{"id":639765,"date":"2026-05-13T02:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639765\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T02:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:52:12","slug":"michael-jacksons-thriller-returns-to-no-1-on-top-rb-hip-hop-albums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639765\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Returns to No. 1 on Top R&B\/Hip-Hop Albums"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMichael Jackson<\/a> recaptures the throne on Billboard\u2019s Top R&B\/Hip-Hop Albums<\/a> chart as his landmark album Thriller returns to No. 1 on the list dated May 16.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe album rebounds in the wake of the Michael biopic\u2019s massive streaming returns for the King of Pop\u2019s catalog to earn its 38th total week in charge. Thriller, released in November 1982, is recognized as the world\u2019s best-selling album<\/a> by Guinness and as the highest-certified studio album<\/a> in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor its latest coronation \u2014 its first week atop the list since 1984 \u2014 Thriller earned 62,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. during the tracking week of May 1-7, according to Luminate. The album improved 36% from the prior week\u2019s total of 45,000 units. Of its 62,000 units this week, streaming activity contributed 48,000 units, equaling 50.3 million official on-demand audio and video streams of its tracks. Traditional album sale purchases yielded 13,000 units, while the remaining 1,000 units derived from track-equivalent albums.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn its original era, Thriller dominated the Top R&B\/Hip-Hop Albums chart in an unprecedented manner. Powered by an onslaught of hits, including classic singles \u201cBillie Jean,\u201d \u201cBeat It\u201d and the title track, the album spent 37 weeks at No. 1 in 1983-84, shattering the record for most weeks atop the chart since the ranking launched in 1965. Jackson\u2019s historic mark stood for 41 years, until SZA\u2019s SOS, helped by its SOS Deluxe: LANA edition, surpassed it in June 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith its 38th leading frame, Thriller extends its record among albums by a male artist and is second overall to SOS\u2019 46 weeks.<\/p>\n

\t\u2018Number Ones\u2019 at No. 2<\/p>\n

\n\tJackson proves his own main competition this week, as the legend\u2019s 2003 best-of set Number Ones powers 5-2 on Top R&B\/Hip-Hop Albums via 62,000 equivalent album units. Thanks to the Thriller \u2013 Number Ones combination, Jackson is the first artist to claim the chart\u2019s top two ranks simultaneously since Future and Metro Boomin saw their We Don\u2019t Trust You and We Still Don\u2019t Trust You, released in consecutive weeks, occupied both ranks for three straight weeks in April-May 2024.<\/p>\n

\n\tExcluding rap acts, Jackson is the first artist to double up in the top two since The Temptations on the chart dated Feb. 22, 1969. Then, the vocal powerhouses ranked at No. 1 with TCB, a collaborative album with The Supremes, and their own Live at the Copa finished in second place.<\/p>\n

\t\u2018Thriller,\u2019 Again, Adds to Jackson\u2019s Chart History<\/p>\n

\n\tAs chart watcher Simone Del Niro notes, Thriller\u2019s return to the summit makes Jackson, who died in 2009, the first artist to have reached No. 1 on Top R&B\/Hip-Hop Albums in each of the last six calendar decades. As the late icon adds another jewel to his chart trophy collection, here\u2019s a review by decade:<\/p>\n

\n\t1970s: Off the Wall (No. 1 for nine weeks in 1979)
1980s: Off the Wall (seven weeks, 1980); Thriller (37 weeks, 1983-84); Bad (18 weeks, 1987-88)
1990s: Dangerous (12 weeks, 1992); HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1 (two weeks, 1995)
2000s: Invincible (four weeks, 2001); Michael Jackson\u2019s This Is It Soundtrack (four weeks, 2009)
2010s: Michael (two weeks, 2011); Xscape (three weeks, 2014)
2020s: Thriller (one week, 2026)<\/p>\n

\tJackson Dominates Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Jackson streaming avalanche continues to flood Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs<\/a>, where Jackson tallies 13 titles in the chart\u2019s top 25. \u201cBillie Jean,\u201d typically his most-streamed song each week, improves 5-3, while \u201cHuman Nature\u201d (10-6), \u201cBeat It\u201d (9-7) and \u201cDon\u2019t Stop \u2018til You Get Enough\u201d (11-9) drive further into the top 10.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong this week\u2019s class of new returnees, \u201cBad\u201d re-enters at No. 19 while \u201cYou Rock My World\u201d is at No. 22. Perhaps most surprisingly, posthumous release \u201cChicago,\u201d from 2014\u2019s Xscape resurfaces at No. 23. Despite no association with the film, which covers Jackson\u2019s life from 1965-1988, \u201cChicago\u201d benefits from prominent placement on Jackson\u2019s Spotify artist page \u2013 often in his top 10 \u2013 and an Internet clip of animated birds dancing to the song.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s the icon\u2019s full account on Hot R&B\/Hip-Hop Songs this week:<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. 3, \u201cBillie Jean\u201d
No. 6, \u201cHuman Nature\u201d
No. 7, \u201cBeat It\u201d
No. 9, \u201cDon\u2019t Stop \u2018til You Get Enough\u201d
No. 12, \u201cRock With You\u201d
No. 13, \u201cDirty Diana\u201d
No. 15, \u201cP.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)\u201d
No. 16, \u201cSmooth Criminal\u201d
No. 17, \u201cThe Way You Make Me Feel\u201d
No. 19, \u201cBad\u201d
No. 21, \u201cRemember the Time\u201d
No. 22, \u201cYou Rock My World\u201d
No. 23, \u201cChicago\u201d<\/p>\n

\t


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