Records and achievements of Michael Jackson

This article lists some of the sales and chart records and achievements of Michael Jackson (1958–2009), American singer. Jackson's success during his peak in the 1980s and 1990s included a number of notable statistical accomplishments.

Data for U.S. sales comes largely from Billboard magazine and the Recording Industry Association of America.

Selected countries

US chart records and achievements

• Jackson's Thriller (1982) remained at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart for thirty-seven weeks, second only to the soundtrack for West Side Story. Thriller spent a record 80 consecutive weeks, more than a year and a half, in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It was the first of only three albums that have remained in the Top 10 for more than one year (along with Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill and Celine Dion's Falling into You). It is the only album to have sold more copies in the United States than any other in two separate years, topping the sales charts in 1983 and 1984, and selling over 29 million copies to date. Worldwide, its sales total has been estimated at 110 million copies by Jackson's management; independent sources give lower estimates, but there is consensus agreement that "Thriller" is the top-selling album in history.
• Five of Jackson's albums, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, Invincible, and the soundtrack to Michael Jackson's This Is It, debuted at number one in the United States.
• Jackson was the first artist to chart four Top 10 singles from one album (Off the Wall).
• Jackson was the first artist to chart seven Top 10 singles from one album (Thriller), a feat matched only by his sister Janet and Bruce Springsteen.
• Jackson is the only male and the first artist to chart five number one hits from one LP, Bad ("Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", and "Dirty Diana").
• With "Thriller"'s "Billie Jean", Jackson became the first artist to simultaneously have the number one album and number one single on Billboard's Pop Charts and Black Charts.
• Following changes in Billboard's methodology, Jackson became the first artist to have a song debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 ("You Are Not Alone").
• In 2009 Jackson became the first artist in history to have four of the top 20 best selling albums in a single year in the United States
• Jackson has had 13 #1 singles on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, trailing only The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (18) and Elvis Presley (18 or 17, depending on source). This total does not include "We Are the World", co-written by Jackson and credited to USA for Africa, or the four #1 singles by The Jackson 5.
• Jackson had 28 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, one less than The Beatles (29), and trailing Elvis Presley (36) and Madonna (37).
• When "Hold My Hand" reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, Jackson became the first artist to have had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, joining Ray Charles and The Four Seasons as a five-decade chart act. The Isley Brothers are the only act to have charted in the Hot 100 in six different decades. The Jackson Five's first single debuted on the Hot 100 chart in mid-November 1969.

