MICHAEL JACKSON

Large vertical promotional poster (H. 91 x W. 61 cm) released to mark the 25th anniversary of *Thriller*, the best-selling album of all time. The central image shows Michael Jackson in a glittering red jacket, arm outstretched in an iconic pose, against a dark background, with the captions ‘#1 Video Album of All Time’, ‘20th Anniversary’, ‘Billboard Music Awards’, ‘Selling Most Albums’, ‘Selling Most Singles’, ‘All Time’, ‘Music Album’, ‘Awards’, ‘Thriller 25’.

Michael Jackson signed this poster in gold marker, in a style characteristic of his later autographs: “Michael Jackson 21/02/08 Las Vegas”. The date corresponds to the intense promotional period for the Thriller 25 album, organised by Sony Music / Legacy in 2007–2008.​​

The poster comes directly from the collection of Richard Lecocq, a contributor involved in the Thriller 25 project and acknowledged as such in the official book Thriller 25 – The Book (credits at the end of the volume). According to his statement, he received this signed poster as part of a promotional campaign organised in Las Vegas in 2008, intended to reward participants in a Thriller 25 competition. Screenshots from the time relating to this competition, as well as several other Thriller 25 items personally autographed in his name by Michael Jackson, are kept in the provenance file and can be provided to any buyer or bidder upon request.

The lot is accompanied by an official MJ Official LLC certificate of authenticity (No. CA 2008-001), signed by Tim Simon, Michael Jackson’s long-time assistant, and David Linder, publicist, and, most notably, a beautiful autograph by Michael Jackson in green felt-tip pen. This document certifies that “Michael Jackson signed this Thriller 25 promotional poster” and that it was “obtained directly from the artist”.