In late November 2001, the CBS televisheni network aired a two-hour special in honor of Michael Jackson's thirtieth mwaka as a solo entertainer (his first solo single, "Got to Be There", was recorded in 1971). The onyesha was edited from footage of two separate concerts Michael had orchestrated in New York City's Madison Square Garden on September 7 and September 10 of 2001. The shows sold out in five hours. Ticket prices were pop's most expensive ever; the best seats cost $5,000 and included a chajio, chakula cha jioni with Michael Jackson and a signed poster. Jackson reportedly earned $7.5 million for each of the two concerts, which is over $150,000 per minute. The onyesha ranked first in black viewers over the decade ending 2008.

The concerts are mentioned in the VH1 biopic Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story, which notes that the last of the two concerts wrapped up just hours before two hijacked jet planes were crashed into the Twin Towers of Lower Manhattan's World Trade Center (see September 11th terrorist attacks). The concerts featured in the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special were his final performances. Jackson would have embarked on the This Is It tour, a 50-date residency at the O2 arena; however, he died less than three weeks prior to the first planned performance.

Marlon Brando appeared in the tamasha to speak about humanitarian work but it was not broadcast due to poor response from the audience. Raw footage can be found online.

First hour
Opening the onyesha was Samuel L. Jackson's presentation of Usher, Whitney Houston & Mýa, performing a rendition of Michael's hit song "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", from his 1982 album, Thriller. Among other performers and guests were Liza Minnelli imba "You Are Not Alone"; young Billy Gilman's performance of Jackson's 1972 #1 U.S. hit "Ben"; and James Ingram with Gloria Estefan imba Jackson's 1987 ballad, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (another #1 U.S. hit). Marc Anthony also sang "She's out of My Life".

sekunde hour
The sekunde saa of the onyesha is kwa far the best remembered, featuring the exciting reunion of Michael and his brothers Jermaine, Jackie, Randy, Marlon, and Tito for a "greatest hits" medley, including their headlining songs "Can wewe Feel It", "ABC", "The upendo wewe Save", "I Want wewe Back", "I'll Be There" and "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)". Following the reunion, Michael announced surprise guests for the Jackson 5 hit "Dancing Machine": *NSYNC.

Following a short intermission, Chris Tucker then appeared onstage, recalls a humorous conversation between him and Jackson (imitating his voice) before announcing a live performance of "Billie Jean" (The broadcast version is different inaonyesha The Way wewe Make Me Feel/Black au White/Beat It and then Billie Jean). The superstar once again hit the stage, this time flanked kwa scores of dancers dressed as gang members for "Beat It". As Michael glided and danced his way across the floor, the crowd roared all the louder in appreciation. Immediately afterward, Slash was properly introduced for a rendition of "Black au White". Then, to wind things down, Jackson was joined kwa Britney Spears for a performance of "The Way wewe Make Me Feel". The broadcast version that aired featured a different dancer than Spears while Jackson sang the whole song due to contractual reasons, the removed clip can be found online. After, he performed his newest single, "You Rock My World", from the recently-released album Invincible. Michael was joined at the end of the song kwa Usher, who performed a smooth robotic dance routine.(The broadcast version ends after wewe Rock My World). Near the end of the final song, Jackson and Co. sang "We Are the World" onstage in an otherwise elaborate finale.