Jackson's US number ones

1972: "Ben" (1 week) 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (1 week) 1980: "Rock with You" (4 weeks) 1983: "Billie Jean" (7 weeks) 1983: "Beat It" (3 weeks) 1983: "Say Say Say" (with Paul McCartney) (6 weeks) 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Siedah Garrett) (1 week) 1987: "Bad" (2 weeks) 1987: "The Way You Make Me Feel" (1 week) 1988: "Man in the Mirror" (2 weeks) 1988: "Dirty Diana" (1 week) 1991: "Black or White" (7 weeks) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (5 weeks) Jackson's US Top 10 Hits Michael Jackson had 28 Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. 1971: "Got to Be There" #4 1972: "Rockin Robin" #2 1972: "Ben" #1 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" #1 1980: "Rock With You" #1 1980: "Off The Wall" #10 1980: "She's Out Of My Life" #10 1983: "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) #2 1983: "Billie Jean" #1 1983: "Beat It" #1 1983: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" #4 1984: "Human Nature" #6 1984: "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" #10 1984: "Say Say Say" (with Paul McCartney) #1 1984: "Thriller" #4 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Siedah Garrett) #1 1987: "Bad" #1 1988: "The Way You Make Me Feel" #1 1988: "Man In The Mirror" #1 1988: "Dirty Diana" #1 1989: "Smooth Criminal" #7 1991: "Black or White" #1 1992: "Remember The Time" #3 1992: "In The Closet" #6 1993: "Will You Be There" #7 1995: "Scream"(with Janet Jackson) #5 1995: "You Are Not Alone" #1 2001: "You Rock My World" #10 Jackson's US R&B number ones Michael Jackson had 13 number one hits on the Billboard R&B charts. 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (5 weeks) 1980: "Rock with You" (6 weeks) 1983: "The Girl Is Mine" (3 weeks) 1983: "Billie Jean" (9 weeks) 1983: "Beat It" (1 week) 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (1 week) 1987: "Bad" (3 weeks) 1987: "The Way You Make Me Feel (4 weeks) 1988: "Man in the Mirror" (1 week) 1988: "Another Part of Me" (1 week) 1991: "Remember the Time" (2 weeks) 1991: "In the Closet" (1 week) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (4 weeks) UK chart records and achievements With 11.5 million sales, Michael Jackson is one of only eight musical acts that have sold more than 10 million singles in Britain, trailing only Cliff Richard (21.21m), The Beatles (20.71m), Elvis Presley (20.66m) and Madonna (16.41m). Jackson had 7 #1 hits on the UK Singles Chart, tied for 12th all-time. Jackson had the most Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart in one year, 19 in 2006. Each of the 19 songs were collectors' rereleases of previous Jackson hits, issued weekly as part of a 20-single promotion. (The first of the singles was ineligible to chart due to its packaging.) Of these singles, "Billie Jean" reached the highest position on the UK chart (#11), and "Jam" remained on the chart for the longest stretch (13 weeks). Jackson had 40 Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart. Elvis Presley has the most, with 77. Jackson's Thriller and Bad are the 8th- and 9th-highest-selling albums in UK history. Besides Jackson, only Queen, with the 1st- and 7th-best-selling albums, has multiple entries in the top twenty. In the second week following his death, Jackson had 13 songs in the UK Top 40, and 5 albums in the Top 10, including the top-selling album. Jackson's UK number ones Michael Jackson had seven number one hits on the UK Singles Charts. 1981: "One Day in Your Life" (2 weeks) 1983: "Billie Jean" (1 week) 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Siedah Garrett) (2 weeks) 1991: "Black or White" (2 weeks) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (2 weeks) 1995: "Earth Song" (6 weeks) 1997: "Blood on the Dance Floor" (1 week) French chart records and achievements Invincible, released in 2001, had the highest first week of sales for a foreign album in France, selling 166,000 copies. Jackson had four diamond albums in France. They are Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory. Jackson had 22 top ten hits on the French Top 100 Singles charts. Jackson had 36 top 40 hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. Jackson's French number ones Michael Jackson had seven number one hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. 1983: "Billie Jean" (3 weeks) 1983: "Say Say Say" (1 week) 1983: "Thriller" (3 weeks) 1991: "Black or White" (2 weeks) 1992: "Heal the World" (2 weeks) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (1 week) 2001: "You Rock My World" (3 weeks) Spanish chart records and achievements Jackson had 35 top 20 hits on the Top 20 Singles charts. Jackson had 29 top ten hits on the Top 20 Singles charts. Jackson's Spanish number ones Michael Jackson had 21 number one hits on the Top 20 Singles charts. 