The groundswell of mourning for Michael Jackson has produced an astonishing sales surge which has swept the singer back to the top of the charts.
Michael Jackson dominated the hit parade from an early age. The lead singer of The Jackson 5, the band’s rainbow coloured soul sparked a number of global hits such as their debut single ‘I Want You Back’.
Going solo, Michael Jackson was able to score hits while not even out of his teens. The singer’s first focussed solo effort was 1979’s ‘Off The Wall’ which enjoyed massive success thanks to a series of inventive singles.
However it was his next move which enshrined Jackson in the public consciousness. The ‘Thriller’ album remains the best selling record in the history of the charts, and established Michael Jackson as a global icon.
The singer’s death on Thursday (June 25th) robbed the world of a hugely popular entertainer. His final years may have been dogged by controversy and financial problems, but Michael Jackson remained a much loved performer.
Since news broke of his demise, Michael Jackson’s music has been an ever-present aspect of daily life. Flooding the airwaves, fans have bought up his classic tracks in droves as Jackson nostalgia goes into overdrive.
Currently, Michael Jackson’s greatest hits album ‘Number Ones’ sits – appropriately – at number one on the British chart. A total of seven albums by the singer are in this week’s Top 75, with a total of eleven albums by Michael Jackson or The Jackson 5 in this week’s Top 200.
On the singles chart, the response has been astonishing. A total of 43 tracks on the Top 200 were by Michael Jackson – just under 25% of the entire chart. In total Michael Jackson accounted for over 300,000 sales across both charts in just two days.
There is simply no precedent for this. The deaths of previous icons such as Elvis Presley and John Lennon were met with public outpouring and posthumous hits, but in the digital age an artist’s entire back catalogue is available with the click of a mouse.
With fans in mourning, ClashMusic expects these figures to rise with the possibility of a posthumous number one single on the cards. The only problem fans have is picking which one of his many, many classic tracks to buy.
Michael Jackson Top 75 Official Albums Chart entries (according to The Official Charts Company)
1. ‘Number Ones’ (up from 121 last week)
7. ‘Thriller’ (up from 121 last week)
14. ‘King Of Pop’ (new entry)
17. ‘Off The Wall’ (new entry)
20. The Essential Michael Jackson (new entry)
45. ‘Thriller 25’ (new entry)
59. ‘Bad’ (new entry)
