Thriller (album)
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Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 29, 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who previously worked with Jackson on his album Off the Wall (1979). Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a budget of $750,000. With the ongoing backlash against disco music, Jackson moved in a new musical direction, resulting in darker themes and a mix of genres, including rock for the first time. Paul McCartney appears as the first credited featured artist on a Jackson album.
Thriller was praised by critics and soon attracted greater acclaim. It was Jackson's first number 1 album on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, and stood atop for a record 37 non-consecutive weeks. The album’s second and third singles, "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, while "The Girl Is Mine", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'Template:-", "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Thriller" also reached the Top 10, setting a record for the most Top 10 hits from one album. Sales of Thriller surged after Jackson debuted his signature moonwalk dance in Motown 25 and the "Thriller" music video premiered on MTV, and by 1984 it had sold 32 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of all time.
Thriller was the best-selling album of 1983 worldwide, and in 1984 it became the first album to be the best-selling in the United States for two years. The success gave Jackson an unprecedented level of cultural significance for a black American, breaking racial barriers in popular music, earning him regular airplay on MTV, leading to a meeting with US President Ronald Reagan at the White House, and notably causing an intense fan frenzy known as "Michaelmania". The album's several music videos are credited with transforming music videos into a serious art form.
Often regarded as one of the greatest albums in the history of music, Thriller is often recognized as an important event in American culture. It remains the best-selling album, having sold an estimated 70 million copies worldwide, and is certified 34× platinum in the US, making it the second-best-selling album in the US. In 1984, it won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Beat It", and a record-breaking eight American Music Awards, including the special Merit honor. In 2008, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant recordings".
Background
Jackson's previous album Off the Wall (1979) received critical acclaim and was a commercial success, having sold 10 million copies at the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="RSOFW">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="AMOFW">Template:Cite web</ref> The years between Off the Wall and Thriller were a transitional period for Jackson, a time of increased independence.Template:Sfn The period saw him become deeply unhappy; Jackson said, "Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so hard to make friends ... I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home."Template:Sfn
When Jackson turned 21 in August 1979, he hired John Branca as his manager.Template:Sfn Jackson told Branca that he wanted to be the biggest and wealthiest star in showbusiness. He was upset about what he perceived as the underperformance of Off the Wall, feeling it had deserved the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.Template:Sfn He also felt undervalued by the music industry; in 1980, when Rolling Stone declined to run a cover story on him, Jackson responded: "I've been told over and over that black people on the cover of magazines doesn't sell copies ... Just wait. Some day those magazines are going to be begging me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one, and maybe I won't."Template:Sfn
For his next album, Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". He was frustrated by albums that would have "one good song, and the rest were like B-sides ... Why can't every one be like a hit song? Why can't every song be so great that people would want to buy it if you could release it as a single? ... That was my purpose for the next album."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Production and composition
Recording
Jackson reunited with Off the Wall producer Quincy Jones to record his sixth studio album, his second under the Epic label. They worked together on 30 songs, nine of which were included on the album.Template:Sfn Thriller was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a production budget of $750,000 (US$Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation/year dollarsTemplate:Inflation/fn). The recording commenced on April 14, 1982, at noon with Jackson and Paul McCartney recording "The Girl Is Mine"; it was completed on the final day of mixing, November 8, 1982.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Several members of the band Toto were involved in the album's recording and production.Template:Sfn Jackson wrote four songs for the record: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "The Girl Is Mine", "Beat It" and "Billie Jean".<ref name="SpecialEdition" /> Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write these songs on paper. Instead, he dictated into a sound recorder; when recording he would sing from memory.Template:Sfn<ref name="Interview" />
The relationship between Jackson and Jones became strained during the recording. Jackson spent much of his time rehearsing dance steps alone.<ref name="Interview" /> When the album was completed, both Jones and Jackson were unhappy with the result and remixed every song, spending a week on each.<ref name="Interview" />
"Billie Jean" was personal to Jackson, who struggled with obsessed fans. Jones wanted to shorten the long introduction, but Jackson insisted that it remain because it made him want to dance.<ref name="SpecialEdition">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> The ongoing backlash against disco made it necessary to move in a different musical direction from the disco-heavy Off the Wall.<ref name="jessejackson">Template:Cite interview</ref> Jones and Jackson were determined to make a rock song that would appeal to all tastes and spent weeks looking for a suitable guitarist for the song "Beat It". Eventually, they found Steve Lukather of Toto to play the rhythm guitar parts and Eddie Van Halen of the rock band Van Halen to play the solo.<ref name="SpecialEdition" /><ref name="Interview">Template:Cite news Template:Cbignore</ref>
When Rod Temperton wrote the song "Thriller", he wanted to call it "Starlight" or "Midnight Man", but settled on "Thriller" because he felt the name had merchandising potential.<ref name="Interview" /> Wanting a notable person to recite the closing lyrics, Jones brought in actor Vincent Price, an acquaintance of Jones' wife; Price completed his part in two takes. Temperton wrote the spoken portion in a taxi on the way to the recording studio. Jones and Temperton said that some recordings were left off the album because they did not have the "edginess" of other album tracks.<ref name="SpecialEdition" /> A cover of "Behind the Mask", originally by the Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra, was omitted when the parties could not agree on royalties.<ref name="mjftr">Template:Cite book</ref>
Music and lyrics
