Immortal is a companion soundtrack album to the Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, released on 21 November 2011 by Epic Records. Music director Kevin Antunes restructured Jackson’s catalogue into mashups and segues for the show, weaving together hits, deep cuts and unheard stems. The album reached #6 on the Billboard 200.
Genres: Pop
Michael is the first posthumous album by Michael Jackson, released on 10 December 2010 by Epic Records, 18 months after his death. The album was compiled by Sony from a vault of unreleased recordings spanning Jackson’s solo career, with new production additions from Akon, Lenny Kravitz, Teddy Riley and Theron “Neff U” Feemster.
Three of the ten tracks (“Breaking News”, “Keep Your Head Up” and “Monster”) became immediately controversial. Jackson family members publicly disputed that Jackson’s vocals were authentic, claiming the tracks featured a soundalike singer named Jason Malachi. Sony and the estate stood by the recordings; the dispute eventually led to a 2018 lawsuit in which Sony admitted the tracks may not be authentic, though no recall was issued.
Despite the controversy, Michael debuted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and reached #1 in 14 countries. The album shifted approximately 3 million copies worldwide. The duet “Hold My Hand” with Akon, originally recorded in 2008, became the lead single and reached the top 10 in 11 countries. “Hollywood Tonight” and “Behind the Mask” (a Yellow Magic Orchestra cover originally recorded for Thriller) were also released as singles.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It is the two-disc soundtrack to the posthumous 2009 concert documentary of the same name, released on 26 October 2009 by Epic Records. It includes a previously unreleased song (the title track), Jackson’s spoken-word poem “Planet Earth”, and remastered versions of his hits as performed in rehearsal for the cancelled This Is It tour. The album debuted at #1 in 14 countries and sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
The Collection is a five-album box set released on 30 June 2009 by Epic Records, just five days after Michael Jackson’s death. The set includes the original CDs of Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and Invincible. It became the fastest-selling box set in UK chart history, reaching #6 on the Albums Chart.
King of Pop is a Michael Jackson greatest hits compilation released in 2008 to mark his 50th birthday. Each country had its own tracklist, voted on by fans through Sony Music’s regional websites. As a result over 30 distinct regional editions exist, each running between 17 and 21 tracks.
Thriller 25 is the 25th-anniversary deluxe reissue of Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller, released on 11 February 2008 by Epic Records. The reissue includes the original album remastered, the demo “Got the Hots” (a Thriller-era outtake), and new collaborations with Akon (“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008”), Will.i.am, Fergie and Kanye West. It was the best-selling catalogue album of 2008 worldwide.
Visionary: The Video Singles is a 20-disc box set by Michael Jackson released on 20 February 2006 by Epic Records. Each individual disc is a CD-DVD double-side: the audio single on the CD side, the music video on the DVD side. The release was structured as a chart-eligible reissue campaign — twenty discs in twenty weeks — and 13 of the 20 singles re-charted in the UK top 30.
The Essential Michael Jackson is a two-disc greatest hits compilation released on 18 July 2005 as part of Sony’s career-spanning Essential series. Disc one covers Jackson Five and early solo material; disc two covers Off the Wall onward. The set has remained a top-selling MJ compilation, particularly in the wake of Jackson’s 2009 death.
The Ultimate Collection is a four-CD plus DVD career-spanning box set by Michael Jackson released on 16 November 2004 by Epic Records. The set covers Jackson’s entire solo career from “I Want You Back” to “One More Chance”, with rare demos and unreleased recordings included on each disc. The bonus DVD features the complete Bucharest 1992 Dangerous Tour concert film.
Number Ones is a greatest hits compilation by Michael Jackson released on 18 November 2003 by Epic Records. It collects 17 of his biggest #1 singles plus the new track “One More Chance”, written and produced by R. Kelly. The album reached #13 in the U.S. and #1 in the UK and France, eventually selling over 9 million copies worldwide.