Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Is Close To Making History Again

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Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Is Close To Making History Again

Posted at 07/20/2009 by Staff 0 Comment

Billboard.com is reporting that Michael Jackson’s album, Thriller, is a mere 1 million in sales away from breaking the Eagles record of best selling album of all time. The Eagles’ Greatest Hits album has sold more than 29 million copies. Here’s more:

For nearly a decade, the Eagles’ “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975″ has been the recording industry’s ultimate evergreen release, certified by the RIAA as the all-time best-selling album in the United States. But thanks to continued robust demand for Michael Jackson’s catalog since his June 25 death, “Thriller” appears on the verge of matching “Their Greatest Hits,” at least in the eyes of the industry trade group.

In March, the Recording Industry Association of America certified “Thriller” as 28 times platinum, meaning that at least 28 million copies of the album have been shipped since its 1982 release. That’s just a notch behind the Eagles’ hits compilation, which was released in 1976 and was certified 29 times platinum in 2006.

Billboard estimates that the posthumous surge in Jackson’s sales and Sony Music Entertainment’s efforts to push Jackson CDs into the distribution pipeline have likely propelled shipments of Jackson product, if not yet sales, beyond the 29 million-unit mark in the United States.