as I have seen approximately 18,243 pictures of her in the newspapers and I knew she was married to her manager and that that manager was called Jack Gordon, it's a fairly obvious assumption that you would be he. And I was correct, was I not? You are that Jack Gordon? And you are accompanying Latoya Jackson, who has an even more famous brother called Michael with whom I recently spent a few months and who has more courtesy in his little fingernail than you have just shown? Now I will drive you in to London , as I am being paid to do. And might I add that your wife is wearing far too much make-up.'
Actually, I said nothing of the sort. I just picked up their bags and got on with it. But I certainly thought it.
I also met Germaine (LOL) Jackson - extremely briefly - when I was called to meet him and his family at the Conrad Hotel in Chelsea . Germaine came across as a decent man, and polite with it. He and his family had just been eating and offered me a sandwich, which I gratefully accepted as you can go for hours and sometimes even days without eating in this job.
The family then went to their rooms to change, while I want to wait outside. And so I waited. And waited. And waited ... Finally, over two hours later, a minion appeared. 'Sorry about this,' he said, 'but they've decided not to go out after all.'
'Couldn't someone have told me?’
'They, er, forgot you were here,' said the minion and went back inside. Oh well, I thought, thanks for the sandwich ...
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