1983: "The Girl Is Mine" (3 weeks) 1983 & 2006: "Billie Jean" (2 weeks) 1983: "Say Say Say" (1 week) 1988 & 2006: "Smooth Criminal" (6 weeks) 1991: "Black or White" (11 weeks) 1995: "Scream" (4 weeks) 1996 & 2006: "Stranger in Moscow" (5 weeks) 1997 & 2006: "Blood on the Dance Floor" (7 weeks) 2001: "You Rock My World" (1 week) 2006: "Thriller" (1 week) 2006: "Rock with You" (1 week) 2006: "Beat It" (1 week) 2006: "Bad" (14 weeks) 2006: "The Way You Make Me Feel" (1 week) 2006: "Dirty Diana" (1 week) 2006: "Leave Me Alone" (1 week) 2006: "Jam" (1 week) 2006: "Heal the World" (1 week) 2006: "You Are Not Alone" (1 week) 2006: "Earth Song" (1 week) Canadian chart records and achievements Jackson had five number one albums in Canada: Thriller, Bad, HIStory, Number Ones and This Is It. Jackson had three singles that earned at least one platinum certification in Canada: "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and "Say Say Say." Jackson had 29 top 20 hits on the Top 50 Singles charts. Jackson had 20 top ten hits on the Top 50 Singles charts. Jackson's Canadian number ones Michael Jackson had five number one hits on the Top 50 Singles charts. 1983: "Billie Jean" (7 weeks) 1983: "Beat It" (2 weeks) 1984: "Say Say Say" (1 week) 1987: "Bad" (1 week) 1991: "Black or White" (8 weeks) Australian chart records and achievements Jackson had eight albums in Australia that earned platinum or multi-platinum certifications: Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory, Invincible, Number Ones, and The Essential Michael Jackson. Jackson had 27 top 20 hits on thu09jrles charts. Jackson had 20 top ten hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. Jackson's Australian number ones Michael Jackson had four number one hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. 1972: "Ben" (8 weeks) 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (3 weeks) 1983: "Billie Jean" (5 weeks) 1991: "Black or White" (10 weeks) 1995 "Earth Song (1 week) Norwegian chart records and achievements Jackson had three singles that earned a gold certification in Norway: "Earth Song," "They Don't Care About Us," and "You Rock My World." Jackson had 21 top ten hits on the Top 20 Singles charts. Jackson's Norwegian number ones Michael Jackson had four number one hits on the Top 20 Singles charts. 1979: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (2 weeks) 1983: "Say Say Say" (5 weeks) 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Siedah Garrett) (7 weeks) 1991: "Black or White" (6 weeks) Swiss chart records and achievements Jackson had 24 top ten hits on the Top 100 Singles chart. Jackson had 21 top ten hits on the Top 20 Singles charts. Jackson's Swiss number ones Michael Jackson had four number one hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. 1983: "Billie Jean" (7 weeks) 1991: "Black or White" (6 weeks) 1995: "Earth Song" (4 weeks) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (3 weeks) New Zealand chart records and achievements Jackson had 24 top ten hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. Jackson's New Zealand number ones Michael Jackson had three number one hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. 1979: "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" (5 weeks) 1983: "Beat It" (5 weeks) 1991: "Black Or White" (5 weeks) 1991: "Remember The Time" (2 weeks) 1993: "Give In To Me" (4 weeks) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (3 weeks) 1995: "Scream" (4 weeks) 1997: "Blood on the Dance Floor" (1 week) Irish chart records and achievements Jackson had 70 chart entries on the Top 100 Singles charts. Jackson's Irish number ones Michael Jackson had ten number one hits on the Top 100 Singles charts. 1981: "One Day in Your Life" 1983: "Billie Jean" (7 weeks) 1985: "We Are The World" 1987: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" 1987: "Bad" 1987: "The Way You Make Me Feel" (1 week) 1988: "Smooth Criminal 1989: "Leave Me Alone" 1989: "Liberian Girl" (1 week) 1991: "Black Or White" (3 weeks) 1995: "You Are Not Alone" (4 weeks) 2001: "You Rock My World" (1 week) Other records and achievements Jackson has been credited with supporting more charities than any other artist - 39 charitable organizations - either with monetary donations through sponsorships of their projects or participation in their activities. David O. Selznick's 1940 Best Film Oscar for Gone with the Wind (USA, 1939) was bought by Jackson for $1,542,000 on June 12, 1999, at Sotheby's, New York City. The Academy Awards no longer permits such sales, all but ensuring that it will remain the most expensive Oscar. In 1995, Jackson financed the most expensive music video: ("Scream". The clip, which co-starred sister Janet Jackson, reportedly cost over US$7 million. On November 14, 1991, the debut of Michael Jackson’s music video Black or White was broadcast simultaneously in 27 countries, to the largest audience to view a music video: an estimated 500 million people. In March 1991, Jackson signed a record-breaking US$890 million