Jackson explained: "I remember writing 'Earth Song' when I was in Austria, in a hotel. And I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth's Song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man's mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it's about some of the joys of the planet as well. But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is 'Earth Song.' And that's what inspired it. And it just suddenly dropped into my lap when I was on tour in Austria."
When Jackson sang this at the 1996 Brit awards with a choir of children, he struck a Christ-like pose that did not go over well with Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker, who jumped on stage in protest of Jackson's "Messiah Complex." Cocker disrupted the performance, lifting his shirt and making a gesture with his butt. Said Cocker, "Rock stars have got big enough egos without trying to be Jesus."
This is Jackson's biggest hit in the UK, selling 1,038,821 copies. The single sold over three million copies worldwide.
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