"Michael," has surpassed Freddie Mercury's biopic, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and is now the highest-grossing music biopic 🎬 the film, which portrays Michael Jackson's early years, has made $911.9 million at the global box office
the film's success has caused a surge in streams of Michael Jackson's music catalog, sending "Thriller" to number 7 on the Billboard 200 👑
Listening to Thriller in 2026 is the equivalent of someone in 1982 listening to a song from 1939—the same 43-year time gap separates both eras.
When Thriller was released in November 1982, the musical landscape looked nothing like it does today. Looking 43 years into the past from 1982 takes you to 1939—a world of big bands, swing orchestras, jazz standards, and crooners, decades before modern pop production existed.
What makes Thriller remarkable is that it rarely feels as distant to modern listeners as music from 1939 felt to audiences in the 1980s. Produced by Quincy Jones, the album fused pop, rock, R&B, funk, and groundbreaking studio techniques into a sound that helped redefine popular music. Tracks such as Billie Jean, Beat It, and Thriller remain instantly recognizable across generations.
Its impact went far beyond the music itself. The album’s videos helped transform MTV and established the music video as a major artistic and commercial medium. The nearly 14-minute Thriller short film, directed by John Landis, blurred the line between music video and cinematic storytelling.
More than four decades later, Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with estimated worldwide sales exceeding 70 million copies, a testament to its enduring influence on music and popular culture.
Sources: Ten-time Pro-Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson is finalizing a deal to become a CBS Sports analyst. Wilson won a Super Bowl, the Walter Payton Man of the Year award and now leaves the NFL to become an analyst on the network’s pregame show that includes James Brown, Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher.