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Thriller (album)

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This article is about the album. For the single, see Thriller (song). For the music video, see Thriller (music video). For other uses, see Thriller.
Untitled

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American pop singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on November 30, 1982. It quickly became the best-selling album of all time, with sales between 45 and 108 million copies worldwide. Seven of the nine songs on the album went on to be top 10 singles.

Thriller cemented Jackson as the predominant pop star of the late 20th century, enabling him to break down racial barriers by appearing on MTV and visiting the U.S. President at the White House. The album was the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools; the videos for "Thriller", "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" all received regular rotation on MTV.

Thriller received mostly positive reviews from critics. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. As a sign of the album's longevity, Thriller was ranked number 20 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number 3 of the Definitive 200 Albums of All Time. Thriller is preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry as "culturally significant".

In 2001, the album was reissued as Thriller: Special Edition, which contains additional audio interviews, a demo recording and the song "Someone In the Dark", featured on the Grammy-winning E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial storybook, a record that won Jackson a Grammy for "Best Album for Children".[1] In 2008, the album was reissued again as Thriller 25, which contains re-mixes featuring contemporary artists, a previously unreleased song and a DVD.

Recording

Thriller was recorded between April and November 1982, at a production budget of $750,000 along with several members of the band Toto.[2] It was the second Jackson album produced with Quincy Jones[2] and the pair worked together on 300 songs for the album, of which nine were eventually used.[2] Jackson wrote four of Thriller's songs: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney), "Beat It" and "Billie Jean".[3] Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper, instead dictating them into a sound recorder and when recording, singing from memory rather than reading words off paper.[4][5] The relationship between Jackson and Quincy Jones became strained during recording; Jackson spent much of his time rehearsing dance steps alone.[5] When the album's nine songs were completed, both Jones and Jackson was unhappy with the result and remixed every song, spending a week on each.[5] Jones believed that "Billie Jean" was not strong enough to be included on the record, but Jackson disagreed and kept it. Jones told Jackson that Thriller was unlikely to sell successfully like his previous solo album, Off the Wall, because the market had since weakened. In response, Jackson threatened to cancel the album's release.[2]

Jackson himself rarely commented on the work's recording, only giving a few interviews a decade. However he said that he was inspired to create an album where "every song was a killer" and focused the basis of Thriller as to ask "Why can't every one be like a hit song?".[6] Jones and Rod Temperton, however, gave detailed accounts of what occurred for the 2001 reissue of the album. Jones discussed "Billie Jean" and why it was so personal to Jackson, who struggled to deal with a number of obsessed fans. Jones wanted the long introduction on the song to be shortened, however Jackson insisted it remain because it made him want to dance.[3] Jones and Jackson were determined to make a rock song that would appeal to all tastes, spending weeks looking for a suitable guitarist for the song "Beat It", a song for which Jackson wrote and played drums. Eventually they found Eddie Van Halen, who had never informed his band mates about the collaboration until the album was released.[3][5]

When Rod Temperton wrote the song "Thriller", he originally wanted to call it "Starlight" or "Midnight Man" but settled on "Thriller" because he felt the name had merchandising potential.[5] Always wanting a notable person to speak the ending lyrics, Temperton brought in Vincent Price, who completed his part in just 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 final cut because they did not have the edginess of other album tracks.[3]

Themes and genres

Off the Wall was crafted from funk, disco, soul, soft rock, jazz and pop ballads.[7][8][9] Prominent examples include the ballad "She's Out of My Life" and the two disco tunes "Working Day and Night" and "Get on the Floor".[8] Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful.[7] Notable tracks include the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human Nature" and "The Girl Is Mine", the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".[10][11][12][7] "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was written a few years prior to 1982, having a similar sound to the material of Off The Wall. The song is accompanied by a bass and percussion background. The song's centrepiece, a climaxing Swahili chant, gave the song an international flavour.[13] "The Girl Is Mine" tells of two friends fight over a woman, with the pair arguing over who loves her more.[13] "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" credited to James Ingram and Jones and "Lady in My Life" by Rod Temperton, both 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".[13]

