Michael Jackson’s seminal album ‘Thriller’ has been certified 34x platinum.
The 1982 LP has sold a staggering 34 million copies in the US alone, according to data collected by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
‘Thriller’ – which is the second best-selling album in the US ever, after The Eagles’ ‘Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)’ – features seven US Top 10 singles, of which Billie Jean and Beat It topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Other singles include The Girl Is Mine, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ , Human Nature, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing), and Thriller.
In addition to his sixth album’s latest certification, follow-up ‘Bad’ has also been upgraded from 10x platinum to 11x, while his ‘Number Ones’ album has a fifth platinum certification.
The news comes after fellow ‘80s chart-toppers Duran Duran revealed they once turned down a collaboration with the King of Pop.
“We got home after a tour – it must have been 1983 – the phone rings and my mum says, ‘There’s somebody on the phone for you, he says his name is Michael Jackson’,” recalled keyboard player Nick Rhodes.
However, Nick wasn’t convinced by the chance call, admitting he thought it was “one of our crew winding me up”.
“After a minute I thought, ‘Oh my God, it is Michael Jackson’,” added Nick, “he was keen to make a record.”
But when he presented the idea to the group, they all passed on the opportunity and the collaboration never came into fruition.
