Michael Jackson broke records with the release of Thriller in 1982. Months after its release, on Feb. 26, 1983, the seminal album topped Billboard‘s Top LPs & Tapes chart, marking the first time Jackson accomplished that feat.
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Thriller spent a record 37 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. It soon became the best-selling album of all time, winning eight GRAMMY Awards and countless other recognitions. The album was eventually inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. Additionally, the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.
On top of the well-known title the track, the Quincy Jones-produced LP included hit songs such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).”
In a 2012 deep dive, Billboard reported how Thriller “changed the world.” According to the outlet, leading up to the album’s release, the record industry was experiencing a slump. Changing technology, an increasing divide between Black and white listeners, and an anti-disco backlash were all to blame.
That all became moot with the release of Thriller. Despite their initial resistance, MTV eventually agreed to play Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” The move catapulted the album to the No. 1 spot on the chart, per the outlet.
Then, during a TV special, Jackson debuted his now-iconic moonwalk, leading to even more success, the outlet reported.
The album’s success was still going strong one year after its release. That only became more true when Jackson dropped the 14-minute “Thriller” music video. It’s widely considered one of the best music videos of all time.
On top of its critical and commercial achievements, the outlet reported that Jackson’s success opened the door for other Black performers to get radio play and MTV features.
The Legacy of Michael Jackson’s Thriller
“After more than a decade of being an absolutely huge superstar, top of his field, sure-thing Hall of Famer, etc., he somehow found an extra gear and suddenly transcended mere superstardom, redefining the very notion of how big someone in his field could be,” record executive Steve Greenberg, editorialized in Billboard.
Elsewhere, in a guest essay for the Library of Congress, Joe Vogel wrote that Thriller “changed the trajectory of music—the way it sounded, the way it felt, the way it looked, the way it was consumed.”
Vogel additionally marveled over how the nine-track album didn’t fit into any one box, a rarity for the time period. It couldn’t be solely classified as disco, funk, R&B, new wave, instead, “it was something new.”
Essentially, Vogel wrote that Thriller “broke down barriers, creating a new musical landscape in which artists of color were no longer relegated to the margins. Over 30 years since it first hit record stores, it remains the defining album of a decade and one of the holy grails of pop.”
Photo by Mike Guastella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
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