The King of Pop Becomes the First Ever Artist to Have Top 10 Hits in Six Different Decades

Michael Jackson has made history once again. The legendary artist just became the first person to have Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in six different decades, according to the outlet.

Videos by American Songwriter

Jackson accomplished the feat thanks to his 1982 song “Thriller,” which recently rose from No. 32 on the chart to No. 10.

The outlet linked the song’s rise to Halloween. Between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6, the track’s streams were up 57% from the previous week, the outlet reported, citing Luminate. Additionally, it’s radio airplay was up 124% and its sales, with a week-long total of 3,000, were up 1%, per Luminate.

“Thriller,” which peaked at No. 4 in 1984, gave Jackson his first Top 10 hit this decade. In doing so, Jackson became the first artist to have Top 10 hits across six different decades, stating in the 1970s, all the way through the present decade.

Andy Williams, the voice behind “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” previously held the record with hits over five decades—the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’10’s, and ’20s.

Michael Jackson’s Chart History

With its latest chart placement, “Thriller” is now Jackson’s longest-charting Hot 100 hit. It has now spent 26 weeks on the chart in total, besting both “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” by one week.

Jackson’s first solo Top 10 placement came in 1971 with the release of “Got To Be There.” Overall, the King of Pop has 30 top 10s, 12 of which are No. 1s. Jackson, who died in 2009, last appeared in the Top 10 in 2018, when he was posthumously featured on Drake’s song, “Don’t Matter to Me.”

The song appeared on Drake’s 2018 album, Scorpion. It came together thanks to Paul Anka, who worked with Jackson on a planned duets album in 1983.

While most of the men’s work long stayed in the vault, following Jackson’s death some of it was released. It was from one of those songs, ” It Don’t Matter To Me,” that Jackson’s contribution to Drake’s record came.

“I’m at the stage in my life that I don’t want to waste my time (but) he’s a good human being,” Anka told Ottawa Citizen of Drake. “The people around him are very smart, and he’s very smart, and I knew that the component I brought to the table that he would, as I told him, break the code, and it did. It just came together with him creatively and intellectually. We’ve got a great record.”

Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage