November 30th

On this day – November 30^th 1982 – Thriller was released

The second solo album from Michael Jackson was called Thriller. With hits like "Thriller", "Beat it" and "Billie Jean" went on to sell 65 million copies, thus making it the best selling album of all time. At its peak the Album sold one million copies worldwide per week. The album was awarded eight Grammy awards in 1984 including Album of the Year. Thriller was the first album to successfully use music videos as a promotional tool. The music video for the "Thriller" track was 14 minutes long and it has been called the best music video ever. 

Before the success of Thriller Michael Jackson was not very featured on MTV and many thought it was because he was black. CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV and said "I'm not going to give any more videos and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don't want to play music by a black guy". Some belive the success of Michael Jackson paved the way for other African American artists. "The Girl is Mine" helped promote racial equality since its about interracial love and is a duet with Paul McCartney. Michael Jackson was already known before Thriller trough his part in Jackson five and his previous solo album. Thriller just cemented his place as a international star. Our favorite Michael Jackson songs are "Billy Jean" "Smooth Criminal" and "Dirty Diana" whats your favorite Michael Jackson song ?