Thriller explores genres including post-disco,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Heyliger">Template:Cite web</ref> funk,<ref name="Heyliger" /><ref name="AMThriller" /> pop,<ref name="Heyliger" /> synth-pop,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> R&B,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and rock.<ref name="Heyliger" /> According to Steve Huey of AllMusic, it refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks are more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads are softer and more soulful.<ref name="allmusic" /> The album includes the ballads "Human Nature", "The Girl Is Mine" and "The Lady in My Life", the funk tracks "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Something'", and the disco songs "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".<ref name="RSThriller" /><ref name="AMThriller" /><ref name="allmusic" /><ref name="Slant">Template:Cite web</ref>
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" climaxes in an African-inspired chant (often misidentified as Swahili, but actually syllables based on Duala),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> giving the song an international flavor.Template:Sfn "The Girl Is Mine" tells of two friends' fight over a woman, arguing over who loves her more, and concludes with a rap.<ref name="Interview" />Template:Sfn The album's songs have a tempo ranging from 80 beats per minute on "The Girl is Mine", to 138 on "Beat It".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Thriller foreshadows the contradictory themes of Jackson's later works.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> With Thriller, Jackson began using a motif of paranoia and darker themes including supernatural imagery in the title track.<ref name="RSThriller" /> This is evident on the songs "Billie Jean", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Thriller".<ref name="AMThriller">Template:Cite web</ref> In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he fathered her child; in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against media gossip.<ref name="RSThriller">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="allmusic" /> For "Billie Jean", Jones had Jackson sing overdubs through a six-foot (180 cm) cardboard tube and brought in jazz saxophonist Tom Scott to play the lyricon, a wind-controlled synthesizer. Bassist Louis Johnson ran through his part on a Yamaha bass guitar. The song opens with a long bass-and-drums introduction.<ref name="Blender" /> "Thriller" includes sound effects such as creaking doors, thunder, footsteps, wind, and howling dogs.<ref name="Interview" />
The anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became an homage to West Side Story and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece.<ref name="allmusic" /><ref name="RSBio">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Jackson later said of "Beat It", "the point is no one has to be the tough guy, you can walk away from a fight and still be a man. You don't have to die to prove you're a man".Template:Sfn "Human Nature", co-written by Steve Porcaro of the band Toto,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is moody and introspective, as conveyed in lyrics such as, "Looking out, across the morning, the City's heart begins to beat, reaching out, I touch her shoulder, I'm dreaming of the street".Template:Sfn
By the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded; AllMusic described him as a "blindingly gifted vocalist".<ref name="AMOFW" /> Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden likened his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder, and wrote that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly."<ref name="RSOFW" /> With the release of Thriller, Jackson could sing low—down to a basso low C—but he preferred to sing higher because pop tenors have more range to create style.<ref name="TIME" /> Rolling Stone critic Christopher Connelly wrote that Jackson was now singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".<ref name="RSThriller" />
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", credited to James Ingram and Quincy Jones, and "The Lady in My Life" by Rod Temperton, gave the album a stronger R&B direction; the latter song was described as "the closest Jackson has come to crooning a sexy, soulful ballad after his Motown years" by J. Randy Taraborrelli.Template:Sfn Jackson had already adopted a "vocal hiccup" (first used in 1973 on "It's Too Late to Change the Time"Template:Sfn), which he continued to implement in Thriller. The purpose of the hiccup—somewhat like a gulping for air or gasping—is to evoke emotion, be it excitement, sadness, or fear.Template:Sfn
Cover
The cover for Thriller features Jackson in a white suit that belonged to photographer Dick Zimmerman. The gatefold sleeve reveals a tiger cub at Jackson's leg, which, according to Zimmerman, Jackson kept away from his face, fearing he would be scratched.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Another picture from the shoot, with Jackson embracing the cub, was used for the 2001 special edition of Thriller.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Release and commercial reception
Thriller was released on November 29, 1982, through Epic Records<ref name="Bb6Nov82">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and internationally by CBS Records.<ref name="Bb29Nov2012">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Sfn It reached number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart on February 26, 1983.<ref name="Billboard83" /> Thriller sold one million copies worldwide per week at its peak.<ref name="TIME" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Thriller was the best-selling album in the United States in 1983 and 1984, making it the first album to be the best-selling for two years. It also spent a record 37 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, from February 26, 1983, to April 14, 1984, and has remained on the chart for 626 nonconsecutive weeks (and counting).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Thriller was Jackson's global breakthrough, topping the charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It has gained Diamond certifications in Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Mexico and the UK. Thriller sells an estimated 130,000 copies in the US per year; it reached number two in the US Catalog charts in February 2003 and number 39 in the UK in March 2007.<ref name="Ultimate" /> It is the sixth-best-selling album in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On December 16, 2015, Thriller became the first album to be certified 30× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least 30 million units in the US.<ref name="Stutz">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="RIAA">Template:Cite web</ref> Following the inclusion of streaming and tracks sales into the RIAA album awards in 2017, Thriller was certified 33× platinum, representing 33 million album-equivalent units.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As of August 2021, the album has been certified 34× platinum in the US, denoting 34 million album-equivalent units.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By the end of 1983, Thriller became the world's best-selling album, having sold 32 million copies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the end of the decade, Thriller had sold 48 million copies.<ref name="international">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Note: Industry estimates & congressional hearings suggest an additional 15+ million international sales were lost to bootleg cassette sales by 1985, and millions more between 1987-1990. Bringing total circulation of Thriller to 70+ million by the end of the decade
</ref> It remains the best-selling album of all time, having sold over 70 million copies worldwide.Template:Refn<ref name="bbc">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ANI">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Singles
Seven singles were released from Thriller. The first, "The Girl Is Mine", was criticized as a poor choice; critics predicted that the album would disappoint and suggested that Jackson was bowing to a white audience.Template:Sfn "The Girl Is Mine" topped the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart, reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.Template:Sfn
"Billie Jean" was released on January 2, 1983.Template:Sfn It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained for seven weeks. It also topped the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart within three weeks, and it remained at number 1 for nine weeks. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1983.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It topped the charts in 9 countries and reached the top 10 in many others. "Billie Jean" was one of the best-selling singles of 1983, helping Thriller become the best-selling album of all time. It also became Jackson's best-selling solo single. "Billie Jean" was described as a pioneer of "sleek, post-soul pop music" and also the beginning of a more paranoid lyrical style for Jackson, a trademark of his later music.<ref name="Blender" />
The third single, "Beat It",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> also reached number one on the Black Singles chart.Template:Sfn Billboard ranked it number five for 1983. "Beat It" reached number one in Spain and the Netherlands.Template:Sfn "Wanna Be Startin' SomethinTemplate:'-" was Jackson's fourth consecutive top-ten single from Thriller on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 5.<ref name="AllMusicAwards" /> "Human Nature" reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.<ref name="AllMusicAwards" /> "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" charted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.<ref name="AllMusicAwards" />
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"Thriller", the final single, was released on November 2, 1983.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was not initially planned for release, as Epic saw it as a novelty song;<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> according to executive Walter Yetnikoff, "Who wants a single about monsters?"<ref name="Griffin">Template:Cite magazine</ref> By mid-1983, when sales of Thriller began to decline, Jackson convinced Epic to release "Thriller", backed by a new music video.<ref name="Griffin" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart.<ref name="AllMusicAwards">Template:Cite web</ref>
Music videos
The "Billie Jean" music video debuted on March 10, 1983, on MTV.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It brought MTV—until then a fairly new and unknown music channel—to mainstream attention. It was one of the first videos by a black artist to be aired regularly by the channel, as the network's executives felt black music was not "rock" enough.Template:Sfn Directed by Steve Barron, the video shows a photographer who follows Jackson. The paparazzo never catches him, and when photographed Jackson fails to materialize on the developed picture. He dances to Billie Jean's hotel room and as he walks along a sidewalk, each tile lights up at his touch.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The "Beat It" music video had its premiere on MTV during primetime on March 31, 1983.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To add authenticity to the production but also to foster peace between them, Jackson had the idea to cast members of rival Los Angeles street gangs the Crips and the Bloods,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and included around 80 genuine gang members.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Its plot is Jackson bringing two gangsters together through the power of music and dance. It is also notable for its "mass choreography" of synchronized dancers, which would become the hallmark of Jackson's music videos.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The "Thriller" music video premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In the video, Jackson and his girlfriend (played by Ola Ray) are confronted by zombies while walking home from a movie theater; Jackson becomes a zombie and performs a dance routine with a horde of the undead.<ref name="Griffin" /> It was named the greatest video of all time by MTV in 1999,<ref name="mtvm.v.list2">Template:Cite web</ref> by VH1 in 2001,<ref name="abcnewsvh122">Template:Cite web</ref> and by Time in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2009, it became the first music video to be selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.<ref name="ReutersRegistry">Template:Cite web</ref> The Library described it as "the most famous music video of all time".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Critical reception
Template:Music ratingsUpon release, Thriller received high praise by critics, though some felt that it was inferior to Off the Wall. Mike Gardner of Record Mirror gave Thriller a positive review, though noted that the album "aims for cosy comfort" instead of the 'state of the art' technicality present in Off the Wall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gavin Martin of NME gave an underwhelming review of Thriller, claiming that it sounds like it was released before Off the Wall.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Martin was particularly critical of Jackson's songwriting: "the overall feeling that comes from Thriller is that of barely developed artist being given too much artistic control".<ref name=":0" /> Writing for Smash Hits, Bev Hillier noted that while Thriller is not as "instant" as Off the Wall, it is still a "first class product".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In Musician, J. D. Considine lauded Thriller, writing that the album "sounds every bit like a winner" and that Jackson and Jones did a "magnificent job of recreating the lithe grooves and carefully manicured arrangements" that defined the sound of Off the Wall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> John Rockwell wrote in The New York Times that Thriller is "a wonderful pop record, the latest statement by one of the great singers in popular music today" and that there are "hits here, too, lots of them". Rockwell believed it helped breach "the destructive barriers that spring up regularly between white and black music", especially as "white publications and radio stations that normally avoid black music seem willing to pretend he isn't black after all".<ref name="Rockwell">Template:Cite news</ref> In a contemporaneous review for Rolling Stone, Christopher Connelly called Thriller "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message". He compared the songs on the album with the life challenges that the 24-year-old Jackson had faced since Off the Wall, while observing that he "dropped the boyish falsetto" and was facing his "challenges head-on" with "a feisty determination" and "a full, adult voice". Connelly emphasized Jackson's musical progression from Off the Wall, writing, "Jackson's new attitude gives Thriller a deeper, if less visceral, emotional urgency than any of his previous work, and marks another watershed in the creative development of this prodigiously talented performer."<ref name="RSThriller" /> In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said "this is virtually a hits-plus-filler job, but at such a high level it's almost classic anyway".<ref name="Christgau2">Template:Cite news</ref>
