''Thriller 40'' is the 40th-anniversary edition

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

of ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'' (1982), the sixth album by the American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. The original album has sold 70 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of all time. ''Thriller 40'' was released on November 18, 2022 by

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 20 ...

and MJJ Productions. It is the third reissue of ''Thriller'', following the 2001 special edition and '' Thriller 25'' (2008).

Background

Jackson released his sixth studio album, ''

'', on November 30, 1982. With sales estimated to be over 120 million copies worldwide, ''Thriller'' became the world's best-selling album of all time; the album was the first in history to yield seven top-ten singles. The success of ''Thriller'' put Jackson into the dominating position of pop music, becoming an international pop-cultural icon.

Marketing and promotion

The American singer Maxwell performed "The Lady in My Life" at the 2022 ''Billboard'' Music Awards. He said, "I'm feeling honored to be here, honored to be able to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ''Thriller''. I've been up since six in the morning trying to get everything together and, you know, just want to do right — it's Michael Jackson. There's nobody better, nobody greater, so I just want to do it well." Several other activities were planned before the release of ''Thriller 40''. On October 4, music journalist and filmmaker Nelson George announced he was directing a documentary on the making of ''Thriller'', which will include never-before-seen footage. On November 1, the Michael Jackson Estate and Sony Music launched a worldwide campaign to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album ''Thriller'', featuring Fan Event Parties, Immersive Experience to be held in two countries:

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on November 10-13 and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on November 18-20 and there will be an event filming that will be part of a documentary about ''Thriller'' on November 30. On November 14, Sony Music released the 4K version of Jackson's "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson l ...

" music video on

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. A 4K remaster of the "

" short film also appeared on

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and

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, though it was removed shortly after. On November 17, the 4K remastered "Thriller" short film was released on YouTube.

Bonus material

''Thriller 40'' includes the original demo for Jackson's song "

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" (which was previously reworked for the 2010 posthumous album ''

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

''); the original demo for "Thriller" ("Starlight"); a demo of "Best of Joy" (released in the ''Michael'' album), entitled "The Toy" (intended for the 1982 Richard Pryor film of the same name); the previously unreleased songs "She's Trouble", "What a Lovely Way to Go" and "Who Do You Know"; and the tracks “Got The Hots”, "Carousel", "Can't Get Outta the Rain" and "Sunset Driver".

Release

Announced on May 16, 2022, by the

Estate of Michael Jackson The Estate of Michael Jackson is a legal entity established following the death of American singer Michael Jackson for the purpose of administering the property of Jackson, and overseeing the latter's posthumous income. The last will of Jackson was ...

, ''Thriller 40'' is the twelfth release by Sony and/or

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

since the death of Jackson in 2009. The company also announced additional releases of the original album by audiophile reissue label

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label specializing in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engineer ...

on both stereo Super Audio CD and LP, limited to 40,000 numbered copies. The latter portion of the announcement was later credited by ''

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'' journalist Geoff Edgers with fueling public skepticism towards Mobile Fidelity that culminated in a subsequent

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

over them using

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files in vinyl releases that were marketed as coming directly from analog master tapes. The company also surprise released 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos versions of the original album on Amazon Music and

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respectively on the same day as ''Thriller 40''.

Commercial performance

In the United States, as per ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s rule, ''Thriller 40'' is regarded as the same album as ''

'' and re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart at number seven. The album sold a

combined Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...

total of about 37,000 copies in the first week in the US. The album charted at number 16 in its second week of the release, selling 18,000 (down 35%).

Track listing

Total duration: 158:30 Notes * signifies a co-producer

Charts

Album chart usages for Oricon

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2022 albums Michael Jackson albums Albums produced by Michael Jackson Albums produced by Quincy Jones Epic Records albums Albums published posthumously Reissue albums