"This Day In HIStory" March 9, 1993 ~ MJ Performs At The Soul Train Awards.

by **MJ Mod** Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:16 pm

On March 9, 1993 Michael had three nominations and received the Humanitarian of the Year award.

Despite having sprained his ankle the day before during dance rehearsals, he attended the awards presentation and he performed "Remember The Time" from a wheelchair as scheduled.

Michael's first appearance during the telecast came when he was named the Humanitarian of the Year. The award was presented by Michael's friend, Eddie Murphy:

I address these remarks to a very good friend of mine, Michael Jackson. Now, Michael, everyone knows you have broken every sales record known to man and that you have the number one and number two best selling albums of all time and the number one selling single of all time and he's the biggest selling artist ever, but tonight we're not here to talk about that, we're here to talk about your achievements as a humanitarian and your concern about the well-being of children and brothers and sisters everywhere and Mother Earth herself.

As the cheers from the crowd threatened to drown Murphy out, he cut his remarks short and said, "Hey, just show the film, huh!" A short film tribute to Michael, narrated by Eddie Murphy, outlined a few of Michael's countless efforts to help children and make the world a better place. Michael, who was on crutches, was helped to the stage from his front row seat by Bill Bray. He was dressed in black pants and a black jacket with belts across his chest, a red armband, and one shoe. After blowing kisses to the wildly cheering crowd, he apologized for his injury, and Murphy insisted he tell how it happened, "You can't just come out like that and not tell us what happened." Michael replied, "You really want to know? I was dancing and I went into a spin and I twisted my ankle very badly. But I wanted to come here to thank everyone." After poking fun at Murphy, "Eddie, I heard you have a new album out, that you're the one whose 'dangerous'". Michael continued:

Ever since I was a child, I realized I had a lot of love to share from my soul. The black tradition is a tradition of soul which is a gift of love and joy. Soul is the most precious thing you can share because you're sharing yourself and the world needs that gift now more than ever. The child wit AIDS, in the ghetto, is waiting for you along with the starving people in Africa and everyone else who needs healing. Make the world more beautiful by sharing with me the wonderful feeling you get when your soul is lifted up to become pure love. I accept this award on behalf of all the children of the world who are my inspiration and my hope...

Michael's next award was for Best R&B Soul Single, Male for "Remember The Time". Michael was wheeled out from backstage in a wheelchair by Bill Bray, then he stood with the aid of a crutch to accept the award:

Thank you again, I love you all. Thank you Berry Gordy, the Sony family, Akio Morita, Mickey Schulhof, Tommy Mottola, Dave Glew, and especially Hank Caldwell. Tessy Riley, all the program directors and DJ's, you play my records, Sandy Gallin and Jim Morey and the fans.

Michael changed in the gold Egyptian costume he wears in the video for "Remember The Time" and he performed the song sitting in an elaborate gold chair placed in the center of the stage, with his dancers behind him. Seated, he gyrated from the waist up and belted out the song like nobody's business, even binging himself up to stand, balancing himself on one foot a couple of times during the performance.

Video of the performance: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]