A year after the album's release, Time summed up the three main singles from the album, saying, "The pulse of America and much of the rest of the world moves irregularly, beating in time to the tough strut of 'Billie Jean', the asphalt aria of 'Beat It', the supremely cool chills of 'Thriller'."<ref name="TIME" /> In 1989, Toronto Star music critics reflected on the albums they had reviewed in the past ten years in order to create a list judging them on the basis of "commercial impact to social import, to strictly musical merit." Thriller was placed at number 1 on the list, where it was referred to as his "master work" and that "commercial success has since overshadowed Jackson's artistic accomplishments on Thriller, and that's a pity. It was a record for the times, brimming with breathless anticipation and a dread fear of the adult world, a brilliant fantasy that pumped with sexual heat, yet made room for serious reflection".<ref name="TS">Template:Cite news</ref> Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s (1990), "what we couldn't know is how brilliantly every hit but 'P.Y.T.' would thrive on mass exposure and public pleasure."<ref name="CG80s">Template:Cite book</ref>
Awards
Thriller topped The Village VoiceTemplate:'s Pazz & Jop poll of 1983.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jackson was nominated for a record 12 Grammy Awards at the 26th Grammy Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Jackson won seven of the Grammy Awards for the album, while the eighth Grammy Award went to Bruce Swedien.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Richard Harrington of The Washington Post described the ceremony as 'The Michael Jackson Show', writing "it was exactly the kind of one-man show that everyone had anticipated".<ref name="WaPo">Template:Cite news</ref> In winning the Album of the Year award, Jackson became the third-youngest to win the award after Barbra Streisand at 22 and Stevie Wonder at 23.<ref name="WaPo" /> That same year, Jackson won eight American Music Awards, including the American Music Award of Merit, and three MTV Video Music Awards.<ref name="Ultimate">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Thriller was recognized as the best-selling album of all time on February 7, 1984, when it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records.Template:Sfn
Rankings
In 1992, Thriller was awarded the Special Billboard Award to commemorate its 10th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2000, it was voted number 64 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. It was also ranked number 2 in the Soul/R&B – All Time Top 50 albums. The book states; it is the finest example of perfect disco-pop, and a record that should be prescribed to musical snobs and manic depressives.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, as a sign of the album's longevity, Thriller was awarded a second Special Billboard Award as a recognition for spending more weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 than any other album in history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2003, it was ranked at number 20 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, maintaining the ranking in a 2012 revised list — it's the highest ranked pop album on both lists.<ref name="RS500">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In a 2020 updated list by Rolling Stone, Thriller was ranked number 12.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It was ranked by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), in conjunction with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at number three on its list of the Definitive 200 Albums of All Time.<ref name="D200">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" were both included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, Time included Thriller in its list of the All-TIME 100 Albums.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2008, 25 years after its release, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and, a few weeks later, was among 25 recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry as "culturally significant".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, music critics for MTV Base and VH1 both listed Thriller as the best album released since 1981.<ref name="MTV">Template:Cite news</ref> Thriller, along with other critic favorites, were then polled by the public. 40,000 people found Thriller to be the Best Album of all time by MTV Generation, gaining a third of all votes.<ref name="MTV" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, Slant Magazine ranked Thriller as the best album of the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thriller was ranked third on the Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Billboard also ranked the album fourth on its list of All 92 Diamond-Certified Albums Ranked from Worst to Best: Critic's Take.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2018, The Independent named Thriller the "most inspiring album of all time".<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Cbignore</ref>
Legacy and influence
Music industry
ThrillerTemplate:'s success gave Jackson cultural significance never before attained by an African American in the entertainment industry.<ref name="Vogel">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Blender described Jackson as the "late 20th century's preeminent pop icon", while The New York Times wrote that he was a "musical phenomenon" and that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".<ref name="Blender">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Richard Corliss of Time hailed Thriller as "the greatest pop album of all time".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Jackson changed the way the industry functioned, both as an artistic persona and as a financial, profitable entity. Thriller was released around the peak of the album era, which had positioned full-length records ahead of singles as the dominant form of recorded-music consumption and artistic expression in the industry. The success of ThrillerTemplate:'s singles marked a brief resurgence in the sales of the format<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>, and changed notions about the number of singles that could be successfully released from an album.<ref name="allmusic" />Template:Album ratingsHis attorney John Branca said that Jackson had achieved the highest royalty rate in the music industry to that point: about $2 (US$Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollarsTemplate:Inflation-fn) for each album sold. As a result, Jackson earned record-breaking profits from compact disc sales and from the sale of copies of the documentary, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, produced by Jackson and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the film sold over 350,000 copies in its first few months. More profits came from novelties such as the Michael Jackson doll, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12 (US$Template:Inflation in Template:Inflation-year dollarsTemplate:Inflation-fn).<ref name="TIME" /> ThrillerTemplate:'s position in American culture was described by biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli: "At some point, Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple".Template:Sfn
In a statement at the album's release, Gil Friesen, then-president of A&M Records, said, "The whole industry has a stake in this success".<ref name="TIME" /> Others later agreed. Time magazine speculated that "the fallout from Thriller has given the [music] business its best years since the heady days of 1978, when it had an estimated total domestic revenue of $4.1 billion".<ref name="TIME">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Time summed up ThrillerTemplate:'s impact as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry bordering on "the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop". The publication described Jackson's influence at that point as, "Star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too".<ref name="TIME" />
