Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ clears the 100 million mark

LOS ANGELES (Archyde.com) – Six years following the death of Michael Jackson, his legendary album “Thriller” continues to break records to the point of becoming this year the first to have crossed the 100 million mark worldwide and 30 million in the United States alone, announced the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Released in November 1982 with titles like “Thriller”, “Billie Jean” or “Beat It”, the album had crossed 20 million sales in the USA by 1984 and experienced a resurgence in popularity following the death of the “king of pop”, June 25, 2009. According to the specialized institute Nielsen Music, it has since passed 2.1 million on American territory.

“The RIAA has been awarding gold and platinum records on behalf of the music industry for nearly 60 years, but this is the first time an artist has been certified 30 times platinum (30 million-Editor’s note) “said Cary Sherman, president of the Association of Recording Industry Professionals.

Produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson, the eight-time Grammy Award-winning album spent 37 weeks at number one on Billboard’s record sales chart.

According to the RIAA, the second best-selling album in the United States is a compilation by the Californian group Eagles, “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975”, with 29 million records sold. Another compilation follows, by Billy Joel, “Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II”, which has sold 23 million copies.

For comparison, the Beatles peak in this US ranking at 19 million, Adele at 11 million for her album “21”, Mariah Carey, Madonna and the group U2 at 10 million.

(Alex Dobuzinskis, Henri-Pierre André for the French department)