Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Returns to No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart for the First Time in Four Decades
Michael Jackson regains the top position on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as his iconic album Thriller climbs back to No. 1 on the chart dated May 16.
The album surges again following the Michael biopic’s huge streaming boost for the King of Pop’s catalog, securing its 38th total week at the summit. Released in November 1982, Thriller is recognized by Guinness as the best-selling album of all time and by the Recording Industry Association of America as the most-certified studio album in U.S. history.
For its latest return to the top — marking its first week at No. 1 since 1984 — Thriller earned 62,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the May 1-7 tracking period, according to Luminate. The album rose 36% from the previous week’s 45,000 units. Of the 62,000 units earned this week, streaming activity accounted for 48,000 units, representing 50.3 million official on-demand audio and video streams of its songs. Traditional album sales contributed 13,000 units, while the remaining 1,000 units came from track-equivalent albums.
During its original run, Thriller ruled the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in historic fashion. Driven by a string of major hits, including the timeless singles “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and the title track, the album spent 37 weeks at No. 1 in 1983-84, breaking the record for the most weeks atop the chart since it launched in 1965. Jackson’s record remained untouched for 41 years until SZA’s SOS, boosted by its SOS Deluxe: LANA edition, surpassed it in June 2025.
With its 38th week at No. 1, Thriller extends its record for the most weeks at the top among albums by a male artist and ranks second overall behind SOS’ 46 weeks.
‘Number Ones’ Reaches No. 2
Jackson also becomes his own biggest competitor this week, as the singer’s 2003 greatest-hits collection Number Ones jumps from No. 5 to No. 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with 62,000 equivalent album units. With Thriller and Number Ones occupying the top two spots, Jackson becomes the first artist to hold both positions simultaneously since Future and Metro Boomin achieved the feat with We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You, which occupied the top two spots for three consecutive weeks in April-May 2024.
Excluding rap artists, Jackson is the first act to place two albums in the top two since The Temptations on the chart dated Feb. 22, 1969. At that time, the group held No. 1 with TCB, their collaborative album with The Supremes, while Live at the Copa landed at No. 2.
‘Thriller’ Further Expands Jackson’s Chart Legacy
As chart analyst Simone Del Niro points out, Thriller’s return to No. 1 makes Jackson, who passed away in 2009, the first artist to reach the top of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in each of the past six calendar decades. As the late superstar adds another achievement to his chart history, here’s a decade-by-decade recap:
- 1970s: Off the Wall (No. 1 for nine weeks in 1979)
- 1980s: Off the Wall (seven weeks, 1980); Thriller (37 weeks, 1983-84); Bad (18 weeks, 1987-88)
- 1990s: Dangerous (12 weeks, 1992); HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1 (two weeks, 1995)
- 2000s: Invincible (four weeks, 2001); Michael Jackson’s This Is It Soundtrack (four weeks, 2009)
- 2010s: Michael (two weeks, 2011); Xscape (three weeks, 2014)
- 2020s: Thriller (one week, 2026)
Jackson Dominates Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart
The streaming wave surrounding Jackson also continues across the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where he places 13 songs inside the top 25. “Billie Jean,” usually his most-streamed song each week, rises from No. 5 to No. 3, while “Human Nature” (10-6), “Beat It” (9-7), and “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” (11-9) climb deeper into the top 10.
Among the returning songs this week, “Bad” re-enters at No. 19, while “You Rock My World” returns at No. 22. Perhaps the biggest surprise is “Chicago,” a posthumous release from 2014’s Xscape, which reappears at No. 23. Although the track has no direct connection to the film covering Jackson’s life from 1965-1988, “Chicago” benefits from a featured position on Jackson’s Spotify artist page — often within his top 10 songs — as well as an internet clip showing animated birds dancing to the track.
Here is Jackson’s full presence on this week’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart:
- No. 3, “Billie Jean”
- No. 6, “Human Nature”
- No. 7, “Beat It”
- No. 9, “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough”
- No. 12, “Rock With You”
- No. 13, “Dirty Diana”
- No. 15, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
- No. 16, “Smooth Criminal”
- No. 17, “The Way You Make Me Feel”
- No. 19, “Bad”
- No. 21, “Remember the Time”
- No. 22, “You Rock My World”
- No. 23, “Chicago”