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"35th Annual Grammy Awards"

Date confirmed in the official Grammy Awards website (archived) (“Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1993, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.”)

Michael Jackson, speech transcript

[After receiving the “Grammy Legend Award” from sister Janet on stage]

I hope this finally puts to rest another rumor that has been in the press for too many years: Me and Janet really are two different people. [Laughs]

In the past month, I’ve gone from “where is he?” to “Here he is again,” but I must confess, it feels good to be thought of as a person, not as a personality. Because I don’t read all the things written about me, I wasn’t aware that the world thought I was so weird and bizarre. But when you grow up as I did, in front of one hundred million people since the age of five, you’re automatically different. The last few weeks, I have been cleansing myself and it’s been a rebirth for myself. It’s like a cleansing spirit.

My childhood was completely taken away from me. There was no Christmas, there were no birthdays, it was not a normal childhood, nor the normal pleasures of childhood - those were exchanged for hard work, struggle, and pain, and eventually material and professional success. But as an awful price, I cannot re-create that part of my life. However, today, when I create my music, I feel like an instrument of nature. I wonder what delight nature must feel when we open our hearts and express our God-given talents. The sound . . . of approval rolls across the universe, and the whole world abounds in magic. Wonder fills our hearts, for what we have glimpsed, for an instant, the playfulness of life.

And that’s why I love children and learn so much from being around them. I realise that many of our world’s problems today - from the inner city crime, to large scale wars and terrorism, and our overcrowded prisons - are a result of the fact that children have had their childhood stolen from them. The magic, the wonder, the mystery, and the innocence of a child’s heart, are the seeds of creativity that will heal the world. I really believe that.

What, what we need to learn, what we need to learn from children isn’t childish. Being with them connects us to the deeper wisdom of life which is ever-present, and only asks to be lived. They know the solutions that lie waiting to be recognised within our own hearts. Today, I would like to thank all the children of the world, including the sick and deprived . . . I am so sensitive to your pain.

I also want to thank all those who have helped me to channel my talent here on earth. From the beginning, my parents, all my brothers and sisters, especially Janet. I am so proud of her, it’s incredible. I mean, I remember when we were little, I used to ask her to be Ginger Rogers, while I was Fred Astaire... The Motown family, my teacher Berry Gordy. Diana Ross, I love you. Suzanne De Pazze. The wonderful, great Quincy Jones. Teddy Riley. My new godson Michael Gibb. My new Sony family, Akio Morita, Mickey Schulhoff, Tommy Motola, Dave Glew, Polly Anthony . . . Thanks for making one of my most creative efforts, the album Dangerous, such an incredible success. I love you all so much. Sandy Gallin, Jim Morey. All the fantastic fans around the world - love you very much.