Iconic award-winning musician Michael Jackson’s Thriller album recently skyrocketed to the Billboard Top 10 after 38 years.
According to Billboard, Thriller returned to the top ten of its 200 chart, dated December 3. The groundbreaking album leaped from No. 115 to No. 7 shortly after the November 18 release of its 40th-anniversary edition.
Thriller sold 37,000 equivalent album units in the week ending on November 24, with 27,500 of that amount being pure album sales, Billboard indicated. The 9,000 SEA units reportedly totaled 13.17 million on-demand official streams.
The generation-transcending album was released in 1982 and executive produced by legendary producer Quincy Jones. It featured seven iconic singles, including “The Girl Is Mine,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,'” “Human Nature,” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” and “Thriller.” Each single historically reached the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, with “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” peaking at No. 1.
“Human Nature” was additionally sampled in the remix of legendary R&B girl group S.W.V.’s hit 1997 song “Right Here.”
Thriller, Michael’s award-winning sixth studio album, was last seen on the Billboard top 10 in June of 1984, as it came in at No. 8 that year. It also reportedly spent 37 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release. The 40th-anniversary reissue features recordings from the original album, unreleased songs, and unique edition versions in vinyl and CD were released at select retailers.
The Jackson estate shared that it teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment to commemorate Thriller‘s 40th anniversary with an official documentary. The documentary, which is currently in production, is being directed by music historian Nelson George and is set to center around the making of the album. It will additionally focus on the trailblazing short film-style music videos that supplemented Thriller and feature never-before-seen footage, including archival interviews.
