Grammy Legend Award Acceptance Speech
March 1993
Michael attended the 1993 Grammy’s accompanied by Brooke Shields. Sister, Janer Jackson, was on hand to present Michael with the very special Grammy Legend Award.
Introduction by Janet Jackson
Janet : Before he won 12 Grammy awards, before he dazzled billions of fans around the world with his amazing talent as a performer, before he impacted on millions of lives with his ongoing humanitarian efforts, before all of that, he was one other thing, he was my brother.
Hi, I’m Janet Jackson, and I’m pleased to be here tonight to honor the man I love and admire as an artist, and a person. My brother, Michael Jackson.
The Grammy Legend award is given for ongoing contributions and influence in the recording field. But nowhere does it tell you what to do to become a legend. If I were to write a book of instructions using my brother as a guide, it would read something like this:
[Video retrospective of Michael’s career is shown, with Janet’s narration in voiceover.]
How to become a legend. Let’s start with the present and work our way backwards. Take a big chance with a live ninety-minute prime time interview with Oprah Winfrey......
Oprah : Join me . . . for the world-wide television event of the year.
Janet: Put on a spectacular Superbowl half-time show before the largest audience in TV history. Use your extraordinary popularity, influence, time, energy, money, and heart to help children heal the world. Create a two and a half hour, standing-room-only concert event from Bucharest, Romania, that gives HBO the highest audience rating in cable history. Release ’Dangerous’ and watch it enter the charts at number one and become the world’s biggest-selling album of 1992. Record ’Bad’ and watch it become the second biggest-selling album ever. Stun the Motown 25th Anniversary audience with a legendary performance that leaves everyone moonstruck. Record ’Thriller’ and watch it become the number one largest-selling album of all time. Bring your enormous talent to the creation of new style videos that are really mini-movies with imaginative stories and mind-blowing effects. Capture an armful of eight Grammys, the most ever won in a single year. Tour the world over, making new friends everywhere you go. Break all existing attendance records, while visiting over thirty countries, many of them more than once, and bring the best in contemporary concert entertainment to over ten million loving fans. Create an international anthem with a superstar cast that becomes the top-selling single of all time. Make a serious effort to have four consecutive number one hits before graduating from grade school. It helps to have brothers who are very musical, and it doesn’t hurt to have a little sister who loves you very much. But first and foremost, if you are going to be a true legend, try to be born with a lot of talent and the willingness to take the plunge. So, to sum it up...
[Video shows highlights again in reverse order.]
Janet: Now I’m very happy to present the Grammy Legend Award for 1993 to my big brother, Michael Jackson.
[Michael receives a standing ovation, as he walks on stage. The two hug, as the crowd continues with standing ovation.]
Janet: Congratulations Michael Jackson. ....No but, I just wanted to say one thing, Seriously, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you and how much you’ve inspired me, and how proud I am to be your sister. And how much I love you, I do.
Michael’s Speech
Michael : I love you too, thank you.....I hope this puts to rest, I hope this finally puts to rest another rumor that has been in the press for too many years: Me and Janet really are two different people.....
[Audience laughs.]
....In the past month, I’ve gone from "where is he?" to "Here he is again," but I must confess, it feels good to be thought of as a person, not as a personality. Because I don’t read all the things written about me, I wasn’t aware that the world thought I was so weird and bizarre. But when you grow up as I did, in front of one hundred million people since the age of five, you’re automatically different. The last few weeks, I have been cleansing myself and it’s been a rebirth for myself. It’s like a cleansing spirit.
[To the screeming crowd]: I love you too.
My childhood was completely taken away from me. There was no Christmas, there were no birthdays, it was not a normal childhood, nor the normal pleasures of childhood - those were exchanged for hard work, struggle, and pain , and eventually material and professional success. But as an awful price, I cannot re-create that part of my life. However, today, when I create my music, I feel like an instrument of nature. I wonder what delight nature must feel when we open our hearts and express our God-given talents. The sound . . . of approval rolls across the universe, and the whole world abounds in magic. Wonder fills our hearts, for what we have glimpsed, for an instant, the playfulness of life.
And that’s why I love children and learn so much from being around them. I realise that many of our world’s problems today - from the inner city crime, to large scale wars and terrorism, and our overcrowded prisons - are a result of the fact that children have had their childhood stolen from them. The magic, the wonder, the mystery, and the innocence of a child’s heart, are the seeds of creativity that will heal the world. I really believe that.
