UB Celebrates Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ 40th Anniversary

Today we celebrate the biggest selling album of all time, by the biggest recording artists ever, Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” on 40th Anniversary!

Although Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released in November 1982, the artist and the album’s immense cultural impact solidified in early 1984. Thriller spent 17 of its 37 weeks atop the Billboard zoo during an uninterrupted streak that ran from Dec. 24,1983 through April 14,1984.

“Thriller” set a new benchmark for blockbusters that changed how the music business promoted and marketed superstar releases. It also changed MTV, breaking down the cable network’s racial barriers and raising the bar for video quality. The label made “Thriller” the first major release to debut worldwide simultaneously, the first album to be worked for close to two years instead of the usual six or eight months and the first album to spin off seven singles to radio – more than double the normal number.

“Thriller” also spent 71 consecutive weeks in the top five. “Thriller” produced a staggering seven top 10 singles, three more than the nearest runners-up was Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours,” the soundtracks to “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” and Michael’s previous album, “Off The Wall.”

The first six “Thriller” singles all reached the top 10 in 1983, as did his duet with Paul McCartney, “Say Say Say. That made MJ the first artist to collect seven top 10 hits in one calendar year since the Beatles amassed 11 in 1964.

“Say Say Say” debuted on the Hot 100 at #26, the highest entry of any single since John Lennon’s “Imagine” opened at #20 in 1971. A few weeks later Michael did even better with the “Thriller,” which tied “Imagine” by debuting at #20 and surging into the top 10 in its second week.

The album’s peak sales and success came in March, 1983, when it set new records virtually every week. On March 5, Michael Jackson became the firs artist to simultaneously top Billboard’s pop and black charts with both an album (Thriller) and a single (Billie Jean). As an added bonus, “Thriller” was also in the midst of an 11-week run on the dance/disco chart. The following week. Michael Jackson added the U.K. charts to his list of conquests, as “Thriller” and “Billie Jean” surged to #1 That made Michael the first black artist to simultaneously top the albums and singles charts in the U.S. and Britain.

“Billie Jean” ended a seven-week run at #1 on the Hot 100 on April 16, and on April 30 Jackson was back at #1 with “Beat It.” That one-week gap between hits was the shortest by any act since the Beatles had back-to-back #1 singles in 1964.

“Billie Jean” and “Beat It” were listed in the top five simultaneously for two weeks running in April, making Michael Jackson the first artist in the ’80s to achieve this monopoly. And with “Billie Jean” “Beat It” and “Say Say Say” all reaching #1 in 1983, Michael became the first artist in the ’80s to collect three #1 hits in one calendar year.

Seven of the album’s original nine tracks became Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 while Individual singles from “Thriller” reached #1 chart positions in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.

“Thriller” made history as the first and only record to be America’s top-selling album two years running (1983 and 1984).

“Thriller” has been certified 27x platinum by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond Award status in the US. In addition, the album has achieved Diamond or Multi-Platinum status in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time, an achievement which remains unsurpassed to this day.

In February 1984, Michael Jackson held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight, which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone in a single year. Seven of Michael’s Grammys that year were for Thriller: Album of the Year; Record of the Year (“Beat It”); Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (“Thriller”); Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical (Thriller); Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (“Beat It”); Best Male R&B; Vocal Performance (“Billie Jean”); Best R&B; Song (“Billie Jean”). (Michael’s eighth Grammy that year was in the Best Recording For Children – Single or Album, Musical or Spoken category for “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”). That same year, Michael Jackson took home eight American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” took home the Best Video Album trophy at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.

Named the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time” by the Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop culture. He was named the World Music Award’s Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award’s Artist of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist in 2001.