Michael Jackson’s “This Is It!” Tour Balloons to 50-Show Run Stretching Into 2010

What began as a 10-night stand at London’s O2 Arena has exploded into a 50-concert affair as Michael Jackson added another 20 shows to his This Is It! run. All the tickets allotted during yesterday’s presale, roughly 360,000 of them according to MichaelJacksonLive, sold out yesterday, and the tickets that go on sale to the public tomorrow will likely do the same. As it stands, the 2009 concerts will end on September 29th, and then Jackson will return to the O2 on January 7, 2010 for at least 15 more shows, bringing the grand total to 50.

“By the end of the 50 concerts, 1 million fans will have witnessed one of the greatest musical events in history,” reads a statement on the MichaelJacksonLive page. “The figures speak for themselves — 360,000 tickets sold in 18 hours during the pre sale so far, that is 20,000 tickets per hour, 33 tickets per minute!” Demand was so great for the Jackson shows, Ticketmaster was struck with technical problems due to the high traffic. Among the records This Is It! has broken: The biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city, the most amount of people to attend a series of arena shows and fastest ticket sales in history. Barring an unlikely non-sell out to any of the shows, the 50 shows will more than double Prince’s previous record of 21 sold-out concerts at the O2 Arena.

“Michael is said to be ‘thrilled’ by the response and wanted as many fans to share the experience with him as possible,” the Website adds. “This will be the last chance to see the King of Pop in London, this really is it!” The remaining tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 13th, at 7 am GST/3 am EST. Check out the tour dates as they stand now below:

Michael Jackson
July 8 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 10 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 12 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 14 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 16 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 18 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 22 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 24 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 26 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 28 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
July 30 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 1 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 3 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 10 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 12 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 17 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 19 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 24 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 26 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 28 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
August 30 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 1 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 3 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 6 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 8 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 10 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 21 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 23 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 27 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
September 29 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 7, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 9, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 12, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 14, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 16, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 18, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 23, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 25, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 27, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
January 29, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
February 1, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
February 8, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
February 10, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
February 12, 2010 – London, UK @ O2 Arena