What, what we need to learn, what we need to learn from children isn’t childish. Being with them connects us to the deeper wisdom of life which is everpresent, and only asks to be lived. They know the solutions that lie waiting to be recognised within our own hearts. Today, I would like to thank all the children of the world, including the sick and deprived . . . I am so sensitive to your pain.
I also want to thank all those who have helped me to channel my talent here on earth. From the beginning, my parents, all my brothers and sisters, especially Janet. I am so proud of her, it’s incredible. I mean, I remember when we were little, I used to ask her to be Ginger Rogers, while I was Fred Astaire..... The Motown family, my teacher Berry Gordy. Diana Ross, I love you. Suzanne De Pazze. The wonderful, great Quincy Jones. Teddy Riley. My new godson Michael Gibb. My new Sony family, Akio Morita, Mickey Schulhoff, Tommy Motola, Dave Glew, Polly Anthony . . . Thanks for making one of my most creative efforts, the album Dangerous, such an incredible success. I love you all so much. Sandy Gallin, Jim Morey. All the fantastic fans around the world - love you very much.
[Michael receives more cheers from the audiece, as he and Janet leave the stage.]
中文版：
格莱美 传奇奖获奖感言
1993年3月
1993年迈克尔携波姬小丝参加了当年的格莱美奖颁奖晚会。他的妹妹，珍妮.杰克逊亲手将弥足珍贵的格莱美传奇大奖交到了他手中。
珍妮.杰克逊的引言
珍妮：“在他获得12项格莱美大奖之前；在他作为一个艺人用其神奇天赋晕眩全球亿万粉丝之前；在他用他不断的人道主义努力感动千万人之前；在这所有之前，他还有另外一个身份，他是我的兄长。”
（现场观众尖叫）
“嗨，我是珍妮.杰克逊，今晚我无比荣幸的在这里给他颁奖，无论他是作为一个普通人还是一个艺术家，都是我所爱所敬之人，他是我的兄长，迈克尔.杰克逊！”
“格莱美传奇大奖授予对音乐领域不断贡献和影响的人物。不过从未告诉你如何成为一个传奇。如果我以我哥的例子写本书作为指引的话，其中会提及以下东西：”
（大荧幕上开始放映迈克尔的艺术生涯的回顾影像，珍妮.杰克逊做画外音）
“如何成为一个传奇？让我们从现在回顾到从前：获得奥普拉·温弗里90分钟实时访谈。”
奥普拉·温弗里：“和我一起进入年度世界电视新闻事件！”
“在电视史最多的观众面前表演一场壮观的‘超级碗’（别问我超级碗是咩=。=！）中场表演。用非凡的名气、影响、时间、精力、金钱、爱心去帮助儿童，治愈 世界（MJ依旧保持着世界慈善吉尼斯纪录）。在罗马尼亚的布拉勒斯特举行了2个半小时的‘站立空间’演唱会（也就是黑压压的一票人，只有站的地方，别想坐 着……），而观众，给了HBO有线电视史上最高的评分！发行‘dangerous’专辑，看着它成为世界上最伟大的音乐专辑之一，并且成为92年最热卖的 专辑。录制‘Bad’专辑，看着它成为史上第二热卖的专辑。在汽车城25周年庆上用传奇的精彩表演使得现场观众陷入疯狂。录制‘thriller’专辑， 看着它成为有史以来最热卖的伟大专辑。