As Thriller and "Billie Jean" sought to reach their market demographic, MTV and cable TV had a much smaller market share than broadcast television stations in the United States. CBS/Epic Records sought to promote Thriller with a national broadcast TV audience on ABC, NBC and CBS affiliate stations, as well as major independent TV stations. The national broadcast TV premiere of the Thriller album's first video, "Billie Jean", was during the week of Halloween in October 1984 and was the idea of Video Concert Hall executive producers Charles Henderson and Jerry Crowe.<ref name="Vincent">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Price">Template:Cite news</ref> Video Concert Hall, the first nationwide music video TV network, taped the one-hour special in Hollywood and Atlanta, where the TV studios of Video Concert Hall were located.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Thriller TV special was hosted by Thriller video co-star Vincent Price, distributed by Henderson-Crowe Syndications, Inc. and aired in the top 20 TV markets and much of the United States, including TV stations WNEW (New York), WFLD (Chicago), KTTV (Los Angeles), WPLG (Miami), WQTV (Boston) and WXIA (Atlanta), for a total of 150 TV stations.<ref name="Vincent" /><ref name="Price" />
Thriller had a pioneering impact on black-music genres and crossover. According to ethnomusicologist Miles White, the album completely defined the "sound of post-disco contemporary R&B" and "updated the crossover aesthetic that had been the holy grail of black popular music since Louis Jordan in the 1940s". Noting its unprecedented dominance of mainstream pop music by an African-American artist, White goes on to write that "the record's song selection and sound aesthetics played to soul and pop sensibilities alike, appealing to a broad audience and selling across lines of race, gender, class and generation", while demonstrating Jackson's emergence from Motown as "the king of pop-soul crossover".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Entertainment Weekly writer Simon Vozick-Levinson has considered it "the greatest pop-soul album",<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Included in their list of The 40 Most Groundbreaking Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone wrote:<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
It's hard to imagine the present-day musical landscape without Thriller, which changed the game both sonically and marketwise. The album's nervy, outsized blend of pop, rock and soul would send seismic waves throughout radio, inviting both marquee crossovers (like Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo on "Beat It") and sneakier attempts at genre-meshing. The album's splashy, cinematic videos — from the John Landis-directed short film that promoted "Thriller" to the West Side Story homage accompanying "Beat It" — legitimized the still-nascent form and forced MTV to incorporate black artists into its playlists. Its promotional strategy, which led to seven of its nine tracks being released as singles, raised the bar for what, exactly, constituted a "hit-laden" LP. Beyond breaking ground, it broke records, showing just how far pop could reach: the biggest selling album of all time, the first album to win eight Grammys in a single night and the first album to stay in the Top 10 charts for a year.
Epic Records also reflected on the importance of the album: "More than just an album, Thriller has remained a global cultural multi-media phenomenon for both the 20th and the 21st centuries, smashing musical barriers and changing the frontiers of pop forever. The music on Thriller is so dynamic and singular that it defied any definition of rock, pop or soul that had gone before."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Alan Light writing in Rolling Stone explained the historic significance of the album: "In today’s world of declining sales and fragmented audiences, it is almost impossible to imagine how much this one album dominated and united the culture."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
From the moment Thriller was released, it set the standard for the music industry: artists, record labels, producers, marketers and even choreographers. The music video was ahead of its time and it is considered a monumental one—not only in Jackson's career, but also in the history of pop music. Epic Records' approach to creating a song and video that would appeal to the mass market ended up influencing the way that professionals now market and release their songs.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> John Landis' production of a mini-movie, rather than the usual short music video, would raise the bar for other directors and producers.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Music videos and racial equality
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Before the success of Thriller, many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airtime due to being black.<ref name="Blender" /> CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff told MTV: "I'm not going to give you any more videos and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don't want to play music by a black guy."<ref name="Blender" /> Yetnikoff persuaded MTV to begin airing "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", which led to a long partnership and helped other black artists to gain mainstream recognition.<ref name="USAToday">Template:Cite news</ref> MTV denies claims of racism in their broadcasting.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The popularity of Jackson's videos, such as "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", helped popularize MTV, and its focus shifted towards pop and R&B.<ref name="USAToday" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Jackson transformed the medium of music video into an artform and promotional tool through the use of complex storylines, dance routines, special effects, and celebrity cameos.<ref name="allmusic">Template:Cite web</ref>
When the 14-minute-long "Thriller" video aired, MTV ran it twice an hour to meet demand.Template:Sfn The video marked an increase in scale for music videos and has been routinely named the best music video ever.<ref name="allmusic" /> The video is credited with transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, and popularizing the making-of documentary format.<ref name="Guardian">Template:Cite news</ref> Many elements have had a lasting impact on popular culture such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket designed by Landis's wife Deborah Nadoolman.<ref name="Guardian" />
Author, music critic and journalist Nelson George wrote in 2004, "It's difficult to hear the songs from Thriller and disengage them from the videos. For most of us the images define the songs. In fact it could be argued that Michael is the first artist of the MTV age to have an entire album so intimately connected in the public imagination with its imagery".Template:Sfn Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has been frequently imitated.<ref name="SpecialEdition" /> The choreography in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Bollywood to prisons in the Philippines.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Jackson's success as a black artist was unprecedented. Time wrote in 1984: "Jackson is the biggest thing since the Beatles. He is the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley. He just may be the most popular black singer ever."<ref name="TIME" /> According to The Washington Post, Thriller paved the way for other African-American artists to achieve mainstream recognition, such as Prince.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Christgau credited "The Girl Is Mine" for giving radio exposure to the idea of interracial love.<ref name="CG80s" />
