Michael Jackson recaptures the throne on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as his landmark album Thriller returns to No. 1 on the list dated May 16.
The album rebounds in the wake of the Michael biopic’s massive streaming returns for the King of Pop’s catalog to earn its 38th total week in charge. Thriller, released in November 1982, is recognized as the world’s best-selling album by Guinness and as the highest-certified studio album in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.
For its latest coronation — its first week atop the list since 1984 — Thriller earned 62,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. during the tracking week of May 1-7, according to Luminate. The album improved 36% from the prior week’s total of 45,000 units. Of its 62,000 units this week, streaming activity contributed 48,000 units, equaling 50.3 million official on-demand audio and video streams of its tracks. Traditional album sale purchases yielded 13,000 units, while the remaining 1,000 units derived from track-equivalent albums.
In its original era, Thriller dominated the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in an unprecedented manner. Powered by an onslaught of hits, including classic singles “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and the title track, the album spent 37 weeks at No. 1 in 1983-84, shattering the record for most weeks atop the chart since the ranking launched in 1965. Jackson’s historic mark stood for 41 years, until SZA’s SOS, helped by its SOS Deluxe: LANA edition, surpassed it in June 2025.
With its 38th leading frame, Thriller extends its record among albums by a male artist and is second overall to SOS’ 46 weeks.
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‘Number Ones’ at No. 2
Jackson proves his own main competition this week, as the legend’s 2003 best-of set Number Ones powers 5-2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums via 62,000 equivalent album units. Thanks to the Thriller – Number Ones combination, Jackson is the first artist to claim the chart’s top two ranks simultaneously since Future and Metro Boomin saw their We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You, released in consecutive weeks, occupied both ranks for three straight weeks in April-May 2024.
Excluding rap acts, Jackson is the first artist to double up in the top two since The Temptations on the chart dated Feb. 22, 1969. Then, the vocal powerhouses ranked at No. 1 with TCB, a collaborative album with The Supremes, and their own Live at the Copa finished in second place.
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‘Thriller,’ Again, Adds to Jackson’s Chart History
As chart watcher Simone Del Niro notes, Thriller’s return to the summit makes Jackson, who died in 2009, the first artist to have reached No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in each of the last six calendar decades. As the late icon adds another jewel to his chart trophy collection, here’s a review by decade:
1970s: Off the Wall (No. 1 for nine weeks in 1979)
1980s: Off the Wall (seven weeks, 1980); Thriller (37 weeks, 1983-84); Bad (18 weeks, 1987-88)
1990s: Dangerous (12 weeks, 1992); HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1 (two weeks, 1995)
2000s: Invincible (four weeks, 2001); Michael Jackson’s This Is It Soundtrack (four weeks, 2009)
2010s: Michael (two weeks, 2011); Xscape (three weeks, 2014)
2020s: Thriller (one week, 2026) -
Jackson Dominates Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Jackson streaming avalanche continues to flood Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, where Jackson tallies 13 titles in the chart’s top 25. “Billie Jean,” typically his most-streamed song each week, improves 5-3, while “Human Nature” (10-6), “Beat It” (9-7) and “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” (11-9) drive further into the top 10.
Among this week’s class of new returnees, “Bad” re-enters at No. 19 while “You Rock My World” is at No. 22. Perhaps most surprisingly, posthumous release “Chicago,” from 2014’s Xscape resurfaces at No. 23. Despite no association with the film, which covers Jackson’s life from 1965-1988, “Chicago” benefits from prominent placement on Jackson’s Spotify artist page – often in his top 10 – and an Internet clip of animated birds dancing to the song.
Here’s the icon’s full account on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs this week:
No. 3, “Billie Jean”
No. 6, “Human Nature”
No. 7, “Beat It”
No. 9, “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough”
No. 12, “Rock With You”
No. 13, “Dirty Diana”
No. 15, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”
No. 16, “Smooth Criminal”
No. 17, “The Way You Make Me Feel”
No. 19, “Bad”
No. 21, “Remember the Time”
No. 22, “You Rock My World”
No. 23, “Chicago”
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