Michael Jackson Becomes First Artist With Top 10 Hits in Six Different Decades
Michael Jackson has achieved a posthumous chart milestone unmatched by any other artist in modern popular music. With “Thriller” rising from No. 32 to No. 10 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, driven by its annual surge in streams around Halloween, Jackson is now the first artist in history to score Top 10 hits in six different decades: the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s.
The latest ascent adds a new chapter to the long lifecycle of “Thriller,” which was released as a single in the United States in 1984 and originally peaked at No. 4. Forty years later, the title track of the best-selling album in history continues to demonstrate its enduring cultural presence, benefiting from seasonal rediscovery, playlisting, and digital platform visibility.
Jackson’s Top 10 run began in 1971 with his solo hit “Got to Be There.” Over the following five decades, he accumulated 30 Top 10 singles as a solo artist, 13 of which reached No. 1. Those chart-toppers include “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Bad,” “Black or White,” and “Man in the Mirror,” among a catalog that reshaped pop, R&B, and music-video aesthetics. His most recent Top 10 appearance before this week occurred in 2018, when he was featured posthumously on Drake’s “Don’t Matter to Me.”
Prior to Jackson’s latest achievement, Andy Williams held the record for the longest span of Top 10 placements across decades, charting in five. Jackson’s new milestone extends his already singular chart footprint and underscores the lasting commercial resonance of his work, even 15 years after his death.
The chart news arrives amid renewed public attention surrounding Jackson’s life and legacy. Last month, the first trailer for director Antoine Fuqua’s biopic Michael premiered, offering a polished and upbeat depiction of Jackson’s childhood and early career. That tone has drawn scrutiny given Jackson’s own accounts of unhappiness and alleged physical abuse during his years in the Jackson 5.
Complications around the film extend beyond tone. Although production wrapped in May 2024, reporting from Puck indicated that the completed cut raised legal concerns within the Jackson estate. The issue allegedly centers on a decades-old agreement tied to Jordan Chandler, who accused Jackson of molestation in 1993 and received a $20 million civil settlement. According to the report, the film’s original script devoted significant attention to Chandler’s case in its third act, potentially violating an agreement that barred dramatization of Chandler’s identity or story in any film about Jackson. In response, the project has undergone significant reshoots.
The biopic, initially slated for April 2025, was first delayed to October 2025 and is now planned for April 2026, reflecting the extent of the revisions. The film is one of the most closely watched music biopics in development, both for its scale and for the legal and cultural sensitivities surrounding Jackson’s personal history.
Jackson died in 2009 at age 50 and was never convicted of any crimes related to longstanding allegations of sexual misconduct. Nonetheless, those allegations continue to shape public discussions about his legacy alongside the global influence of his music.
