Sharjah24 – AFP: Mixing rock, pop and RnB like never before, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, 40 years old next week, became the most successful album of all time and defined a coming era with its audiovisual ambition.
“Thriller” has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide since its release on November 30, 1982.
It consecrated Jackson as the “King of Pop” and remains a musical lodestone.
Even renewed allegations failed to dent his popularity, and Jackson’s reach has continued to grow, with his music currently ranked 60th in the world on Spotify with 36.7 million monthly streams.
His influence is still all over the charts, not least in the form of The Weeknd, whose music has channelled Jackson, from an early cover of “Dirty Diana” (2010’s “DD”) through to his recent chart-topping album “Dawn FM”.
Much of the magic on “Thriller” is thanks to producer Quincy Jones, who had worked with Jackson on 1979’s “Off The Wall”.
“Thriller” was the moment when Jackson started to pull in influences from across pop culture, with Eddie Van Halen’s hard rock solo on “Beat It”, and pop ballad “The Girl is Mine” with Paul McCartney.
There were pioneering rap rhythms on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” and a sample from “Soul Makossa” by saxophonist Manu Dibango (who got a large pay-out following Jackson’s team failed to secure authorisation).