Despite the light pop flavour of these two records, Thriller, more so than Off the Wall, displayed foreshadowings of the contradictory thematic elements that would come to characterize his later work.[14] With Thriller Jackson would being his long association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery.[12] This is evident on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[11] In "Billie Jean" Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers.[7] While in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossips and the media.[12] The anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became a homage to West Side Story and was Jackson's first successful rock cross over piece.[7][15] The title track would begin Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he would revisit in the future.[7] 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".[13] "Human Nature" remains the most moody and introspective song on the record, with the lyrics, "Looking out, across the morning, the City's heart begins to beat, reaching out, I touch her shoulder, I'm dreaming of the street".[13]

Release

Thriller was released on November 30, 1982 to high sales. It reached number one in the U.S. and the UK simultaneously, becoming the first album to do so. During its peak, it sold 500,000 copies a week. Thriller was followed by the release of a large number of singles, including "The Girl Is Mine". The pop duet led some to believe that the album would be a disappointment. Others suggested that Jackson was attempting to attract a white audience.[13] "The Girl Is Mine" was followed by the hit single "Billie Jean", which made Thriller a chart-topper.[16][17] Success continued with the single "Beat It", which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather.[18] The title track "Thriller" was released as a single, also becoming a huge hit internationally.[13]

The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including Album of the Year.[19] That same year, Jackson also won eight American Music Awards, the Special Award of Merit and three MTV Video Music Awards.[20]

Thriller was reissued in 2001 with additional material in an album called Thriller: Special Edition. The original tracks were re-mastered, along with a new booklet and additional material. The bonus material included the song "Someone In the Dark", "Carousel" and Jackson's original "Billie Jean" demo, as well as audio interviews with Jones and Temperton discussing the recording of the album.[3][21]

Epic Records announced the release of the album Thriller 25 in a press release on November 30, 2007; Jackson served as executive producer.[22] Released on February 11, 2008 Thriller 25 appeared on CD and vinyl with seven bonus tracks, a new song called "For All Time", Vincent Price's voice-over and five re-mixes featuring Fergie, will.i.am, Kanye West and Akon.[22][23][24] It also included a DVD featuring three award-winning music videos, the Emmy-nominated Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance and a booklet with a message from Jackson.[22] The ballad "For All Time" supposedly dates from 1982, but leaks often credit it as being from Dangerous sessions.[25] Both the leaked vocals and new performances were included on this track. Two singles were released from the reissue: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008".

Reception

Critical

Thriller's reviews were almost entirely positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album a full five stars, stating that the record had something that would interest everyone. He commented that it showcased harder funk and rock while remaining "undeniably fun". He went on to compliment "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" saying, "... The record's two best songs: 'Billie Jean,' ... and the delirious 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', the freshest funk on the album [but] the most claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded." He believed it to be an improvement on Jackson's previous album.[11]

Further praise came from a four-star Rolling Stone review by Christopher Connelly, who described Thriller as "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message". It was later ranked number 20 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, beating many five-star albums.[12]

Despite the positive response, the title track came under the strongest criticism, Allmusic and Rolling Stone expressing similar sentiment:

... the title song, which at first sounds like a metaphoric examination of the same under-siege mentality that marks the LP's best moments, instead degenerates into silly camp, with a rap by Vincent Price. (Couldn't they get Count Floyd?).[12]

... the ridiculous, late-night house-of-horrors title track is the prime culprit, arriving in the middle of the record and sucking out its momentum.[11]

Slant Magazine also gave the album a full five stars and like the reviews by Allmusic and Rolling Stone, paid particular compliment to the lyrics of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". All three reviews questioned the meaning behind some of Jackson's lyrics to the song.[10] The lyrics, "Somebody's always tryin' to start my baby crying" and the near-bitter: "You're a vegetable, you're a vegetable/They'll eat off you, you're a vegetable" have become popular with most critics. "Billie Jean", which became Jackson's best-selling single, was described by Blender as "one of the most sonically eccentric, psychologically fraught, downright bizarre things ever to land on Top 40 radio".[26]

Commercial

Thriller is one of only three albums to remain in the top ten of the Billboard 200 for a full year, spending 37 weeks at number one out of the 80 consecutive weeks it was on in the top ten. The album was also the first of three to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles, and was the only album to be the best-seller of two years (1983–1984) in the U.S.. Thriller has been certified 27x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America,[27] giving it Double Diamond Award status in the U.S..[22]

