Many jokes have been made about Michael Jackson’s hair catching fire and I’ve been blamed. That wasn’t on one of my shoots.
Michael was very seriously burned, down to the bone, and he began to use pain killers that may have led to his untimely death years later. He had to wear a hairpiece from then on because of the burn scars.
I’ve heard that the pyrotechnics that were used contained phosphorous, the material that was used in incendiary bombs for the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo.
I’ve also heard that the ‘take’ may have been unnecessary, just a request ‘for another.’
Whatever happened, it was an unnecessary tragedy.