On this day in 2009, Michael Jackson’s This Is It album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming his fifth album to debut at #1, and his sixth #1 album overall. The album is the companion to the theatrical release of the documentary Michael Jackson’s This Is It –- the top grossing music documentary of all time.
In 1987, Michael’s Bad was his first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, following the unprecedented success of Thriller, the best-selling album of all time worldwide. While Thriller topped the charts in almost every country in the world, and spent 37 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, it did not debut at the top of the chart. Following that success, the release of Bad was so highly anticipated that it hit #1 in more than 20 countries.
In 1991, Michael’s Dangerous became his second album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, and it also debuted at the top of the chart in 10 other countries. This was followed by the #1 Billboard debut of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I in 1995, which hit #1 in 19 other countries, and Invincible in 2001, which also topped the albums chart in 10 other countries.
Listen to Michael Jackson’s This Is It: https://michaeljackson.lnk.to/This_Is_It