用庞大的天赋来制作让人耳目一新的试听作品，它们有点像迷你电影，有着引入入胜的情节和梦幻般的视听效果。创纪录的 在同一年获得八项格莱美大奖！全球旅行，在所有你去过的地方结交新朋友。拜访了超过30个国家，很多不止一次的在那里给忠实的歌迷带来这个时代最伟大的音 乐盛宴，打破了现有的所有记录。用明星阵容打造了一首国际歌（We are the world），并成为有史以来最热卖的单曲。刻苦努力，在小学毕业前就创造4个连续金曲榜第一的非凡成就。拥有对音乐非常感兴趣的兄弟们和非常爱你的小妹 妹。不过，如果你想成为一个真正的传奇，第一也是最重要的：天生就要有非凡的天赋，并且下定决心全力投入。然后，将以上所有加起来……”
（大荧幕上关于MJ的事迹开始快速回放）
珍妮：“现在，我十分高兴的将93年的格莱美传奇大奖颁与我的大哥：迈克尔.杰克逊！”
（迈克尔.杰克逊走上台，与珍妮拥抱，期间在场所有观众全体起立鼓掌，掌声经久不衰。）
珍妮：“恭喜你，迈克尔.杰克逊！现在，我只想告诉你，我是多么为你感到骄傲，而你又是多么的激励了我，作为你的妹妹，我是多么的自豪，我是多么爱你，真的！”
迈克尔的感言：
（观众尖叫：迈克尔，我爱你）
迈克尔：“我也爱你们，谢谢！（每次台下观众尖叫，迈克尔都会礼貌的说这句，并送上 飞吻） 我希望能停止，我真的希望能够停止报纸上甚嚣已久的又一个谣言：我和珍妮是两个不同的人。（曾经很长一段时间有一个谣言说珍妮和迈克尔是同一个人，说珍妮 是迈克尔男扮女装的=。=！）”
观众大笑（台下观众大笑）
“在过去的几个月内，我从那个叫做‘他在哪里？’的地方回到了这个叫做‘他又来了’的地方。（笑）我必 须承认，被认为是一个凡人比被认为一个名仕，感觉要好得多。因为我并没有读过所有关于我的报道，所以我并不知道我在世人眼中是如此的怪异和扭曲。不过，如 果有人有我这样的成长经历，从五岁起就在百万观众面前表演，他自然会与众不同。在最近的几周内，我洗涤心灵重获新生，我的灵魂的浴火重生。”（93年左 右，迈克尔已经疲于应付各种流言的攻击，到处躲避某些媒体对他的口诛笔伐）
（对台下尖叫的粉丝）：“我也爱你们！”
“我的童年被完全夺走，没有圣诞，没有生日，既没有正常的童年生活，也没有寻常的童年快乐，取而代之的是艰苦的工作，奋斗和伤痛，最终获得物质上和职业上 的成就。不过这是多么惨痛的代价，我不能重建我生命中缺失的这一部分或改变我生活中任何部分。然而，今天我创造自己的音乐，我感觉自然的回归。我想知道当 我们敞开心扉，展示上帝赋予我们的天赋时，那单纯的快乐是什么感觉。赞歌响彻宇宙，整个世界沉浸在魔法之中。当我们不经意的一瞥中，生活的顽皮和快乐无处 遁形，感恩之情满溢我们的心房。”
“所以，我是如此喜爱孩子们，在他们身上我学习到了很多。我领悟到，世间现在如此多的问题，小到城市犯罪，大到世界局部战争和恐怖主义活动和监狱内超载的 罪犯，都是源于一个起因：孩子们的童年被偷走了。魔法，感恩，和孩子们天真无邪的心都是治愈这个伤痛世界的种子，我真的坚信这一点！”
“我们需要从孩子们身上学习的不是孩子气（期间被粉丝的尖叫打断，MJ再度表示感谢），和他们相处，我们可以跟高等智慧沟通。它们早已经存在于我们周遭， 只是需要我们去相信。它们知道解决谎言的方式，等待我们用一片赤子之心将其重新认知。今天，我要感谢全世界所有的孩子们，包括那些依旧与疾病和贫穷抗争的 孩子们，我对你们的伤痛感同身受。”
“我要在这里感谢那些引导我的天赋的人们，从最开始，我的父母，我所有的兄弟姐妹，尤其是珍妮。我为她感到骄傲，简直难以置信，我的意思是，我记得当我们 年少时，我经常要求她假扮Ginger Rogers，而我是Fred Astaire.（他们两人曾被认为是世界上最好的跳舞二人组，合作过《谈谈情跳跳舞》这部不朽的歌舞片（Shall We Dance，1937）具体情况，请自行查阅wiki =。=）。我感谢‘汽车城之家’，我的老师 Berry Gordy，Diana Ross，我爱你们。我感谢Suzanne De Pazze. 伟大，奇妙的Quincy Jones，Teddy Riley。我感谢我的新教子Michael Gibb，我的sony新家庭： Akio Morita, Mickey Schulhoff, Tommy Motola, Dave Glew, Polly Anthony 。感谢你们帮助我做出了最富创造性的成就，专辑《Dangerous》获得了难以置信的巨大成功。我如此爱你们所有人：Sandy Gallin, Jim Morey。还有所有全世界奇妙的歌迷们，我非常爱你们！”
（迈克尔带珍妮离开领奖台，获得了观众巨大的欢呼和掌声）
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