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| Billboard’s Full continuing Michael Jackson coverage, including video, charts and more. |
Michael Jackson’s impact on pop music history is impossible to overstate.
The 1982 album “Thriller,” the singer’s career-defining release, has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it the top-selling studio album in the U.S. of all time. (Only an Eagles greatest-hits collection has sold more.) “Thriller”
topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks, the second-longest run at No. 1 of any album in history.
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Over the course of his solo career, Jackson charted 47 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, 13 of which went to No. 1. As part of the Jackson 5, he earned an additional four No. 1 Hot 100 hits.
His “Thriller” album was the first to spawn seven top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while his 1987 follow-up album, “Bad,” became the first to see five of its singles reach No. 1. Jackson was also the first act to ever debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “You Are Not Alone” on Sept. 2, 1995.
His last studio project, 2001’s “Invincible,” has sold 2.1 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set’s first single, “You Rock My World,” became the entertainer’s final top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
His catalog of albums continues to sell strongly. Since “Thriller” was reissued in February 2008 in a special deluxe edition, it has sold 774,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album re-entered Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog chart at No. 1 with 166,000 sold in its first week. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), it was the 32nd biggest selling album in the world last year and the ninth best seller for Sony Music.
Explore Jackson’s multi-decade history on the Billboard charts even futher here.
Michael Jackson Billboard No. 1s
Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield and Gary Trust