Anyone searching for tangible evidence that Michael Jackson remained the “King of Pop” despite the freakshow that was his life in recent decades need look no further than iTunes. Within 24 hours of Jackson’s shocking death, songs, albums and videos by and related to the mega-star were dominating the charts in the iTunes store.
By my count, 40 of the top 100 songs were by Michael Jackson or The Jackson 5, including six of the top 10 led by “Man in the Mirror” at #2 and “Thriller” at #3. Of the top 100 albums, 25 were by Michael Jackson or The Jackson 5, including 9 of the top 10 led by The Essential Michael Jackson at #1, Thriller at #2, Number Ones at #3, Off the Wall at #4 and Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition at #5. Finally, 39 of the top 50 and 57 of the top 100 music videos were by Michael Jackson, including all of the top 10, with “Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, “Black of White”, “Smooth Criminal”, and “Beat It” taking the #1 – #5 spots.
Meanwhile, a similar story has unfolded at Amazon.com, where 50 of the top 100 MP3 downloads were by Michael Jackson or The Jackson 5, including “Thriller” at #2, “Man in the Mirror” at #3 and “Billie Jean” at #4. In addition, 40 of the top 100 in Music (CDs and vinyl…yes vinyl) were from Michael Jackson or the Jackson 5.