The album went to number one in Australia (selling 840,000 copies), Argentina (selling 600,000 copies), Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the UK (selling nearly 4 million copies) and a number of other countries.[22][28][29][30]

Still popular today, Thriller sells an estimated 130,000 copies in the U.S. per year, having reached number two in the US Catalog charts in February 2003 and number 39 in the UK in March 2007.[20] The album is cited as selling between 45 and 108 million copies worldwide,[31][32][33] the Guinness Book of World Records lists Thriller as selling 65 million copies as of 2007.[34]

Thriller 25 was a commercial success, doing particularly well as a reissue. It peaked at number one in eight countries and Europe. It peaked at number two in the U.S., number three in the UK and reached the top ten in over 30 national charts. It was certified Gold in 11 countries including the UK, received a 2x Gold certification in France and received platinum certification in Poland.[35][36][37]

In the U.S., Thriller 25 was the second best-selling album of its release week, selling 166,000 copies, 14,000 short of reaching the number one position. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release, but stayed on the Pop Catalog Charts at number one for ten weeks, the best sales on that chart since December 1996.[38][39][40][41] This was Jackson's best launch since Invincible in 2001, in 12 weeks the album had sold 556,000 copies in the U.S..[38] It sold 3 million copies worldwide after 12 weeks.[42]

Highly publicized events

A number of highly publicized events from 1983 to 1985 have been attributed to increasing the sales of the album. On March 25, 1983 Jackson performed "Billie Jean" live on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special, where he first performed his signature move, the moonwalk. The performance was extraordinarily popular, over 47 million views of the first televised airing, which was often compared to Elvis Presley and the The Beatles appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show.[43]

On January 27, 1984 Jackson began filming two Pepsi Cola commercials in front of a simulated live audience at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. As Jackson descended a podium, fireworks set his hair alight. Jackson was taken out of the building on a stretcher in front of the public and photographers. He received sympathy from the public, celebrities and even President Ronald Reagan. When video of the accident was released to the press, Thriller' sales were up 150,000 copies from the previous week.[44]

Jackson won eight awards during the 1984 Grammy's. It was the highest-rated Grammy telecast in history (although it has since slipped into second place). The subsequent week saw Thriller have its second-best week sales figures ever in America.[45] Unlike later albums, Thriller did not have an official tour to promote it, but the Jacksons "Victory Tour", which began on July 6, 1984 showcased much of Jackson's new solo material to more than 2 million Americans and increased the sales of Thriller.[46]

On March 7, 1985 the charity single song "We Are the World" was released worldwide to aid people in Africa and the U.S.. Written primarily by Jackson, with help from Lionel Richie, it became one of the best-selling singles of all time, nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars raised for charity. After the release of the single, Jackson was perceived as a humanitarian. Three months after the release of "We Are the World" sales of Thriller rose 30 percent over the sales of the three months prior to the charity release.[47]

Influence and legacy

Music industry

Jackson at the White House in 1984

Blender called Jackson the "late twentieth century pre-eminent pop icon",[26] The New York Times called Jackson a "musical phenomenon", commenting that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else."[48] TIME explained 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."[49] Thriller retains a position in American culture, with J. Randy Taraborrelli explaining "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."[50]

Thriller revolutionized the music industry, breaking numerous records. Gil Friesen, President of A&M Records, said "the whole industry has a stake in this success."[49] The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months of sales.[49] Thriller raised the importance of albums, but multiple hits also changed notions about the number of singles to release.[51] Time summed up Thriller's impact as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry bordering on "the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop".[49]

Music videos and racial equality

Jackson transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameo appearances.[7] The popularity of his videos aired on MTV, such as "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", helped to put the relatively young channel "on the map" and MTV's focus shifted in favour of pop and R&B.[52][53] Short films like "Thriller" largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has been frequently imitated.[3] The choreography in "Thriller" has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Bollywood to prisons in the Philippines.[54][55]

