"Thriller" is a song by the American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

. It was released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

in the UK on November 5, 1983, and in the US on January 23, 1984, as the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album of the same name. "Thriller" is a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

song produced by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

and written by Rod Temperton, who wanted to write a theatrical song to suit Jackson's love of film. The music and lyrics evoke

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

s, with sound effects such as thunder, footsteps, and wind. It ends with a spoken-word sequence performed by the horror actor

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

. "Thriller" received positive reviews and became the album's seventh top-ten single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number four. It reached number one in Belgium, France and Spain, and the top ten in many other countries. "Thriller" is certified

Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. In the week of Jackson's death in 2009, it was Jackson's bestselling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the ''Billboard'' Hot Digital Tracks chart. It charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot Digital Singles Chart at number two, and remained in the charts' top ten for three consecutive weeks. It appears on several of Jackson's greatest-hits albums and has been covered by numerous artists. The "Thriller" music video was directed by

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...

and premiered on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

on December 2, 1983. In the video, Jackson becomes a

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in w ...

and performs a dance routine with a horde of the

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated b ...

. Many elements of the video have had a lasting impact on

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, and it was the first music video inducted into the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

. It has been named the greatest music video of all time by various publications and readers' polls.

Composition

"Thriller" is a

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

song. Set in the key of C# minor, it has a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 120 beats per minute. The instrumentation consists of a synthesizer bassline, a Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer, an electric guitar, a

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...

, and a horn section consisting of trumpet, trombone,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

, saxophone, and flute. The introduction features sound effects such as a creaking door, thunder, feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling wolves. A LinnDrum drum machine was used for this song, which was modified with LM-1 snare & hi-hat sound chips & TR-808 clap chips.

Writing

Vincent Price in House on Haunted Hill (cropped)

"Thriller" was written by the English songwriter Rod Temperton, who had previously written " Rock with You" and "

Off the Wall ''Off the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and t ...

" for Jackson's 1979 album ''

.'' Temperton wanted to write something theatrical to suit Jackson's love of film. He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

that runs through the song, then wrote a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

that built to a climax. He recalled: "I wanted it to build and build – a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the tune to heighten suspense." The backing track, especially the

, has certain similarities to the 1981 number-one R&B hit "

Give It to Me Baby "Give It to Me Baby" is a song written by American singer Rick James. Taken from his album '' Street Songs'', the song charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, spending two weeks at No. 40 and spent five weeks at No. 1 on the R&B chart. Two other ...

" by

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

. Temperton's first version was titled "Starlight", with the chorus lyric: "Give me some starlight / Starlight sun". The production team, led by

, felt the song should be the title track, but that "Starlight" was not a strong album title. Instead, they wanted something "mysterious to match Michael's evolving persona". Temperton considered several possible titles, including "Midnight Man", which Jones felt was "going in the right direction". Finally, he conceived "Thriller", but worried that it was "a crap word to sing ... It sounded terrible! However, we got Michael to spit it into the microphone a few times and it worked." With the title settled, Temperton wrote lyrics within "a couple of hours". He envisioned a spoken-word sequence for the end of the song, but did not know what form it should take. It was decided to have a famous voice from the horror genre perform it, and Jones' then-wife, Peggy Lipton, suggested her friend

. Temperton composed the words for Price's part in a taxi on the way to the studio on the day of recording.

Recording

Along with the rest of the album, "Thriller" was recorded over eight weeks in 1982. It was recorded at

Westlake Recording Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experienc ...

on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The engineer Bruce Swedien had Jackson record his vocals in different approaches, doubling takes and recording at different distances from the microphone. Some background vocals were recorded in the Westlake shower stall. The bassline was recorded with two modified

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first pop ...

synthesizers playing in unison.The 14 synthesizers that shaped modern music
Factmag.com. Retrieved September 19, 2014. To record the wolf howls, Swedien set up tape recorders up around his Great Dane in a barn overnight, but the dog never howled. Instead, Jackson recorded the howls himself. For the creaking doors, Swedien rented doors designed for sound effects from the

Universal Studios Lot Universal Studios Lot is a television and film studio complex located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California, adjacent to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. It is the site of Universal Pictures and is owned by Comcas ...

and recorded the hinges. Price recorded his part in two takes; Jones, acknowledging that doing a voice-over for a song is difficult, praised Price and described his takes as "fabulous".

Release

"Thriller" was the final single released from the album. It was not initially planned for release, as Jackson's record label, Epic, saw it as a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

; the Epic executive Walter Yetnikoff asked, "Who wants a single about monsters?" By mid-1983, sales of ''Thriller'' began to decline. Jackson, who was "obsessive" about his sales figures, urged Yetnikoff and executive Larry Stessel to help conceive a plan to return the album to the top of the charts. Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested releasing "Thriller", backed by a new music video.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for "Thriller" references numerous

s, and stars Jackson performing a dance routine with a horde of the

. It was directed by the horror director

and written by Landis and Jackson. Jackson contacted Landis after seeing his film '' An American Werewolf in London.'' The pair conceived a 13-minute short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. Jackson's record company refused to finance it, believing ''Thriller'' had peaked, so a making-of documentary, ''Making Michael Jackson's Thriller,'' was produced to receive financing from television networks. ''Michael Jackson's Thriller'' premiered on

on December 2, 1983. It was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. It doubled sales of ''Thriller'', and sold over a million copies on VHS, becoming the bestselling videotape at the time. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, and popularizing the making-of documentary format. 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. Fans worldwide re-enact its zombie dance and it remains popular on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

described it as "the most famous music video of all time". In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the

as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.

