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Thriller is the sixth solo album by American pop singer Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982 on Epic Records and the second produced by Quincy Jones. Thriller is the best selling album of all time, though sales figures for the album vary between different sources who have cited the album as selling between 45 million copies worldwide to 104 million copies. The BBC claim that the Guinness Book of World Records lists it as 65 million copies sold as of 2007 (note that sales of Thriller 25 will be added to American sales. ) and made Jackson's fame global. In 2007, NARM/The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranked Thriller third on their "Definitive 200" albums list. and made Jackson's fame global. In 2007, NARM/The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranked Thriller third on their "Definitive 200" album list. Still popular, Thriller sells an estimated 130,000 copies in the USA per year and reached #2 in the US Catalog charts in February 2003, and #39 in the in the UK March. It charted in the UK Catalog in May 2007 and in November 2007 "Thriller" hit UK #57.

Thriller is one of only three albums to remain in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for a full year, spending 80 consecutive weeks there, 37 at #1. It was the first of three albums to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles and the only album to date to be the best-seller of two years (1983-1984) in the USA. In 2008, the Thriller album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was reissued as Thriller Special Edition in 2001 and Thriller 25 in 2008, the latter of which was very successful for a reissue.

Recording and release
Recorded between April and November 1982, with several members of Toto, Thriller was the second of Jackson albums Quincy Jones produced. Showing growing creativity, Jackson wrote four of Thriller's songs. Following the hit with "The Girl is Mine", a pop duet with then-friend Paul McCartney, the single "Billie Jean" made Thriller a chart topper. Jackson performed the hit on Motown 25, showing off his signature "moonwalk" dance move to an enormous audience. Success expanded with crossover rock hit "Beat It" featuring guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

Jackson was nominated for twelve Grammy Awards in 1984, winning a record breaking eight in a year. Seven were for Thriller (including the award for "Album of the Year") and the other for the E.T. storybook track "Someone In The Dark". That same year, Jackson also won eight American Music Awards and the "Special Award of Merit" and three MTV Video Music Awards. At 25, 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." Time magazine 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." Thriller also helped bring African-American music back into mainstream radio for the first time since the mid-1970s.

Influence and legacy
"Thriller" influenced numerous artists, including Mariah Carey, Usher, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson (his sister) , Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West , Rihanna and Chris Brown. Crossing genres, rap artists too praise and sample "Thriller". For Thriller, Blender called Jackson the "late 20th century's pre-eminent pop icon". It retains a position in American culture and TIME claimed "How many Beatles were there? How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit? How many Grammy Awards did Michael Jackson win on Feb. 28? How many copies of Thriller have been sold? Well, the Grammys are easy". "Billie Jean" became Jackson's best selling single, described as "one of the most sonically eccentric, psychologically fraught, downright bizarre things ever to land on Top 40 radio" by Blender and "Beat It" was a crossover hit.

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" and The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold over 350,000 copies in a few months of sales. Thriller raised the importance of albums but multiple hits also changed notions about the number of singles to release. Although singles had already fallen in importance, Thriller's release firmly established albums as the dominant force in the industry.

Jackson's was rarely referred to as a "black singer" and his success was unusual for a black artist in the 1980s, being one of the first on a Rolling Stone cover and one of the first to have a replica doll. Time summed up Thriller's impact as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry bordering "the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop". Also, Thriller put black music onto US radio for the first time in years, paving the way for other acts like Prince.

High profile samples/covers

 * In 2006, Charlotte Church and Amy Winehouse sang "Beat It" at the end of The Charlotte Church Show's first series.
 * On December 10 2007, Alicia Keys sang "Human Nature" at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo.
 * "Good Life" by Kanye West features keys from "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
 * "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna sampled "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
 * "Right Here/Human Nature" by SWV sampled "Human Nature"
 * "The Way It Is" by The Prodigy sampled "Thriller"

Music videos and MTV
It is often claimed Jackson was the first person to make music videos an art, with influential story-telling and choreography styles. Short films like "Thriller" largely remained unique to Jackson, but the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has been frequently imitated and the group dance in "Thriller" became part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Bollywood to American prisons.

Central to Jackson’s success with music videos was new channel MTV, which put his videos in heavy rotation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Before then, Jackson struggled to get MTV airing because he was black. To change this, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff denounced MTV, saying "I’m pulling everything we have off the air" and "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". This harsh stance worked; MTV started showing "Billie Jean", forming a lengthy partnership with Jackson and helping other black artists.