Jackson in the revolutionary "Thriller" video

Before the success of Thriller, Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was African American.[26] In an effort to get Jackson on the air, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV, saying "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."[26] This stance persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", leading to a lengthy partnership with Jackson and helping other black music artists gain recognition.[56]

When the 14-minute-long "Thriller" video aired, MTV ran it twice an hour to meet demand.[57] The short film marked an increase in scale for music videos and has been named the best music video ever.[51] The popularity of the video sent the album back to number one in the album chart, but Jackson's label was not in support of releasing the third music video from the album. They were already pleased with its success, so Jackson convinced MTV to fund the project.[57][5]

Jackson's success was unusual for a black artist in the 1980s but his popularity saw him become one of the first to have a replica doll made in his image.[58] Thriller put black music on U.S. radio for the first time in years, paving the way for other acts like Prince.[59] On May 14, 1984 Jackson was invited to the White House to receive an award. The event, notable because Jackson as an African American met a Republican President, was seen as a positive move forward in social views towards race.[60]

Contemporary appeal

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end

The album has been sampled by various contemporary artists, ranging in genre from pop to rap. "Right Here/Human Nature" by SWV sampled "Human Nature" and three years later, LL Cool J and Boyz II Men sampled "Lady In My Life" for their Grammy-winning single, "Hey Lover".[61][62] "The Way It Is" by The Prodigy recreated the bass line from "Thriller" and in 2006, Charlotte Church and Amy Winehouse sang "Beat It" at the end of the The Charlotte Church Show.[63][64] As the twenty-fifth anniversary of Thriller approached, two further tributes to the album were made: the Kanye West song "Good Life" featured keys from "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" and Rihanna' "Don't Stop the Music" sampled "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[65][66]

As a sign of the album's longevity, in 2003 Thriller was ranked at number 20 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list[67] and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number 3 of the Definitive 200 Albums of All Time.[68] In 2008, 25 years after its release, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[69] On May 14, 2008 the album was among 25 recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry as "culturally significant".[70]

Track listings

Thriller 25 bonus content

Original album credits

    		•
    • Keyboards/synthesizers: Michael Boddicker, David Foster, Bill Wolfer, Rod Temperton
    • Synthesizer programming: Anthony Marinelli
    • Horn and string arrangements: Jerry Hey
    • Backup vocals: James Ingram, Bunny Hull and Becky Lopez
    • Recording engineer/mixer: Bruce Swedien
    • Technical engineer: Matt Forger
    • Producer: Quincy Jones
    • Co-producer, lead and backup vocals: Michael Jackson