Chart performance

"Thriller" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts at number 20. It reached number seven the following week, number five the next, and peaked the next week at number four, where it stayed for two weeks. It finished as the #78 single on Billboard's Hot 100 for the 1984. "Thriller" charted at number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. On March 10, 1984, it reached its peak at number 3. "Thriller" debuted on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on November 19, 1983, at number 24, and the following week peaked at number ten; it appeared on the chart for 52 weeks. Beginning on February 5, 1984, "Thriller" peaked on the

French Singles Chart French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

at number one and topped the chart for four consecutive weeks. "Thriller" also topped the Belgian VRT Top 30 Chart for two weeks in January 1984. Following Jackson's death in 2009, his music surged in popularity. In the week of his death, "Thriller" was Jackson's best-selling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the ''Billboard'' Hot Digital Singles Chart. On July 11, 2009, "Thriller" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot Digital Singles Chart at number two (its peak), and the song remained in the charts' top ten for three consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song charted at number 23 the week of Jackson's death. The following week, the song reached its peak at number 12 on the UK Single Chart. On July 12, 2009, "Thriller" peaked at number two on the

Italian Singles Chart The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

and was later certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. "Thriller" reached at number three on the Australian ARIA Chart and Swiss Singles Chart and topped the Spanish Singles Charts for one week. The song also placed within the top ten on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

, Norwegian Singles Chart and

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, at number nine, number seven and number eight respectively. "Thriller" also landed at number 25 on the Danish Singles Chart. In the third week of July "Thriller" peaked at number 11 in Finland. The song has returned to the Billboard Hot 100 chart multiple times since its initial release due to its popularity around the time of

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

. "Thriller" re-entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in October 2013 at number 42, number 31 in November 2018, and number 19 in November 2021, marking its highest placement since its original chart run in 1984. This accomplishment means Jackson now has at least one Top 20 hit across 7 consecutive decades from 1969 to 2021 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the

on December 4, 1989, for sales of over one million physical units in the U.S. As of August 2016, the song had sold 4,024,398 copies in the US. By August 2022, it had sold a further 10 million download copies in the US.

Critical reception

Ashley Lasimone, of

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

's Spinner.com, noted that it "became a signature for Jackson" and described "the groove of its bassline, paired with Michael's killer vocals and sleek moves" as having "produced a frighteningly great single." Jon Pareles of ''The New York Times'' noted that "'Billie Jean', 'Beat It', 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ' and "the movie in the song 'Thriller'", were the songs, unlike the "fluff" "P.Y.T.", that were "the hits that made ''Thriller'' a world-beater; along with Mr. Jackson's stage and video presence, listeners must have identified with his willingness to admit terror." Ann Powers of the ''Los Angeles Times'' described "Thriller" as "adequately groovy" with a "funked-out beat" and lyrics "seemingly lifted from some little kid's 'scary storybook'".

Track listing

* 7" single # "Thriller" (Edit) – 4:37 # "Things I Do for You" (Live) – 3:31 * 12" single # "Thriller" – 5:57 # "Thriller" (Instrumental) – 5:57 * 12" maxi # "Thriller" – 5:57 # "Thriller" (Remixed Short Version) – 4:05 # "Things I Do for You" (Live) – 3:31 * Mini CD single # "Thriller" - 4:08 # "

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

" - 3:47 * CD single # "Thriller" (Remixed Short Version) – 4:08 # "Can't Get Outta the Rain" – 4:09 * '' Visionary: The Video Singles'' (DVD side) # '' Michael Jackson's Thriller'' (

Video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) sy ...

) – 13:40 # "Thriller" (Remixed Short Version) – 4:09 # "Thriller" (Album Version) – 5:58 * Digital Download # "Thriller (

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

Midnight Hour Remix)" – 5:02

Personnel

* Written and composed by Rod Temperton * Produced by

: lead and background vocals ** Featuring: Narration by

(Not featured on original edited single version) * Rod Temperton and Brian Banks: synthesizers * Greg Phillinganes: synthesizer,

Anthony Marinelli Anthony Marinelli (born March 19, 1959) is an American musician, composer and conductor. In his early career, he composed and performed accompaniment on the synthesizer for albums including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'' (1983). Marinelli has ...

: synthesizer programming * David Williams: guitar *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

, Gary Grant: trumpets,

s * Larry Williams: saxophone, flute * Bill Reichenbach: trombone * Vocal, rhythm and synthesizer arrangement by Rod Temperton * Horn arrangement by Jerry Hey * Effects by Bruce Cannon and Bruce Swedien

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Film adaptation

In October 2010, it was found that

GK Films GK Films is a British-American film and television production company founded in 1990 by Graham King, located in Santa Monica, California. In 2005, the firm, which was known as Initial Entertainment Group at that time, signed a deal with Warner ...

plans to produce a horror film inspired by the song, directed by

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films ''Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', '' High School Musical'', '' Michael Jackson's T ...

and produced with

Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946February 12, 2022) was a Czechoslovak-born Canadian filmmaker. He was best known for his comedy work, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. Film ...

References

;Bibliography * * * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control 1982 songs 1983 singles 1984 singles CBS Records singles Columbia Records singles Compositions with a narrator Disco songs Epic Records singles Funk songs Halloween songs Michael Jackson songs Number-one singles in Spain SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Songs about monsters Songs written by Rod Temperton