contract by Sony. It remains the largest recording contract. His 1986 $15 million deal with Pepsi was, at the time, the largest ever promotional endorsement. Jackson has 9 U.S. platinum singles, the second most by any male artist (Elvis Presley is first). Jackson has 13 # 1 singles in United States, which also trails Presley for the second most ever by a male solo artist. Jackson has the two best-selling VHS music videos ever released: "Moonwalker" (1988), and "The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller (1984). Jackson has been given 372 recognized awards, which has been promoted as being the most for an artist. These include the most Grammy Awards and American Music Awards ever won in a single year. Jackson's eight Grammys at the 1984 ceremony were equalled only by the musical group Carlos Santana in 2001); his eight American Music Awards (also in 1984) were later matched by Whitney Houston in 1994. Jackson won four posthumous American Music Awards in 2009, raising his total to 26, the most by any artist. Jackson has won the most World Music Awards by a male artist, 15. Five of these came in 1996, tying Whitney Houston's record total from 1994. He has also won the most Billboard awards by a male artist, 26. Jackson's 13 Billboard awards in 1983 are the highest one-year total. In 2002, MTV awarded Jackson its one-off "Artist of the Millennium" award. Jackson was named the "Best Selling Male Artist of the Millennium" at the World Music Awards ceremony in 2000, and the "Artist Of The Century" at the American Music Awards ceremony in 2002. In 2006, the Guinness World Records identified Jackson as the "Most Successful Entertainer Of All Time", and the first performer to have sold 100 million albums outside the U.S. Also in 2006, Jackson was awarded the "Chopard Diamond award" at the World Music Awards. commemorating sales of over 100 million records. Jackson's "Bad World Tour" (1987–1989) was the highest-grossing tour ever at the time, with over $125 million earned. This record was later broken by the "Dangerous World Tour" (1992–1993) and later broken again by the "HIStory World Tour" (1996–1997), which is still the biggest tour ever in terms of attendance (4.5 million tickets). 700,000 tickets were sold in about four hours for the cancelled "This Is It" concert series in 2009. While the bulk of his sales achievements have come in the fields of pop music and R&B, Jackson has also had success in subgenres. His Dangerous (1991) album (38 million sales worldwide) has been cited as the top-selling New Jack Swing album, while his Blood on the Dance Floor (6 million sales worldwide) is the biggest selling remix collection. Jackson's double album HIStory is the top-selling multiple disc album of all time. Though estimates of its worldwide sales total range as high as 21 million copies (42 million discs), over 11 million copies of "HIStory" are known to have been sold. Jackson was once one of the wealthiest entertainers in the world, with an estimated fortune of more than $750 million. In 2007, the Jackson estate's assets were calculated to be $1,360,839,979, with 85% of that total being Jackson's stake in the song catalog that includes most of the Beatles' songs. Jackson also had sizeable debts that far outstripped his liquid cash total, which was just .05% of his net worth. Following his death, Jackson became the first artist to sell more than 2 million downloads in a week. Michael Jackson's This Is It is the top-grossing concert film and documentary film of all time. The posthumous movie has earned earned over $250 million worldwide to date. It also set a record for concert films with $103.9 million in worldwide ticket sales in its first five days of release. However, its opening weekend total did not match 2008's "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert", which brought in $31.1 million in its opening weekend despite opening in just 683 theaters. "This Is It" debuted in 3,481 U.S. theaters and earned $23.2 million. In 2011, Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" took in $29.5 million during its opening weekend while playing in 3,105 theaters. On March 16, 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a record-breaking $250 million deal with Jackson's estate to retain distribution rights to his recordings until 2017 and release seven posthumous albums—some of which will feature unreleased material—over the next decade. According to Nokia's Ovi Music Store, Jackson is recognized as the most downloaded artist of all time. In August 2010, Jackson became the 44th dancer/choreographer inducted into the National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame, and the hall's first inductee from the world of rock and roll. See also List of Michael Jackson awards UK Best selling singles artists of all time List of most expensive music videos List of best-selling albums worldwide List of best-selling albums in the United States References