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"New Edition" Meetup

Date range assessed by the fact that the group “[saw] the video for ‘Thriller’ before its official premiere” (“MTV News”) (archived); filming for “Thriller” finished October 27, 1983 and the release date was December 2, 1983.

Bobby Brown, “New Edition” member, “MTV News” (June 28, 2009) (archived)

New Edition's Bobby Brown was renowned for his dancing and, believe it or not, he says his royal dance moves were once requested by the legendary King of Pop himself.

According to Brown, Michael Jackson — who died Thursday — asked his group, New Edition, to help out with some dance moves back during the Boston collective's heyday.

"We went to his house," Brown said, speaking at the press room at the BET Awards on Sunday night (June 28). "We were invited to teach him a couple of our moves. I'm not joking!"

Brown, flanked by NE members Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill, said the group didn't get to stick around much after dancing with Jackson, although they did get to see the video for "Thriller" before its official premiere, according to Tresvant. But what they really wanted from their encounter with Michael Jackson didn't quite pan out.

The late icon invited the guys to stay the night at his house but, according to Brown, their manager turned the invite down.

"We were always upset [about that], because we couldn't stay the night," Brown explained. "We were upset because we wanted to stay and get to know him better. I've spent a lot of time around some great artists, but he was definitely the greatest artist and person I've ever been around."

Brown, along with Gill and Tresvant, honored Jackson during the opening of the 2009 BET Awards by performing a medley of Jackson 5 hits. Brown led the way as their rendition of "ABC" and "The Love You Save" got a standing ovation from the star-studded crowd, which included Beyoncé, Kanye West and Jackson family members.

Ronnie DeVoe, “New Edition” member, “MaximoTV” (July 1, 2009)

We remember, as a matter of fact, back in 1984, we got the opportunity to visit Mike, you know, at the house in Hayvenhurst, [in Encino, California] and he just ran us around the place, you know, showed us the llama, I think Bubbles was around as a matter of fact; they took us in this one room that really had a montage of pictures all over the wall, and then it had mirror on the other side where, you know, Michael rehearsed and things like that, we got a chance to do the cross-step with him, as matter of fact, in that room, so…I mean, [he was] a legendary individual, he talked about being immortal, and I think his music is gonna allow him to do that.