page_title: Gone Too Soon
section_title: Promotion
hierarchical_section_title: Gone Too Soon / Promotion
caption_attribution_description: English: This photo of Ryan White was taken by me (Wildhartlivie) in the spring of 1989 at a fund raising event in Indianapolis, Indiana.
context_page_description: "Gone Too Soon" is a ballad recorded and popularized by American musician Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Larry Grossman and Buz Kohan.
  Dionne Warwick first performed the song in February 1983 on a TV special as a tribute to many performers, including Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, John Belushi, Cass Elliot, John Lennon, Bobby Darin, Minnie Riperton, Sam Cooke, Harry Chapin, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Croce, Bobby Van and Karen Carpenter who had died days earlier. Later on the same day, Jackson called Kohan explaining he had wept while watching the performance and that he felt he wanted to record it some day.
  Jackson's version of "Gone Too Soon" was dedicated to the memory of Jackson's friend Ryan White, a teenager from Kokomo, Indiana who came to national attention, after being expelled from his school for having HIV/AIDS. This version was produced by Jackson and co-produced by Bruce Swedien for Jackson's eighth studio album, Dangerous. The song was also mixed by Swedien, and featured instrumentation by artists such as David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Michael Boddicker, Abraham Laboriel and Paulinho Da Costa.
context_section_description: "Gone Too Soon" was promoted with a short music video directed by Bill DiCicco. The footage in the music video featured scenes of Jackson and White together, as well as brief coverage from White's funeral. Home movies, donated by White's mother Jeanne, were also shown in the short film. At the time of its creation, Jeanne White revealed that the video for "Gone Too Soon" would demonstrate how much Jackson cared for her ill son. The music video was later featured on Jackson's 1993 VHS Dangerous - The Short Films. An alternate video was released a few months after Michael's death, and was later released on Michael Jackson's Vision.
  The song was further promoted with a live performance of "Gone Too Soon" at President-elect Bill Clinton's inauguration celebration, An American Reunion: The 52nd Presidential Inaugural Gala. The pop star dedicated his performance to White, and used the occasion to plead with the incoming president for funding toward AIDS-related research:
  "Thank you, mister President-elect, for inviting me to your inauguration gala. I would like to take a moment from this very public ceremony to speak of something very personal. It concerns a dear friend of mine who is no longer with us. His name is Ryan White. He was a hemophiliac who was diagnosed with the AIDS virus when he was eleven. He died shortly after turning eighteen, the very time most young people are beginning to explore life's wonderful possibilities. My friend Ryan was a very bright, very brave, and very normal young man who never wanted to be a symbol or a spokesperson for a deadly disease. Over the years, I've shared many silly, happy, and painful moments with Ryan and I was with him at the end of his brief but eventful journey. Ryan is gone and just as anyone who has lost a loved one to AIDS, I miss him deeply and constantly. He is gone, but I want his life to have meaning beyond his passing. It is my hope, President-elect Clinton, that you and your administration commit the resources needed to eliminate this awful disease that took my friend, and ended so many promising lives before their time. This song is for you Ryan". - Michael Jackson, January 1993.
caption: Footage of Ryan White was used in the music video of "Gone Too Soon".
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