http://www.soulculture.co.uk/blogs/society/oprah-covers-parade-magazine/
And in exclusive extras, Oprah spoke about how Michael Jackson influenced her decision about taking a risk with OWN.
On how thinking about Michael Jackson made her relax about taking a risk with the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN):
“I was moving forward–we were planning shows, doing deals, creating programming, signing up people. But still I would wake up clutching my chest, like, Omigod. When I looked at it in terms of the vastness of what needed to be accomplished I would start feeling overwhelmed by it.
And then I read this article about Michael Jackson in the July edition of Vanity Fair, and the author of that article spoke to his friends and said, ‘The mistake that Michael Jackson made is that he didn’t recognize that Thriller was a phenomenon and he spent the rest of his life trying to chase the phenomenon.’
“I went, That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been thinking that if I don’t match what I’ve already done then I’m a failure. And I thought, I don’t want to be Michael Jackson. This article specifically said that after Thriller, which sold over 100 million albums and is still the highest-selling album of all time, when he then did Bad, which sold 20 million albums, he felt like a failure. Anybody today would bow down in prayer for 20 million.
“I didn’t want to be that person who’s been given this great opportunity of a network and thinking, but how am I going to make it what the Oprah Show has been for 25 years? What I recognize is that it took me at least 10 solid years to build [that show].”