Las Vegas Weekly

September 10, 2009 · 7 AM

Jackson glove bought by HRH for $50,000 to go on display by Christmas

By Robin Leach

Michael Jackson appears in London to announce his final concerts in the British capital in March 2009.

Photo: The Associated Press

The famous bejeweled white glove that Michael Jackson wore to his 1996 wedding to nurse Debbie Rowe has been snapped up at auction by our Hard Rock Hotel, and its museum curator Warwick Stone, who had the winning $50,000 bid, tells me it will be on display here by Christmas.

Warwick told me, “I’m feeling proud as punch that we acquired it. I’d set a $50,000 target, but the adrenaline kicked in so much, I would have gone to $60,000. However, I’m a canny buyer, so I got the winning bid at my target price.”

The King of Pop’s glove went up for auction in Melbourne, Australia, and was the first of Michael’s gloves to go up for sale since his death. In 1996, the pop superstar was in the land Down Under to perform at the premiere of the independent movie Ghosts. At the end of the show, he threw the glove into the audience and fan Bill Hibble scooped it up. Upon his death, however, his mother decided to auction it in an intense bidding war.

“Most collectors of Michael Jackson memorabilia knew about this glove,” Warwick said, “and we were very keen to add it to the Hard Rock’s vast collection of musical memorabilia. I’ve spent 25 years buying memorabilia for the Hard Rock. There are very few occasions that come up like this, and there are very few times we miss out! With pop culture figures, there’s always one item that personifies them. With Michael, that meant the glove, and that’s way more unique than a pair of his shoes. The Michael Jackson glove becomes No. 1 in public interest.”

Warwick told me there will be other Michael Jackson gloves coming to auction in future months at other bidding wars, but it’s the first one that counts! He’ll place it somewhere near the memorabilia display showing Roy Orbison’s glasses and the chain that Sid Vicious always hung around his neck. “That one was so precious, it was easier for me to fly round trip to London to pick it up and bring it back here than flying it in air freight!” he told me.

“We did the entire glove transaction by overseas phone, and when I pay the bill, it will be packed up in at least two sets of protective boxes and shipped to us. I plan to have it on display by Christmastime once I’ve figured out how best to place it and show it in Vegas. We’ll obviously plan a big party event for its unveiling.

“I expect the future M.J. gloves to be sold for much higher prices to collectors. He was the ultimate pop culture figure. We’re fortunate this was a small auction 12,000 miles away, and it got overlooked. The next ones may go 10 times the price I paid -- astronomical.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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