40 years later, Michael Jackson’s album still outsells most new releases
The legendary "Thriller" returns to the Billboard top five — despite a sales drop, interest in the album remains consistently high after decades.
Photo: Mathew Browne, Unsplash
USA. Michael Jackson’s album "Thriller", released over 40 years ago, has returned to five Billboard charts, despite a 12% drop in sales last week.
According to Forbes citing Luminate, just over 3,200 copies were sold in a week, which was still enough to bring the album back to two key positions focused solely on physical sales: Thriller placed 12th on the Vinyl Albums chart and 18th on the Top Album Sales chart.
This became possible after Record Store Day ended, which cleared space in the rankings previously filled by new releases.
At the same time, the album remains in consumer-based rankings: 13th on the Top R&B Albums, 42nd on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and 126th on the overall Billboard 200.
Interestingly, despite its iconic status and 447 weeks on the charts, Thriller has never reached No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart — its peak remains second place.
Michael Jackson released "Thriller" in 1982 following the success of Off the Wall. The album blended pop, rock, and funk, produced seven Billboard top-10 hits, and strengthened the role of music videos on MTV.
Jackson and Quincy Jones created nine tracks in seven months. Thriller outperformed everyone in sales and helped break racial barriers in the industry.
The album earned the artist a record-setting eight Grammy awards in one night. Later, several reissues appeared with rare tracks and updated versions.
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