Reappraisal
Thriller has continued to receive critical acclaim. In 2024, Andrew R. Chow wrote in Time that Thriller is "a towering pillar of American culture" and "the gold standard to which all pop artists aspire in its beloved omnipresence".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that it had something to interest everyone. He believed it showcased harder funk and hard rock while remaining "undeniably fun", and wrote that "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", was "the freshest funk on the album [but] the most claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded." Erlewine felt it was an improvement on Jackson's previous album, although he was critical of the title track, describing it as "ridiculous" and "sucked out the momentum" of the record.<ref name="AMThriller" /> In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Jon Pareles wrote that Jackson had "doubled his ambitions and multiplied his audience ... Thriller had extra musical help in becoming the best-selling non compilation album of all time: Jackson's dancing feet and dazzling stage presence, amplified by the newfound promotional reach of music video and the Reagan era's embrace of glossy celebrity. But especially in the album's seven hit singles (out of nine songs), the music stands on its own."<ref name="RS Guide">Template:Cite book</ref> Culture critic Nelson George wrote that Jackson "has educated R. Kelly, Usher, Justin Timberlake and countless others with Thriller as a textbook".Template:Sfn
Reissues and catalog sales
Thriller was reissued on October 16, 2001, in an expanded set, Thriller: Special Edition. The album is remastered and includes a new booklet and bonus material, including the songs "Someone in the Dark", "Carousel" and Jackson's original "Billie Jean" demo, as well as audio interviews with Jones and Temperton.<ref name="SpecialEdition" /><ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref><ref name="d007">Template:Cite web</ref> Sony also hired sound engineer and mixer Mick Guzauski<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> to create 5.1-channel surround sound mixes of Thriller and Jackson's other albums for the Super Audio CD format, but Jackson did not approve the mixes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Consequently, Thriller was issued on SACD only in a stereo version.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A surround sound version of Thriller would not be realized until November 2022, when Sony created and released 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos mixes of Thriller for Amazon Music and Apple Music respectively in honor of the album's 40th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In February 2008, Epic Records released Thriller 25; Jackson served as executive producer.<ref name="Reuters">Template:Cite press release</ref> Thriller 25 appeared on CD, USB and vinyl with seven bonus tracks, the new song "For All Time", a snippet of Price's voiceover and five remixes featuring American artists Fergie, will.i.am, Kanye West and Akon.<ref name="Reuters" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also included a DVD featuring three music videos, the Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance and a booklet with a message from Jackson.<ref name="Reuters" /> The ballad "For All Time" supposedly dates from 1982, but is often credited as being from the Dangerous sessions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Thriller 25 was a commercial success and did particularly well as a reissue. It peaked at number one in eight countries and Europe. It peaked at number two in the US, number three in the UK and reached the top 10 in over 30 national charts. It was certified Gold in 11 countries including the UK, received a 2× Gold certification in France and received platinum certification in Poland.<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the United States, Thriller 25 was the second-best-selling album of its release week, selling one hundred and sixty six thousand copies, just fourteen thousand short of reaching the number one position. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release but entered the Pop Catalog Charts at number one (where it stayed for ten non-consecutive weeks),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with the best sales on that chart since December 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> With the arrival of Halloween, Thriller 25 spent an eleventh non-consecutive week atop the US catalog chart. This brought US sales of the album to 688,000 copies, making it the best-selling catalog album of 2008.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> This was Jackson's best launch since Invincible in 2001, selling three million copies worldwide in 12 weeks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
After Jackson's death in June 2009, Thriller set additional records. the album sold 101,000 units in the US on the chart week ending July 1, 2009 and was the third biggest-selling album of the week. The album placed at number three on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following week the album sold 187,000 units in the US on the chart week ending July 8, 2009 and was the second biggest-selling album of the week.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Songs from Thriller also helped Jackson become the first artist to sell more than one million song downloads in a week.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to Nielsen SoundScan, Thriller was the 14th best-selling album of 2009 in the United States, with 1.27 million copies sold.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Thriller sold 350,000 copies in France,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1.27 million in the United States and a estimated 4 million copies worldwide in 2009 following his death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2022, Thriller has sold over 740,000 vinyl records alone worldwide according to the IFPI <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Having been certified for 29x Platinum by August 2009, Thriller has gone onto sell over 6,000,000 units in the United States since Michael Jackson's death according to Luminate,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> with estimated sales of 36 million units to date.<ref>29 Million copies sold by August 2009 [1] (RIAA)
1.5 Million copies sold between June 2009 - June 2011 [2]
31-32 Million Copies sold by end of 2012 [3] (NewYorker)
4 Million copies/units sold between 2012 to 2022 (Luminate) [4]
227,000 copies/units sold in January to June 2024 (40% of total catalog sales) (Luminate) [5]
1.47 million album units sold in 2023 (Luminate) [6]</ref>
For one week beginning November 20, 2015, Google Play Music offered an exclusive free copy of the album to its users in the US which included the 1981 demo of "Billie Jean" as an additional track.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 18, 2022, Sony Music released Thriller 40, a 40th-anniversary reissue of Thriller including a bonus disc containing outtakes from the original recording sessions.<ref name="Sinclair 2022">Template:Cite news</ref> The 2022 reissue was followed by a 2023 documentary.