    • See also

    Notes

    1. ^ "Grammy Award Winners". Grammy.com. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
    2. ^ a b c d Taraborrelli, p. 220–221
    3. ^ a b c d e f Jackson, Michael. Thriller Special Edition Audio.
    4. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 209–210
    5. ^ a b c d e f "Michael Jackson's Monster Smash". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2008-04-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    6. ^ Ebony Magazine: Michael: 25 Years After Thriller, December 2007, pg. 97-98
    7. ^ a b c d e f g Huey, Steve. "Michael Jackson - Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2006-11-11.
    8. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen. "Off the Wall Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
    9. ^ Holden, Stephen (1979-11-01). "Off the Wall : Michael Jackson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    10. ^ a b Henderson, Eric. "Michael Jackson:Thriller". Slant. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    11. ^ a b c d Erlewine, Stephen (2007-02-19). "Thriller Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    12. ^ a b c d e Connelly, Christopher (1983-01-28). "Michael Jackson : Thriller". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    13. ^ a b c d e f g Taraborrelli, p. 223–225
    14. ^ Pareles, Jon (September 1987). "Critic's Notebook; How Good Is Jackson's 'Bad'?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-19. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    15. ^ "Michael Jackson: Biography". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. 2004. Retrieved 2008-02-14. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    16. ^ "Sold On Song Top 100". BBC. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
    17. ^ "Sold On Song". BBC. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
    18. ^ "Sessions". Steve Lukather. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
    19. ^ Guinness World Records. Guinness World Records 2007. ISBN 1-904994-12-1.
    20. ^ a b Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection booklet.
    21. ^ Jackson, Michael. Thriller Special Edition booklet.
    22. ^ a b c d e "Sony announce Thriller 25". Reuters. 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    23. ^ "Kanye West, Will.I.Am On New Edition Of Michael Jackson's Thriller". MTV. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
    24. ^ "Kanye, Akon Help Jackson Revisit 'Thriller'". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
    25. ^ Paphides, Pete (2008-02-08). "Michael Jackson: Thriller 25". The Times. Retrieved 2008-04-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    26. ^ a b c d "Michael Jackson, "Billy Jean:". Blender. Retrieved 2007-04-11. Cite error: The named reference "blender" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
    27. ^ "Gold and Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
    28. ^ "Pagina de SonyBmg - Sony sales". Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
    29. ^ "rianz". rianz. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
    30. ^ Day, Elizabeth (2008-03-16). "The whole world in his hands". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-04-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    31. ^ Huey, Steve (2007). "Michael Jackson". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-04-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    32. ^ White, Jim (12 March 2007). "Michael Jackson's Thriller is old hat". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-05-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    33. ^ "Michael Jackson Opens Up". CBS. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    34. ^ Winterman, Denise. "Thrills and spills and record breaks". BBC. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
    35. ^ "Zona Musical" (in Spanish). zm.nu. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
    36. ^ "Thriller the best selling album of all time". digitalproducer. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
    37. ^ "Michael Jackson Thriller 25". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
    38. ^ a b Grein, Paul (2008-05-18). "Diva Smackdown". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2008-05-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    39. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2008-02-20). "Big Grammy Gains For Many; King of Pop Returns". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    40. ^ Hasty, Katy (2008-02-20). "Johnson Remains No. 1; Winehouse, Hancock Soar". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-02-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    41. ^ "US fans shun CD". BBC. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
    42. ^ Friedman, Roger (2008-05-16). "Jacko: Neverland East in Upstate New York". Fox News Channel. Retrieved 2008-05-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    43. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 238–241
    44. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 279–286
    45. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 291–297
    46. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 315–319
    47. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 340–344
    48. ^ "Michael Jackson At 25: A Musical Phenomenon". The New York Times. January 1984. Retrieved 2007-05-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); line feed character in |publisher= at position 16 (help)
    49. ^ a b c d Cocks, Jay (March 1984). "Why He's a Thriller". TIME. Retrieved 2007-03-17. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    50. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 226
    51. ^ a b "Michael Jackson". VH1. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
    52. ^ "Why Are Michael Jackson's Fans So Devoted?". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
    53. ^ "Music videos changing places". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-04-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    54. ^ "1500 Prisoners Perform Thriller Dance". The Wrong Advices. 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2008-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    55. ^ "Jacko goes bollywood". TMZ.com. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
    56. ^ Gundersen, Edna. "music videos changing places". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    57. ^ a b Taraborrelli, p. 270–271
    58. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 191
    59. ^ Harrington, Richard (October 1988). "Prince & Michael Jackson: Two Paths to the Top of Pop". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    60. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 304–307
    61. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2007-02-19). "Where have you been?". MTV. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    62. ^ Coker, Cheo H. (1996-02-08). "Review of "Mr. Smith"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    63. ^ McLean, Craig (2004-08-23). "Prodigy and more". The Daily Telegraphy. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    64. ^ Empire, Kitty (2007-02-25). "good girl gone bad". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    65. ^ West, Kanye. Graduation booklet.
    66. ^ Rihanna. Good Girl Gone Bad booklet.
    67. ^ "20) Thriller". Rolling Stone. 2003-11-03. Retrieved 2008-04-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    68. ^ "Definitive 200". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
    69. ^ "2008 Grammy Hall of Fame" (PDF). The Recording Academy. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    70. ^ Vineys, Kevin (2008-05-14). "Jackson's 'Thriller' among cultural treasures". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    71. ^ Jackson, Michael. Thriller 25 booklet.

    References

    Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
    February 26 – June 24 1983
    July 9 – July 22 1983
    September 10 – September 16 1983
    December 24 1983 – April 20 1984     		Succeeded by
    Preceded by
    "Lies" / "Beach Culture" by Thompson Twins
    		 Hot Dance Club Play number one single (all cuts)
    January 22 1983     		Succeeded by
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thriller_(album)&oldid=221474356"