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 a ...

(1958–2009) released 10 studio albums, 3 soundtrack albums, 1 live album, 39 compilation albums, 10 video albums and 8

remix albums A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (''Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

. Since his death, 2 albums of unreleased tracks have been posthumously released. Jackson made his debut in 1964 at the age of five with

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most ...

(later known as The Jacksons), who were prominent performers during the 1970s. Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists in history with over 1 billion records sold worldwide. According to 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/ ...

(RIAA), Jackson has sold 89 million certified albums in the United States, making him the sixth top-selling album artist in the country. In 1972, Jackson released his debut studio album '' Got to Be There'' through

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, while still part of The Jackson 5. It peaked at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' Top LP & Tapes chart and was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

Gold by the RIAA. The same year, he released another album, '' Ben'', which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Top LP & Tapes chart and was certified Silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company wi ...

. The album's title track was a commercial success on the music charts, topping both the U.S. and the Australian

ARIA charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

, giving Jackson his first number 1 single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. Jackson's next two studio albums were '' Music & Me'' (1973) and '' Forever, Michael'' (1975). In 1975, Jackson signed to Epic Records, and released his fifth studio album, ''

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 ...

'', in 1979. It peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tapes chart and spawned two number-one singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Off The Wall'' made Jackson the first solo artist to have four singles from the same album peak in the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album was certified 9× Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. At the 1980 Grammy Awards, it was nominated for two awards, with Jackson winning Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. Jackson's sixth studio album, ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'', was released in 1982. It became his first number one album on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tapes chart. ''Thriller'' spent a record 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one, from February 26, 1983, to April 14, 1984. Seven singles were released and all reached the top 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. This feat set the record for the most top 10 singles from an album, with "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson l ...

" and "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...

" reaching number one. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983 and was also the first to become the best-selling album in the United States for two years, in 1983 and 1984. The album broke racial barriers in

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

, enabling Jackson's appearances 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 ...

and meeting with US President Ronald Reagan at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

. The album set the standard for the music industry with its music videos, and promotion strategies. It influenced artists, record labels, producers, marketers, and choreographers. ''Thriller'' was certified 34× Platinum by the RIAA and remains the best-selling album of all time, with sales of 70 million copies worldwide. It won a record-breaking eight awards at the

1984 Grammy Awards The 26th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1984, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1983. Michael Jackson, who had been recove ...

(where it won Album of the Year) and the 1984 American Music Awards. In 1987, Jackson released his seventh studio album, '' Bad''. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart in the US. The album also reached number one in 25 other countries. Seven singles charted in the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including a record-breaking five number one singles. With a certification of 11× Platinum by the RIAA and sales of over 35 million copies worldwide, ''Bad'' is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Jackson entered the 1990s with the release of his eighth studio album, '' Dangerous'', in 1991. The album was Jackson's first since ''Forever, Michael'' to not be produced by longtime collaborator

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 ...

. ''Dangerous'' debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart and in thirteen other countries. The album sold five million copies worldwide in its first week and was the best-selling album worldwide of 1992. ''Dangerous'' was certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA and is one of the best-selling albums of all time having sold over 32 million copies worldwide. Jackson's ninth studio album ''

HIStory History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

'' (1995) debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, along with nineteen other countries. The album was certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Jackson released his remix album '' Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'' in 1997. It has sold over six million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling remix album of all time. Jackson's tenth and final studio album, '' Invincible'', was released in 2001 and topped international charts, with total confirmed sales of 8 million copies worldwide. Following Jackson's death in 2009, sales of his previous work soared, with his compilation albums '' Number Ones'' (2003) and '' The Essential Michael Jackson'' (2005) becoming the first catalog albums to outsell any new album and becoming international best-sellers. These two were later certified 5× times Platinum by the RIAA. Following the surge in sales, in March 2010,

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

signed a $250 million deal with the Jackson estate to extend their distribution rights to Jackson's back catalog until at least 2017. As part of this deal, two posthumous albums of previously unreleased tracks were released: '' Michael'' (2010) and '' Xscape'' (2014). In 2017, Sony renews their deal for $250 million that went into effect in January 2018.

Studio albums

Posthumous

Compilations

*In the United States, between May 25, 1991 and November 25, 2009, catalog albums (albums at least 18 months old which have fallen below No. 100 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and do not have an active single on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' radio charts) were not eligible to chart on the ''Billboard'' 200, but could only chart on the Top Catalog Albums, so between November 20, 2003 and November 25, 2009, ''Billboard'' launched the Top Comprehensive Albums chart that included current and catalog albums. The following albums appeared on this chart while not eligible for the Billboard 200: ''Number Ones'' (#1), ''The Essential Michael Jackson'' (#2), ''Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume 1'' (#28), ''The Ultimate Collection'' (#32), ''7 CD Mega Bundle'' (#78), ''The Definitive Collection'' (#43), ''The Stripped Mixes'' (#67), ''Selections from Michael Jackson's This Is It'' (#102) and ''Gold'' (#166).Peak chart positions for some albums charting on the ''Billboard'' Comprehensive Albums chart: * * * * * * *

Other albums (remix, soundtracks, etc.)

Video albums

References