Track listing
Template:Track listing Template:Track listing
Notes
- Template:Note signifies a co-producer
- The first pressings contain the original album mix of "Billie Jean". The main difference is the low volume "oh no" ad-lib in the second verse.
Personnel
Personnel as listed in the album's liner notes are:<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Template:Div col
- Tom Bahler – Synclavier Template:Small
- Brian Banks – synthesizer Template:Small, synthesizer programming Template:Small
- Steve Bates – assistant engineer Template:Small
- Michael Boddicker – synthesizers Template:Small, Emulator Template:Small, Vocoder Template:Small, background vocals Template:Small
- Bruce Cannon – effects Template:Small
- Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums Template:Small
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion Template:Small
- Mark Ettel – assistant engineer Template:Small
- Matt Forger – engineer Template:Small
- David Foster – synthesizer Template:Small, synthesizer arrangement Template:Small
- Humberto Gatica – engineer Template:Small
- Gary Grant – trumpet and flugelhorn Template:Small
- Bernie Grundman – mastering engineer Template:Small
- Nelson Hayes – bathroom stomp board Template:Small
- Howard Hewett – background vocals Template:Small
- Jerry Hey – horn arrangements, trumpet, and flugelhorn Template:Small, string arrangements Template:Small, strings conductor Template:Small
- Bunny Hull – background vocals Template:Small
- James Ingram – background vocals Template:Small, keyboards, handclaps, and musical arrangements Template:Small
- Janet Jackson – background vocals Template:Small
- La Toya Jackson – background vocals Template:Small
- Michael Jackson – co-producer Template:Small, lead vocals Template:Small, background vocals Template:Small, drum programming Template:Small, drum case beater Template:Small, handclaps Template:Small, horn arrangements and bathroom stomp board Template:Small, vocal arrangements Template:Small, rhythm arrangements Template:Small, synthesizer arrangements Template:Small
- Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar Template:Small
- Louis Johnson – bass guitar Template:Small, handclaps Template:Small
- Quincy Jones – producer Template:Small, rhythm arrangements Template:Small, vocal arrangements Template:Small, musical arrangements Template:Small
- Donn Landee – engineer Template:Small
- Becky López – background vocals Template:Small
- Jerry Lubbock – strings conductor Template:Small
- Steve Lukather – guitars Template:Small, bass guitar Template:Small, musical arrangements Template:Small
- Anthony Marinelli – synthesizer programming Template:Small
- Paul McCartney – lead vocals Template:Small
- David Paich – synthesizers Template:Small, rhythm arrangements and piano Template:Small, musical arrangements Template:Small
- Dean Parks – guitar Template:Small
- Greg Phillinganes – keyboards Template:Small, synthesizers Template:Small, Fender Rhodes Template:Small, synthesizer programming and handclaps Template:Small
- Jeff Porcaro – drums Template:Small
- Steve Porcaro – synthesizers Template:Small, synthesizer programming Template:Small, musical arrangements Template:Small
- Vincent Price – voice-over Template:Small
- Steven Ray – bathroom stomp board Template:Small, handclaps Template:Small
- Bill Reichenbach – trombone Template:Small
- Greg Smith – Synergy Template:Small, synthesizer Template:Small
- Bruce Swedien – recording engineer and audio mixer Template:Small, effects Template:Small
- Chris Shepard – vibraslap Template:Small
- Rod Temperton – synthesizer Template:Small, rhythm and vocal arrangements Template:Small
- Eddie Van Halen – guitar solo Template:Small
- Jerry Vinci – concertmaster Template:Small
- Julia Waters – background vocals Template:Small
- Maxine Waters – background vocals Template:Small
- Oren Waters – background vocals Template:Small
- David Williams – guitar Template:Small
- Larry Williams – saxophone and flute Template:Small
- Bill Wolfer – keyboards Template:Small, synthesizer Template:Small, programming Template:Small
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (1982–2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name="auchart">Template:Cite book</ref> | 1 |
| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen albumilista)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 1 |
| French Albums (SNEP)<ref name="FR">Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 8 |
| Greece Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
| Iceland Albums (Íslenski Listinn)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 4 |
| Japanese LPs (Oricon)<ref>マイケル・ジャクソン、「スリラー」40周年記念盤に未発表デモ＆レア音源を含む全10曲を追加収録. Musicman. 30 August 2022.</ref> | 1 |
Year-end charts
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
| Chart (1983) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name="auchart" /> | 1 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
| Canada (RPM Top Albums)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 2 |
| Japan (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 6 |
| Netherlands (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 2 |
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref name="Billboard83">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape<ref name="Billboard83" /> | 1 |
| US Hot Black Albums<ref name="Billboard83" /> | 1 |
| Chart (1984) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name="auchart" /> | 2 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 3 |
| Canada (RPM Top Albums)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 4 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 5 |
| Japan (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
| Netherlands (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 4 |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 4 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref name="everyhit">Template:Cite web</ref> | 6 |
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape<ref name="Billboard84">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
| US Hot Black Albums<ref name="Billboard84" /> | 2 |
| Chart (1988) | Position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Official German Charts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 38 |
| Chart (2003) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 143 |
| Chart (2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 32 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 40 |
| US Billboard Comprehensive Albums<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 16 |
| US Billboard Top Internet Albums<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 16 |
