News

Michael Jackson Sets New World Record

• 15th Dec 2010

Guinness World Records, the global authority on record breaking, confirms that a poster erected to mark the release of Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ album (released 13th December) has set a new record as the world’s largest poster.

Guinness World Records confirmed that the poster of Michael Jackson’s ‘Michael’ measures 171ft by 170ft with a total surface area of 29,070 ft², smashing the previous record – held by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver – by more than 110 ft².

To put it into perspective, the ‘Michael’ poster would take over three quarters of the pitch at Wembley stadium, is longer than the equivalent of six Routemaster buses end-to-end and if upright would be higher than Nelson’s column.

The poster, made of PVC and weighing one ton, took engineers three hours to install – and is less than 3,000 meters from one of Heathrow’s main runways, literally viewable by all planes arriving/ departing.

Guinness World Records requires the world's largest poster to be publically displayed and formed of one single piece of material; it must also advertise a commercially available product. Guinness World Records sent an official adjudicator to the site situated at Rectory Farm in Middlesex to officially verify and measure the ‘Michael’ poster.

Tarika Vara, Guinness World Records adjudicator, said: “This is a massive achievement and it brings me great pleasure to confirm that with this new world record, Michael Jackson's 'Michael' has earned its place in history. This poster has not only achieved incredible scale but it has combined this with intricate detail and having seen it up close I can confirm that the quality of the image is fantastic. Michael Jackson already holds a number of Guinness World Records and we are thrilled to award another title to the King Of Pop.”

The image of the album cover of ‘Michael’ was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the original oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life. ‘Michael’ is the much-anticipated album of newly completed recordings by the King Of Pop.

The poster will stay at what will be known as ‘Michael’s Field’ until 23rd December, after which, the poster will travel via sea container into continental Europe where it will be toured and displayed.

Michael Jackson’s Guinness World Records include:
 World’s best-selling album for ‘Thriller’
 Highest annual earnings for a pop star from 1989 and this record remains unbroken 21 years later
 Most hit singles on UK singles chart in one year in 2006 when Michael had 19 singles in the UK Top 40

Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer’s Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements.