Almost exactly 25 years to the week before his death, Michael Jackson pressed his hand and feet into concrete in what was meant to become part of the Las Vegas Walk of Fame Project. There was nothing exceptional about a celebrity leaving such imprints. It happens all the time.
What’s interesting to some, however, is that inside Jackson’s handprint is a small heart shape. Running through that heart is now a diagonal surface crack, earning it the moniker the Broken Heart Stone.
That “stone,” however, hadn’t been seen in nearly 25 years. It surfaced after Jackson’s death when a Santa Maria man decided to auction it on eBay starting at $1.2 million—though he hopes to get $3 million for it.
“It’s just stunningly beautiful,” said Andrew Wilson, a former international Kung Fu champion who bought the stone shortly after Michael Jackson’s death. “This was actually done and created with his own hand, so there’s so much value added.”
The Las Vegas Walk of Fame Project for which Jackson set his hand failed to materialize. The endeavor ended in 1984, and the autographed stone that carried Jackson’s impressions went into storage in the Riviera Hotel’s basement.
Trish Poling, executive marketing secretary at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, said she’s fielded several calls since Wilson decided to sell the stone. She said the stone does indeed exist, but declined to confirm whether the stone in Wilson’s possession is the same one that was once stashed at the Riviera Hotel.
Wilson only recently came into possession of the stone, but said his acquaintance with Jackson goes back several years. Wilson said he came to know the self-styled King of Pop after appearing in Black Belt magazine and subsequently being invited to Neverland Ranch.
“I think I was the only person in the state of California who didn’t know what Neverland was,” Wilson said. “I was invited to Neverland Ranch and I asked, ‘What do you guys grow out there?’”
Wilson said he initially wasn’t told why he was being invited and was asked to sign nondisclosure agreements, so he can’t divulge the nature of his business at Neverland, but he admitted to being surprised that it involved Jackson.
“So I’m sitting in Michael Jackson’s home and I’m looking around and I see all of these gloves, sequined gloves,” Wilson said. “Then I see the outfit Jackson wore for Thriller. Then I see this painting he paid $7 million for—then I turn around and I see Michael Jackson. I said, ‘Oh my God, I should have known,’ and he just started laughing and said, ‘I know.’”
When Jackson died, Wilson was on his way to a world championship tournament. He said he met someone who knew a guy looking to sell the stone. So he bought it.
It was dirty, he said, covered in powder and not much to look at. Once cleaned up, however, it revealed the heart in the palm of the handprint and the surface line running through it.
“It’s a little ironic,” Wilson said. “I mean, he loved everybody, but he kind of died broken-hearted.”
Wilson said several local businesses aided in prettying up the stone. Apex Auto Glass donated the security glass over the top of it, Tile Connection donated the tile, Bass Cabinetry did the case work for it, City Glass donated the mirror, and Michael’s donated the angels, paint, and rhinestones.
“Knowing how Michael Jackson was, I wanted to make it very Jackson-y,” Wilson said. “It’s a little over the top, but that’s the way he was.”
The auction began Jan. 23.
Contact Arts Editor Shelly Cone at scone@santamariasun.com
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 4, 2010.