When the 14-minute-long "Thriller" video aired in December 1983, MTV ran it up to twice an hour to meet demand. It reportedly scared viewers, especially children but marked an increase in scale for music videos and is often called the best-ever music video. MTV, a struggling cable channel, became huge. Jackson's videos were credited to this success and MTV's focus switched from rock to pop and R&B.

Certifications/chart history
Thriller spent 37 weeks (26 February, 1983-20 April, 1984) at #1 in the US, 144 days in 1983 and 111 in 1984, remaining in the charts for a further 85 weeks.

Highly published events
A number of highly published events throughout 1984 and 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 show. After reuniting with the Jackson 5, he remained on stage, dressed with trademark high cuffed trousers to show his white socks and a single sequinned glove. Jackson grabbed his crotch, donned a black fedora and danced, debuting his signature move - "Moonwalk" (which was named by the media). The moonwalk, tornado spin and toe-balancing became a famous combination complimented by Fred Astaire and is virtually synonymous with the song. Despite lip-synced the vocals, the performance was popular and over forty-seven million viewers watched the first televised airing, often being compared to Elvis and The Beatles appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and helped many view Jackson as one of the greatest danders of all time.

On January 27, 1984 Jackson began filming two Pepsi Cola commercials at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles infront of a simulated live audience. As Jackson descended a podium fire works caused his hair to set alight and he fell to the floor causing the audience to scream and shout believing that he had actually been assasinated. Jackson was taken out of the building on a streacher infront of the public and photographers. It was heavily publicised becoming the lead story on most international television and newspaper reports with Jackson recieving sympathy from the public, celebraties and even the President. When the actual recording of events aired "Thriller" sales were up 150,000 copies on the previous week.

On February 28, 1984 Jackson attended the Grammys winning a record breaking 8 awards. The show had the highest ratings figures in its history(it has now slipped into second place). The subsequent week saw "Thriller" have its second best week sales figures ever in America.

On May 14, 1984 Jackson was invited to the White House to receive an award. The event, where an African American meet a Republican President at the White House in the 1980's was seen as a continuation of changes in social views towards race with Jackson recieving substantial media attention. 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 many of Michael Jackson's new solo material to 2.2 million Americans and did affect sales of "Thriller".

On March 7, 1985 the song "We Are The World", a charity single to aid people in Africa and America was released worldwide. Written primarily by Jackson with help from Lionel Richie it became one of the best selling singles of all time with nearly twenty million copies sold and millions of dollars raised for charity. It was the first instance where Jackson became known as a humanitarian as well as performer. Sales of "Thriller" three months after the release of "We Are The World" were up 30 percent on the sales three months prior.

Thriller Special Edition
In 2001, Thriller Special Edition was released as part of a "Special Edition" reissue series for Jackson's Epic albums, coinciding with promotion for Invincible. Released simultaneously, the reissues featured expanded booklets with numerous photographs, digital remasters, and (other than Dangerous) bonus tracks and new interviews. Initial runs had a slipcase of a photo of Jackson and a tiger cub.

The bonus tracks were "Someone in the Dark" (from the E.T. storybook) and unreleased out-take "Carousel". It also included a Vincent Price vocal recording, a "Billie Jean" demo and interviews with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton. Jones talks about his involvement in Thriller and Temperton discusses the title track. Both talk about guest artists and song meanings including the bonus tracks. Runtime went up by nearly 30 minutes - the longest "Special Edition". However, a "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" demo later released on The Ultimate Collection, was absent, as was "For All Time" which was finished for Thriller 25.

Thriller Special Edition bonus tracks

 * 1) Interview with Quincy Jones #1 – 2:18
 * 2) "Someone in the Dark" (Bergman/Bergman/Temperton) – 4:48
 * 3) Interview with Quincy Jones #2 – 2:04
 * 4) "Billie Jean" (Home Demo from 1981) (Jackson) – 2:20
 * 5) Interview with Quincy Jones #3 – 3:10
 * 6) Interview with Rod Temperton #1 – 4:02
 * 7) Interview with Quincy Jones #4 – 1:32
 * 8) "Voice-Over Session from "Thriller"" (Temperton) – 2:52
 * 9) Interview with Rod Temperton #2 – 1:56
 * 10) Interview with Quincy Jones #5 – 2:01
 * 11) "Carousel" (Sembello/Freeman) – 1:49
 * 12) Interview with Quincy Jones #6 – 1:17

Thriller 25
Thriller 25 is a 25th anniversary edition of Thriller. In the UK, the BBFC gave Thriller 25 a "15" age rating because of the "Thriller" music video and is Jackson's first age rated release. Jackson first mentioned a "second chapter" to Thriller in late 2006 on Access Hollywood, saying he would discuss it with collaborator will.i.am. Jackson served as executive producer and Epic announced it in a press release on November 30, 2007.

