Michael Jackson’s Dubai visit in 2005 you probably didn’t know about

Dubai: In August 2005, Michael Jackson slipped into Dubai with little fanfare. Fresh from being cleared of all criminal charges earlier that year, the King of Pop was looking for breathing room away from the relentless paparazzi attention that followed him everywhere in the United States. Dubai, it seemed, offered exactly that.

Jackson had spent a couple of months in Bahrain as a guest of the royal family before making his way to the emirate, where he was welcomed by Emirati rally champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The two were photographed together, Jackson dressed in a blue shirt and his signature fedora, being shown around a city that was very much still finding its shape.

He toured the Palm Jumeirah while it was still under construction, visited the World Islands and took in the Burj Al Arab. Somewhere along the way, he was said to have shown interest in buying property.

Ben Sulayem later spoke warmly of his time with the star. "The guy is a gentleman," he told AP. "I've met guys who weren't even 10 per cent as famous as he is, and they are much harder to deal with. He wants to see more of this area. He likes it here."

One of the more charming stops on the visit was the Hard Rock Cafe on Sheikh Zayed Road, now closed. Jackson sat down for lunch, ordered a plate of Buffalo wings and happily signed autographs for the staff. But the meal came with an unexpected moment.

"Halfway through his meal, he asked us to bring in his shoes, which were on display at the restaurant," General Manager John Hall recalled in a 2018 interview with Gulf News. "He looked at them carefully and said, 'Yeah, they're mine. Could you bring me a marker please?' He then re-signed his name and 'Dubai' on them, and gave them back to us to display."

Those shoes, along with his jacket and hat, remained on display at the cafe.

Comedian and close friend Chris Tucker, who spoke about the visit during a stand-up show in Abu Dhabi, recalled that the two also made a trip to Ski Dubai at Mall of the Emirates during that week.

Jackson came back to Dubai in November 2005 to attend a gala marking the end of the UAE Desert Challenge rally event, where he helped present awards to the winners. After leaving Dubai that August, he had also spent time in Oman, where he was shown around by the country's current ruler, Sultan Haitham, who was serving in the Foreign Ministry at the time.

It was a quieter, more personal chapter in the life of one of the world's most watched people. Four years later, on 25 June 2009, Jackson died from a cardiac arrest at the age of 50. The cause was ruled as a lethal combination of sedatives and the anaesthetic propofol.

He left behind 10 studio albums and five soundtrack albums. Two further records of unreleased material came out after his death.