Raffaele Capuozzo

When I first joined Michael in 1979, I met a very shy, quiet and reserved young man. A musical genius, without question, but still discovering who he was becoming as an artist and as a man. I had the rare privilege of watching that transformation happen right in front of me. From the Destiny Tour, to Triumph, and then Victory, I watched Michael absorb everything around him like a sponge. He was curious. He noticed the smallest details. I remember him asking me about the curl I wore in my hair back then. I called it my Superman curl. He asked me why I wore it and even said, “You don’t think it’s girly?” I laughed and told him, “Superman wore it!” I thought it was cool. Michael never forgot the little things. Over the years, I watched his sound, his movement, his confidence and even his style evolve. By the time we reached the Victory Tour in 1984, the shy young man I met five years earlier had transformed into something the world had never witnessed before. People today may never fully comprehend the magnitude of Michael Jackson’s stardom during that period. There was no social media. No internet. No algorithm pushing his face into millions of homes. Michael became a global phenomenon on a scale that was almost impossible to comprehend, and I witnessed it from the best seat in the house…behind my drums. To watch my friend become the biggest star on Earth, right before my eyes, was nothing short of remarkable. I knew Michael before the world crowned him the King of Pop. I watched him become him. And that is something I will carry with me forever. #michaeljackson