A Thriller 25 launch party was held at HMV in London, and to promote Thriller 25, Jackson's website was remade along with accounts on networking websites like MySpace and Facebook. The 33rd most viewed artist on YouTube overall, Thriller 25 marketing pushed Jackson up to 21st in January and on February 3, a Pepsi ad with Naomi Campbell and CGI lizards dancing to "Thriller" aired during Super Bowl XLII to over 95 million Americans and again at the Grammys on February 10. Odeon Cinemas in the UK ran free "Thriller" viewings on February 8/9 and TV adverts were aired throughout Europe. A forty episode podcast series about people's first Thriller experience on Michaeljackson.com, "Thrillercast", will run throughout 2008 with various celebrities.

Internationally, "The Girl Is Mine 2008" was released as a downloadable single on January 14 and on CD on January 25. In the United Kingdom the CD release was pushed back to February 4. In the United States, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" was the first single released on January 23. "The Girl Is Mine 2008" reached #2 in Japan, #4 in Mexico, #6 in the Netherlands, #7 on the United World Airplay Chart, a top 20 position in the major European markets but saw disappointing sales in Canada. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" reached #3 in Sweden, #4 in New Zealand, #8 in Australia, #32 in Canada, but saw disappointing sales in America. On March 21, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008" will see its physical release in Europe. These are Jackson's first singles since "One More Chance" in 2003.

Album track "Beat It 2008" began charting, reaching #26 in Switzerland, #31 in Denmark, #43 in Sweden, #60 in Japan, #74 in Germany, #75 in Austria and #77 in Canada      as did "Billie Jean 2008", reaching #91 in Germany. Unusual for Jackson, no music videos have been released yet.

Content
Thriller 25 comes on CD and vinyl with seven bonus tracks : New release "For All Time", Vincent Price's voice-over and five remixes featuring contemporary artists like Fergie and Akon. It also includes a DVD including three award-winning music and Jackson's Emmy-nominated Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance (famous for its moonwalk ) and a booklet with a message from Jackson. "For All Time", a ballad supposedly dates from 1982, but leaks often credit it as being from Dangerous sessions. Though the original leaked vocals were used, new ones were too.

On iTunes, Zune Marketplace, and Amazon MP3 a "Super Deluxe Edition" with "Thriller Special Edition", "Billie Jean" "(Underground Mix)" and "(12" version)", and ""Thriller" (instrumental)" is available. Copies bought in Target, Best Buy and Circuit City feature bonus tracks "Billie Jean (1982 Club Mix)", "Thriller (1982 Def Remix)" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (1982 Dance Mix)" respectively. Sony also sold "Thriller 25" with the Number Ones DVD as a "fan pack".

Charts, certifications and sales

 * Over one million copies of Thriller 25 were shipped in the first week of sales and over one million copies were sold in four weeks.
 * In the US, Thriller 25 was the second best-selling album of the week, selling 166,000 copies, 14,000 short of first. It was unable to chart on the Billboard 200 due to it's age but it entered the Pop Catalog Charts at #1, with the highest weekly sales since December 1996 and #2 the Comprehensive Chart. It was Jacksons best launch since the Invincible album in 2001, selling  significantly better than The Essential Michael Jackson in 2005 which sold 8,000 copies.
 * In Poland the album was certified gold, reaching number six on the album chart on release day.
 * "Thriller 25" is Jackson's highest charting album in Norway.
 * "Thriller 25" has spent four weeks at #1 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart, three weeks at #1 in France, three weeks at #2 in Australia, two weeks at #1 on the United World Chart, Argentina and Belgium, two weeks at #2 on the Top Comprehensive Albums chart  Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Sweden,  two weeks at #3 in New Zealand, two weeks at #4 in Poland and two weeks at #5 in Austria.