ABC (performed with the Jackson 5)

Released: May 1970
Top UK chart position: 8
Worldwide sales: 5.7 million
Notable singles: ABC, The Love You Save

The single ABC hit the top of the charts and remains one of the most catchy pop songs of all time coming from the Jackson 5’s second studio album on Motown Records. Michael Jackson took most of the leads on this record, which was hugely influential.

Off the Wall

Released: August 1979
Top Uk chart position: 5
Worldwide sales: 20 million
Notable singles: Don't Stop ’Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, Off the Wall, She's out of My Life

This was Jackson’s fifth studio album and he jointly produced it with Quincy Jones. The record featured collaborations with the likes of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder and launched Jackson into solo superstardom, winning his first Grammy Award since the early 1970s.

Thriller

Released: November 1982
Top UK chart position: 1
Worldwide sales: 109 million
Notable singles: Wanna Be Starting Something, The Girl is Mine, Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean

The best selling album of all time had a production budget of $750,000 and was one of the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools.

Bad

Released: August 1987
Top UK chart position: 1
Worldwide sales: 30 million
Notable singles: BAD, I Just Can't Stop Loving You, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In the Mirror, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal

The daunting follow-up to Thriller which sacrificed classic melody for dancefloor grooves but maintained Jackson at pop's cutting edge. Jackson wrote nine of the eleven tracks himself.

HIStory

Released: June 1995
Top UK chart position: 1
Worldwide sales: 20 million
Notable singles: Scream/Childhood, You Are Not Alone, They Don't Care About Us, Stranger in Moscow

Jackson's imperial phase in excelsis — he promoted the greatest hits compilation by shipping a Ceaucesceu-style “King of Pop” statue around Europe. The accompanying world tour was seen by 4.5 million people but Jackson's subsequent appearance at the Brit Awards was mocked by a Jarvis Cocker stage invasion.

Total: 9 UK number one singles, 38 UK top ten hits, 42 top twenty hits

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