| US Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 16 |
| Chart (2010) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Catalogue Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 47 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 137 |
| US Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 7 |
| Chart (2016) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 178 |
| Chart (2018) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref name="Billboard200">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 190 |
| Chart (2019) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref name="Billboard200" /> | 129 |
| Chart (2020) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 111 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 97 |
| Chart (2021) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 182 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 87 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 73 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 52 |
| Chart (2022) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 79 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 79 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 36 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 94 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 65 |
| Chart (2023) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 118 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 135 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 60 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 59 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 36 |
| Chart (2024) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 121 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 169 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 55 |
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 97 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 42 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (1980–1989) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref name="auchart" /> | 3 |
| Japan (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 2 |
| UK Albums (OCC)<ref name="everyhit" /> | 3 |
| Chart (2010–2019) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Vinyl Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 74 |
All-time charts
| Chart (1963–2015) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 3 |
Certifications and sales
Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entryndi Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Summary Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom
Release history
| Region | Date | Edition(s) | Format(s) | Label(s) | Template:Abbr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | November 29, 1982 | Standard | Template:Flatlist | Epic | <ref name="Bb6Nov82"/> |
| United Kingdom | Template:Hlist | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |||
| Various | <ref name="Bb29Nov2012"/> | ||||
| Japan | Template:Hlist | Template:Flatlist | Epic/Sony | <ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> | |
| Various | 1983 | Standard | CD | Template:Hlist | <ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> |
| Japan | October 26, 1988 | Tour Edition | Epic/Sony | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| July 25, 1991 | Standard | Template:Hlist | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||
| Various | November 23, 1999 | Reissue | SACD | Template:Hlist | Template:Citation needed |
| Japan | April 1, 2000 | Template:Hlist | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||
| Various | October 16, 2001 | Special (re-issue)Template:Ref | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | <ref name="d007"/> |
| Japan | October 31, 2001 | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |
| Various | February 8, 2008 | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | <ref name="Reuters"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Japan | February 30, 2008 | Template:Hlist | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||
| Various | November 18, 2022 | Audiophile EditionTemplate:Ref | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | <ref name="e342">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| Various | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | Template:Hlist | <ref name="Sinclair 2022"/><ref name="u284">Template:Cite web</ref> |
Notes
- Template:Note part of a re-issue promotion of solo albums released under Epic.
- Template:Note deluxe edition available exclusively on digital platforms.
- Template:Note sourced from the original master tapes.
See also
- Thriller (song)
- "Behind the Mask" (song)
- List of 1980s albums considered the best
- List of best-selling albums
- List of best-selling albums by country
- List of best-selling albums in Argentina
- List of best-selling albums in Australia
- List of best-selling albums in Austria
- List of best-selling albums in Belgium
- List of best-selling albums in Brazil
- List of best-selling albums in Canada
- List of best-selling albums in Colombia
- List of best-selling albums in Europe
- List of best-selling albums in Finland
- List of best-selling albums in France
- List of best-selling albums in Germany
- List of best-selling albums in Italy
- List of best-selling albums in Japan
- List of best-selling albums in Mexico
- List of best-selling albums in the Netherlands
- List of best-selling albums in New Zealand
- List of best-selling albums in Spain
- List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom
- List of best-selling albums in the United States
- List of diamond-certified albums in Argentina
- List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
- List of number-one dance singles of 1983 (U.S.)
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite AV media notes
- Template:Cite book
External links
Template:Thriller (album) Template:Michael Jackson Template:Quincy Jones Template:Navboxes Template:Billboard Year-End number one albums 1970–1989 Template:UK best-selling albums (by year) 1970–1989 Template:Authority control
- Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments
- Pages with broken file links
- 1982 albums
- Michael Jackson albums
- Epic Records albums
- Albums produced by Michael Jackson
- Albums produced by Quincy Jones
- Albums recorded at Westlake Recording Studios
- Brit Award for British Album of the Year
- Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
- Grammy Award for Album of the Year
- Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
- United States National Recording Registry albums
- World record holders