at the time. He publicly pleaded with
the Clinton Administration at Bill
Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more
money to HIV/AIDS charities and
research. In a high-profile visit to
Africa, Jackson visited several
countries, among
them Gabon and Egypt. His first stop
to Gabon was greeted with a sizable
and enthusiastic reception of more
than 100,000 people, some of them
carrying signs that read, "Welcome
Home Michael." In his trip to Ivory
Coast, Jackson was crowned "King
Sani" by a tribal chief. He then
thanked the dignitaries in French and
English, signed official documents
formalizing his kingship, and sat on a
golden throne while presiding over
ceremonial dances.
In January 1993, Jackson made an
appearance at the Super Bowl
XXVII halftime show in Pasadena,
California. Because of dwindling
interest during halftime in the years
before, the NFL decided to seek bigname talent that would keep viewers
and ratings high, with Jackson being
selected because of his popularity and
universal appeal. It was the first Super
Bowl where the audience figures
increased during the half-time show to
more than the game itself. The
performance began with Jackson
catapulting onto the stage as fireworks
went off behind him. As he landed on
the canvas, he maintained a
motionless "clenched fist, standing
statue stance", dressed in a gold and
black military outfit and sunglasses;
he remained completely motionless
for a minute and a half while the
crowd cheered. He then slowly
removed his sunglasses, threw them
away and sang four songs: "Jam",
"Billie Jean", "Black or White", and
"Heal the World".
Jackson's Dangerous album rose 90
places up the album chart soon after.
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview
to Oprah Winfrey on February 10,
1993, his second television interview
since 1979. He grimaced when
speaking of his childhood abuse at the
hands of his father; he believed he had
missed out on much of his childhood
years, admitting that he often cried
from loneliness. He denied tabloid
rumors that he had bought the bones
of the Elephant Man, slept in a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or
bleached his skin, stating for the first
time that he had
vitiligo.Dangerous re-entered the
album chart in the top 10, more than a
year after its original release.
In February 1993, Jackson was given
the "Living Legend Award" at
the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in
Los Angeles. "Black or White" was
Grammy-nominated for best vocal
performance. "Jam" gained two
nominations: Best R&B Vocal
Performance and Best R&B
Song. The Dangerous album won a
Grammy for Best Engineered – Non
Classical, awarding the work of Bruce
Swedien and Teddy Riley. In the