MICHAEL JACKSON: Thriller spent 37 weeks at Number One
Thriller spent a record 37 weeks at number-one, including this week in 1984. Trailing it on the best seller list, as February '84 ended: Culture Club's Colour by Numbers, Van Halen's 1984 and Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down. Mixing rock, funk and disco, it became the best-selling album of all time, with more than 65 million copies sold.
- Thriller was Michael Jackson's sixth solo album.
- He recorded it with producer Quincy Jones at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles.
- It spun off seven Top 10 singles. The duet "The Girl Is Mine" with Paul McCartney was the first.
- The videos for "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" were breakthroughs for black artists on MTV.
- He wanted to go beyond his previous release Off the Wall, whose failure to earn Record of the Year honors at The Grammys frustrated him.
- Thriller won an unprecedented eight Grammys, including Album of the Year.
- Jackson wrote four songs on the album "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "The Girl Is Mine," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean."
- Rod Temperton wrote three songs: "Baby Be Mine," "The Lady in My Life" and "Thriller."
Despite wealth and acclaim, Michael's final 25 years were marred by scandals, lawsuits and financial trouble. In March '09, he announced plans for his This Is It world tour, which could have earned him $75 million. But he died on June 25th, 2009, less than three weeks before the scheduled opening night in London. Michael Jackson was two months shy of his 50th birthday.