--- title: Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Just Smashed Another Record description: Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' was certified 30x Multi-Platinum by RIAA, selling more than 100 million copies worldwide. authors: - name: Alicia Adamczyk url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 201 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk former_staff: true published: '2015-12-16T15:55:18.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T09:26:30.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Leisure - Music word_count: 301 canonical: https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Michael Jackson Thriller album cover, 1982](https://img.money.com/2015/12/151216_em_thriller.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85) Michael Jackson's *Thriller* just won't beat it from the record books. The King of Pop's seminal album has reached sales of over 30 million in the U.S., becoming the first album in history to do so, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Estate of Michael Jackson announced today. RIAA says the album has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. "RIAA has awarded Gold & Platinum records on behalf of the music business for nearly 60 years, but this is the first time an artist has crossed the 30X multi-Platinum plateau," Cary Sherman, RIAA's Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "What an exceptional achievement and testament to *Thriller’s* enduring spot in our hearts and musical history." It's far from the first time that *Thriller* has broken records. It became the best-selling album of all time just a little over a year after its release, so today's announcement just kicks MJ's dominance up a notch. *Thriller* spent nearly two-and-a-half years on the Billboard album chart, where it held a record 37 weeks at #1, according to RIAA. In 1984, it was nominated for 12 Grammy awards, and won eight, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year (for 'Beat It'). The wins still holdup as the most ever awarded to a single album. As if that wasn't enough, the epic video for *Thriller* remains the only music video to be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. "100 million albums and counting. There has never been a phenomenon like *Thriller*," John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson, said in a statement. RIAA says Jackson has sold a total of over one billion records worldwide. **Read Next: [Adele Fans Think Scented Candles and Alcohol Go Well with Her New Album](https://money.com/adele-25-fans-comfort/)** [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Music", "item": "https://money.com/music/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Just Smashed Another Record" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/", "name": "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Just Smashed Another Record", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-12-16T15:55:18.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T09:26:30.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Just Smashed Another Record", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/12/151216_em_thriller.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "151216_EM_Thriller" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alicia Adamczyk", "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-12-16T15:55:18.000Z", "description": "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' was certified 30x Multi-Platinum by RIAA, selling more than 100 million copies worldwide.", "abstract": "Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' was certified 30x Multi-Platinum by RIAA, selling more than 100 million copies worldwide.", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jacksons-thriller-album-sales-record/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T09:26:30.000Z", "wordCount": 301, "keywords": [ "Leisure", "Music" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Music", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music" ] } ] } ] } ```