Aditya Thackeray photographed with Michael Jackson (Image courtesy: adityathackeray)
Highlights
- "There will never be another like you on stage," he wrote
- Aditya has also posted a pic of MJ with Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray
- Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, a month before his 51st birthday
Remember the time
Michael Jackson came, saw and conquered Mumbai in 1996? Politician Aditya Thackeray probably doesn't remember - because he was only six then - but he has a picture to remember the King Of Pop by. Today is Michael Jackson's birth anniversary - he would have been 59 - and
Aditya, now 27, has given us two photos of MJ, just as he was, on Instagram. The Thackeray scion posted the picture of his six-year-old self with MJ in full regalia - military jacket, black hat and all - and if you scroll right on the post, he's also posted a photo of MJ with Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, Aditya's grandfather who died in 2012. "Happy birthday, Michael Jackson. There will never be another like you on stage," Aditya Thackeray, head of the Shiv Sena's youth wing, wrote.
The November 1, 1996 concert - part of the HIStory tour - was Michael Jackson's only visit to India. He was greeted at the airport by a screaming crowd some 5,000-strong.
Dhol, teeka and
aarti completed a traditional
desi welcome. Per this account in
Conde Nast, fans lined the route to the Oberoi Hotel and MJ waved to them from the sunroof of his car - reportedly lent by Anil Ambani - and also hopped out at Dharavi. The concert itself, at the Andheri Sports Complex, was sold out (naturally) and those unlucky enough not to score tickets gathered outside the venue, singing and dancing to the strains of MJ's greatest hits - the set list included Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal and Black Or White.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, a month before his 51st birthday. His daughter Paris, 19, presented an award at the MTV VMAs on Sunday night and is trending currently for using her speech time to denounce "Nazi white supremacist jerks." Her dad would have been proud.