Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk Hat up for Auction 

A Fedora hat that belonged to US singer Michael Jackson, made of wool and lined with silk, is displayed before being put on sale at auction, in Paris, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)
A Fedora hat that belonged to US singer Michael Jackson, made of wool and lined with silk, is displayed before being put on sale at auction, in Paris, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)
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Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk Hat up for Auction 

A Fedora hat that belonged to US singer Michael Jackson, made of wool and lined with silk, is displayed before being put on sale at auction, in Paris, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)
A Fedora hat that belonged to US singer Michael Jackson, made of wool and lined with silk, is displayed before being put on sale at auction, in Paris, on September 12, 2023. (AFP)

Just before performing his famous moonwalk dance for the first time, Michael Jackson tossed his hat to the side of the stage. Four decades later, it's up for auction in Paris.

The sale at the Hotel Drouot in Paris takes place on September 26. The black fedora is expected to fetch between 60,000 and 100,000 euros ($64,000-$107,000).

Though it is the star among some 200 items of rock memorabilia, organizer Arthur Perault of the Artpeges gallery admitted that valuations for Jackson items had fallen lately due to "the sale of fakes and the accusations against him".

Jackson has long been accused of child abuse, which his heirs still contest and which the singer denied up to his death in 2009 at the age of 50.

The King of Pop whipped off the hat while breaking into his hit "Billie Jean" during a televised Motown concert in 1983, at the height of his fame.

Moments later, Jackson showed off what would become his trademark move -- the moonwalk -- a seemingly effortless backwards glide while appearing to walk forwards.

A man named Adam Kelly picked up Jackson's hat, "thinking the singer's staff would come to collect it but they didn't", said Perault.

He held on to it for several years, but it has since passed through a couple of private collectors on its way to Paris.

Also being auctioned are a guitar owned by the legendary bluesman T-Bone Walker that could fetch up to 150,000 euros; a suit worn by Depeche Mode's Martin Gore; and one of Madonna's gold records.

A chunk of wall from the Bus Palladium, a Paris venue that shut down last year, signed by numerous rock stars including members of The Libertines, Air and The Dandy Warhols, is valued at between 5,000 and 8,000 euros.

"Personally, I hope this wall stays in France. It is part of our heritage for all lovers of music and rock," said Perault.

Music memorabilia has become big business.

Co-organizers Lemon Auction made a splash last year with the sale of a guitar smashed by Noel Gallagher on the night Oasis split up in Paris following a fight with his brother Liam. The instrument went for 385,500 euros.

This month, a series of auctions for items belonging to Freddie Mercury -- including the piano on which he composed "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- have made a total of 46.5 million euros at Sotheby's, attracting bidders from 76 countries.



Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Tom Cruise led a moment of silence in honor of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon, the official convention of theater owners in the United States. Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Tom Cruise paid tribute to late "Top Gun" co-star Val Kilmer on Thursday, leading movie theater owners in a moment's silence at the CinemaCon event before unveiling new footage from his latest "Mission: Impossible" movie.

"I'd like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer," said Cruise, at the start of his hotly anticipated appearance at the annual industry summit in Las Vegas.

"I really can't tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being, and how grateful and honored I was when he joined 'Top Gun' and then came back for 'Top Gun: Maverick," said Cruise.

Kilmer, one of the biggest Hollywood actors of the 1990s, who shot to fame playing Iceman in the original 1986 "Top Gun", died aged 65, his family announced this week.

The cause of death was pneumonia. Kilmer had battled throat cancer after being diagnosed in 2014, and made his final appearance in the "Top Gun" 2022 sequel "Maverick," physically diminished and with a raspy voice.

Cruise on Thursday led the audience at Caesars Palace casino in a lengthy silence, asking attendees to "take a moment and just think about all the wonderful times that we had" watching Kilmer on the big screen.

"I wish you well on your next journey," said Cruise, to Kilmer.

He added to the attendees: "Thank you all for doing that. I know he appreciates it."

"Top Gun" was Kilmer's breakout role. Starring opposite Cruise, he played the cocky, square-jawed and mostly silent fighter pilot in training Tom "Iceman" Kazansky.

When he reprised his role as "Iceman" in the long-awaited sequel "Top Gun: Maverick," Kilmer's real-life health issues were written into the character.

Cruise on Thursday also introduced a new trailer for "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," out May 23.

Footage shows Cruise's ageless hero Ethan Hunt clinging to the wheels of a small biplane as it soars down a narrow canyon and barrel rolls through the skies.

The trailer contained extensive flashbacks to famous scenes from earlier in the eight-film blockbuster franchise, such as Cruise dangling between lasers and climbing the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.

"I need you to trust me one last time," says Cruise's character, in what Paramount is marketing as supposedly the final movie of the franchise.