On Jan. 27, 1984, while taping a performance scene for the infamous Pepsi commercial, an explosion caused Michael Jackson's hair to catch fire, resulting in the superstar being hospitalized and treated for third-degree burns.
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According to an Us Weekly report that ran less than a month after Jackson's death in 2009 (when the magazine acquired and released disturbing, previously unseen footage of the Pepsi accident – the video above), the singer was never quite the same after being set ablaze by pyrotechnics that day at Los Angeles's Shrine Auditorium. Us reported that Jackson's addiction issues (as well as his obsession with plastic surgery) began after he was prescribed several types of painkillers to ease the suffering from the burns on his scalp and body.
Bob Giraldi, who also directed the music videos for Jackson's "Beat It" and the Paul McCartney collaboration "Say Say Say," says the "finger-pointing" that followed the Pepsi tragedy made an already horrible situation much worse. The accident signaled the end of Giraldi's working relationship with Jackson, who had scored one of the biggest celebrity product endorsement deals at the time.
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"I don't have fond memories of that shoot," Giraldi tells Yahoo Music. "It's not a moment that I like to remember. I've put it out of my repertoire when I think of working and being around Michael in his genius."
For some people, that was the beginning of the end of Michael Jackson. That fateful day 33 years ago today changed Michael Jackson’s life.
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