Michael Jackson tried to DESTROY Thriller video: Heartbroken star hid in room for 3 days
Thriller remains the most iconic and influential music video in history. It broke viewing records when it was aired on December 2, 1983, and then smashed sales records when it was released on home video. The climactic zombie dance routine is endlessly imitated and even Jackson’s red leather jacket remains instantly recognisable almost forty years later. So why on Earth would the star be so desperate to have it destroyed, especially when the whole thing was his idea in the first place?
Thriller was released as the seventh and final single from the album of the same name and Jackson had one objective only.
He wanted to restore the album to its Number One spot on the charts and he decided an attention-grabbing video would do the trick. A huge fan of the horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London, he approached its director John Landis.
The rest is history – except it almost wasn’t.
Two weeks before the short film’s debut, Jackson demanded it was destroyed, for deeply religious reasons.
