Decades after its release, Michael Jackson’s Bad, his Thriller follow-up, rises to a new peak on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, BRUNEI – JULY, 1996: American singer, songwriter, and dancer Michael Jackson (1958-2009) performs on stage during a concert for the 50th birthday of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei circa July, 1996 at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. (Photo by Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty Images)
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Some legacy musical acts perform well on the Billboard charts thanks to continued plays on streaming sites like Spotify. There are many albums and songs that remain on the lists week after week due to millions – sometimes tens of millions – of streams that count toward Billboard‘s rankings.
Michael Jackson certainly brings in a large number of plays every day on streaming sites, but he is the rare artist whose music has been entertaining the masses for decades who still manages to sell well. Multiple collections by the King of Pop appear on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales tally at the moment, and one even manages to climb to a new peak position nearly 40 years after its initial release.
Michael Jackson’s Bad Hits a New Sales Chart Peak
Jackson’s Bad leaps from No. 21 to No. 13 on the current edition of the Top Album Sales chart. The Billboard list looks only at purchases of full-lengths and EPs, with digital copies, CD, cassette and vinyl all fueling a title’s rise, fall or debut.
Bad reaches its new all-time high on the Top Album Sales rundown almost 15 years after it first landed on the roster. Bad debuted on the Top Album Sales register in December 2009, and since then, it has spent 55 weeks as a bestseller in America.
Michael Jackson Has Charted 10 Top 10s
Jackson has racked up 23 appearances on the Top Album Sales chart. 10 of those projects have found their way into the top 10, and four – Dangerous, Invincible, Michael Jackson’s This Is It and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I – have all spent at least one frame ruling.
Bad is one of two sets by Jackson that have missed out on breaking into the top 10 by only a few spaces. Scream peaked at No. 11, its all-time high, in October 2017. Every other release by the superstar has yet to rise into the top 20.
Here are all of Michael Jackson’s top 10s on the Top Album Sales chart.
- Dangerous
- HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
- Invincible
- Michael
- Michael Jackson’s This Is It (Soundtrack)
- Michael: Songs from the Motion Picture (Soundtrack)
- Number Ones
- Off the Wall
- Thriller
- Xscape
Bad Rises on Several Billboard Charts
Bad can be found on five rosters published by Billboard at the moment, and it is enjoying a fantastic week on each and every one of them. As it hits its new all-time high on the Top Album Sales list, Bad returns to its peak, No. 8, on the Vinyl Albums rundown.
At the same time, Bad reenters both the Top R&B Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, coming in at Nos. 23 and 44, respectively. Jackson’s Thriller follow-up also surges onto the Billboard 200 once more, making a home at No. 148.
Michael Jackson Fills Nearly 10% of the Sales Chart
Jackson owns nearly 10% of the Top Album Sales chart at the moment, as four releases by the multigenre talent appear on the 50-space ranking. Thriller drops to No. 8. His Number Ones compilation is steady at No. 11, and Off the Wall climbs from No. 20 to No. 15, settling in only two spaces beneath where Bad appears currently.
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