Thriller is Michael Jackson’s sixth studio album, released on 30 November 1982 by Epic Records. It is the best-selling album of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 70 million copies. Produced by Quincy Jones with Jackson co-producing, the album was recorded between April and November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles.
Jackson, eager to top the success of Off the Wall, sought a record where every song could be a single. Of the album’s nine tracks, seven were released as singles, an unprecedented run that included “The Girl Is Mine” (a duet with Paul McCartney), “Billie Jean”, “Beat It” (with Eddie Van Halen’s iconic guitar solo), “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, “Human Nature”, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” and the title track. Vincent Price provided the spoken-word “rap” at the end of “Thriller”, recorded in two takes after Rod Temperton wrote the lyrics on the way to the studio.
The album spent a record 37 weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200 and reached number one in most major markets. “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” became inescapable on radio and MTV, with the latter’s music video breaking the colour barrier on MTV after pressure from CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff. Jackson’s performance of “Billie Jean” on Motown 25 in May 1983, where he debuted the moonwalk, is widely regarded as one of the most iconic moments in television history.
Thriller swept the 1984 Grammy Awards, winning a record-breaking eight statues including Album of the Year. It also won eight American Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards (for the title track’s 14-minute John Landis-directed short film) and the Brit Award for Best International Album. The album has been certified 34× Platinum by the RIAA, the highest certification ever awarded for an album in the United States.
Beyond the commercial achievements, Thriller transformed the music industry. It elevated music videos from promotional tools to art form, repositioned MTV as a Black-friendly platform, and made Jackson the world’s biggest star. Successive reissues — Thriller 25 (2008) and Thriller 40 (2022) — added previously unreleased tracks, demos and remixes, keeping the album in the global charts decades after its release.