Thriller

Celebrated as the King of Pop, musical artist Michael Jackson arguably cemented his place at the forefront of the pop genre with his 1982 album Thriller. Prior to Thriller, Jackson had spent much of his childhood singing with his brothers in The Jackson 5, a Motown group that rose to popularity in the late 1960s to mid-1970s. In the late 1970s, the group signed a new contract with CBS Records, but their popularity was waning with the emergence of other genres. Jackson decided soon after to work on his own music, and he released several well-received individual albums, most notably the multiplatinum Off the Wall (1979). Jackson began to contruct his image during the making of this album, but it was Thriller, his sixth studio album and the successor to Off the Wall, that accomplished many feats by revolutionizing pop and challenging racial barriers exhibited in the music industry.

Jackson began working on Thriller in 1982 after enlisting the help of Grammy Award–winning producer Quincy Jones, whom he had worked with on Off the Wall. In November of the same year, Jackson completed the album, and it was released that month. The final track listing of the original 1982 album is as follows: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,’” “Baby Be Mine,” “The Girl Is Mine,” “Thriller,” “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Human Nature,” “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” and “The Lady in My Life.” Jackson was significantly involved in the songwriting of the album by [Page 2070]contributing four songs, and he also assisted Jones in the production of these songs. Other songwriters on the album included Rodney Lynn Temperton, Steve Porcaro, John Bettis, James Ingram, and Jones. The album spawned seven top 10 hits and won seven Grammy Awards. Time magazine estimated that the album has sold 104 million copies worldwide, placing it in the Guinness Book of Records as the best-selling album of all-time.

But Thriller was more than a critically acclaimed and commercially successful album; it was an album that chipped away at racial barriers in television. In the early 1980s, music videos were rising in popularity and being played on the newly created Music Television (MTV) channel. However, the majority of the videos were by white artists; black artists were not given recognition by the channel. It was not until Thriller was released that industry pressure was exerted on MTV, and its executives finally agreed to run Jackson's music video for “Billie Jean.” The video was extremely popular and went into heavy rotation. This helped Jackson market his style and identity to mainstream audiences of all races. The album's crossover appeal, which refers to its ability to reach different audiences regardless of race and culture, is one of its defining characteristics. Throughout his career, Jackson made music that would be celebrated by artists from all genres and backgrounds.

Transcript

• [Music: Michael Jackson, various] [Crowd noises] This is absolutely beautiful. This is a historical moment for music, for artists, for humanity, and I’m just so glad, I’m so glad that I’m a part of it.
• I’m expecting to see his kindness, I’m expecting to see his heart and soul, I’m expecting to see how he really wanted to portray himself as far as the concert goes.
• Very much moved. Very touching. Yes. To see Michael and to know that he is not with us anymore, that’s very, very heartbreaking.
• People saw him alive, and it added some humanity to – everyone sees the tabloid stuff, and so, you know, people saw him as a real person. So I think it’s going to add to the grief of losing the guy, and people are going to realize it was a tragedy and that it shouldn’t have happened.
• After each segment, everyone applauded. They had a great time; it was a really great show.

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