As the highly-hyped film Michael hits cinemas, it’s likely to spark resurgence of the legendary singer’s biggest hits.
Long after his death, Michael Jackson is a bigger star than ever, and also represents far greater financial stability than in the later years of his life. The emergence of his long-awaited (though critically panned) biopic invites us to revisit highlights from the singer’s chart track record while considering how the film might influence future prospects for his catalog.
Sales History
Jackson’s lucrative run as a platinum-level solo act began after the family act by then known as The Jacksons achieved gold status with a self-titled 1976 album that peaked at #36 on the Billboard 200, followed by the less successful Goin’ Places (1977 – #63) and a group comeback with the million-selling Destiny (1978 – #11).
Although Michael Jackson had charted four solo albums with Motown between 1972 and 1975, major sales were not ignited until 1979’s Off the Wall on the Epic label, marking the start of an extremely productive three-album relationship with producer Quincy Jones. That album was certified as a Diamond release in September 2025 for sales exceeding ten million copies, but it was already a major hit before the end of 1979 when it earned its first Platinum certification.
The 1982 chart-topping Thriller album is currently the second-biggest selling album of all time, shifting 34 million copies in America alone, only trailing the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 which stands at an unprecedented quadruple Diamond summit.
Unsurprisingly, Thriller established a sales threshold that Jackson was unable to rival with his later albums. The final instalment of the Quincy Jones production trilogy, Bad (1987), only sold 6 million copies by the end of 1988, becoming a relative disappointment for Jackson. While sales of Bad have since exceeded eleven million copies, its arrival five years after Thriller demonstrates that even the recording industry’s biggest superstars are not guaranteed unparalleled success after extended durations between releases.
Despite topping the Billboard 200 with later releases, the comparatively tepid performance of Bad signalled a sustained decline for Jackson’s solo albums, with 1991’s Dangerous now at eight million copies, and 2001’s Invincible stalled at two million. Predictably, Jackson’s compilations have performed consistently well, particularly in the wake of his 2009 death at age 50. Already heavily anthologized before his demise, particularly on the double disc HIStory: Past, Present and Future – Book 1 collection from 1995, any further posthumous releases are unlikely to offer much new material.
His catalog with Motown and subsequent recordings with Epic have been repackaged, remixed, and resold many times since Jackson’s death, but as his status as one of Forbes’ Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities since 2010 confirms, the public’s appetite for his music and image remains unabated. Fans have flocked to the theatrical productions, MJ: The Musical and Michael Jackson ONE, consolidating his estate’s financial holdings and enriching its global intellectual property value. The newly issued album, Michael: Songs from the Motion Picture, predictably revisits the singer’s hit single career highlights promoting his legendary status to a younger audience than those who witnessed his heyday. Some reports already point to the record becoming a best-seller.
Who Else Benefits?
In March this year, the Quincy Jones estate sold its music rights to HarbourView Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum, and these assets include the producer’s financial interest in Jackson’s best-selling albums resulting from their collaborations. The sales of Jones’ substantial recording and publishing catalog certainly motivates HarbourView to actively promote material covered by the deal in conjunction with the Jackson estate’s income-generating focus that has proven especially fruitful in recent years.
While independently verifiable specific earnings of songwriter and former Heatwave member Rod Temperton (d. 2016) are not publicly available, the English musician’s contribution to Jackson’s catalog are undeniably enormous. Following his departure from Heatwave (known for 1977’s “Boogie Nights,” 1978’s “Always and Forever” and “The Groove Line”) and being hired by Jones, Temperton wrote “Off the Wall,” “Rock With You,” “Thriller,” and “The Lady in My Life” for Jackson, making him a major element in the singer’s sustained success as a recording artist. The commercial interest surrounding the Jackson biopic will certainly boost the earnings of Temperton’s estate.
Epic Records appears set for a windfall as the label for Jackson’s major studio albums and compilations, while the biopic’s inclusion of the singer’s early years as a member of the Jackson 5 will also impact the Motown catalog now owned by the Universal Music Group.
The Impact of Movie Reviews
Reviews of Michael in The New York Times, The Guardian and Billboard have been decidedly negative, arguing that there are too many cinematic clichés, historical inaccuracies, and sanitized narratives undermining the biopic which concludes in 1988 before the emergence of damaging sexual abuse allegations.
However, as many reviewers have recognized, mass audiences do not necessarily share important critical concerns about chronological accuracy, balanced portrayal or glaring omissions. If the film fulfils optimistic box office projections – and with a sequel already planned, there’s little immediate doubt that there will be similar physical and digital sales of Michael Jackson’s recorded music catalog.
