BRIT Awards protest

It was at this time that Cocker gained significant media exposure due to a notorious prank at the 1996 BRIT Awards , where he invaded the stage in protest during pop singer Michael Jackson ‘s performance of ” Earth Song ” and “wiggled his backside” at the audience. After complaints by Jackson and his entourage, Cocker spent the night in Kensington Police Station, having been arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm and assaulting the child performers. However, with British comedian and former solicitor Bob Mortimer acting as legal representation, he was released without charge. This incident propelled Cocker into great controversy in the UK and elsewhere, and Pulp’s record sales soared as a result. The event also coincided with the beginning of their first arena tour and the Daily Mirror , who had attacked the band months earlier, set up a “Justice for Jarvis” campaign backing his actions and carried out a stunt at Pulp’s Sheffield Arena gig on 29 February, handing out free T-shirts. The NME described Cocker’s actions as a “great publicity stunt” which was “creative, subversive and very, very funny”, while Melody Maker described Cocker as, “arguably the Fifth Most Famous Man in Britain” and suggested he should be knighted .