Michael - Worldwide Single Sales


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Michael's single sales are much less well documented than his album sales.

On this page, we have listed Michael's solo singles - Motown and CBS/Epic/Sony - in order of release, together with known or estimated sales figures, plus all known certifications. Motown sales are official figures, as of 1990 (rounded to the nearest 100) - see HERE for full details.

No such figures have ever been released for Michael's post-Motown singles, and certifications - although a useful indicator - don't tell the whole story. For example, Billie Jean gained a RIAA Platinum Award in the States, denoting a shipment of 1 million - but the single actually sold well over a million copies.

So far as we are aware, no one have ever attempted to estimate the sales of each of Michael's post-Motown singles - until now. No doubt our figures will prove controversial, and some people will disagree with us - if you would like to comment or have any information we don't, we would be happy to hear from you - please click HERE to contact us.

Note: singles such as Somebody's Watching Me & We Are The World, which featured Michael but weren't credited to him, are not included in this listing. Nor does the list include singles originally credited to the Jackson 5, but credited to Michael as well when reissued, e.g. I Want You Back.

Many thanks to Hanboo for posting SoundScan sales figures on ukmix, and to Dean Ryan of mjinf.co.uk, for permission to quote the official UK CBS/Epic sales figures on his site.

KEY:
TOTAL = total estimated worldwide single sales.
CERT. = total sales according to known certifications & sales figures.

    TOTAL     CERT.  Single - Known Certifications & Sales
     MOTOWN SINGLES
     2,245,900      2,245,900  Got To Be There
 Motown 1990 = 2,245,900
     2,897,300      2,897,300  Rockin' Robin
 Motown 1990 = 2,897,300
     1,321,600      1,321,600  I Wanna Be Where You Are
 Motown 1990 = 1,321,600
        278,900         278,900  Ain't No Sunshine
 Motown 1990 = 278,900
     2,865,000      2,865,000  Ben
 Motown 1990 = 2,865,000
          15,300           15,300  Morning Glow
 Motown 1990 = 15,300
        341,100         341,100  With A Child's Heart
 Motown 1990 = 341,100
          12,300           12,300  Music And Me
 Motown 1990 = 12,300
            5,000             5,000  Doggin' Around
 Motown 1990 = 5,000
        403,300         403,300  We're Almost There
 Motown 1990 = 403,300
        861,100         861,100  Just A Little Bit Of You
 Motown 1990 = 861,100
     1,756,200      1,756,200  One Day In Your Life
 Motown 1990 = 1,756,200 / UK = 797,100
        145,900         145,900  Happy (Love Song From 'Lady Sings The Blues')
 Motown 1990 = 145,900
        788,100         788,100  Farewell My Summer Love
 Motown 1990 = 788,100
          89,100           89,100  Girl You're So Together
 Motown 1990 = 89,100
            1,000             1,000  Touch The One You Love
 Motown 1990 = 1,000
          10,200           10,200  Twenty-Five Miles
 Motown 1990 = 10,200
   14,037,300    14,037,300  MOTOWN TOTAL
     
     CBS / EPIC / SONY SINGLES
        100,000    Ease On Down The Road
          50,000    A Brand New Day
          50,000    You Can't Win
     2,500,000      1,388,000  Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
 USA Platinum = 1 million / USA Gold downloads = 100,000 / UK Silver = 250,000 /
 Japan = 18,000 / New Zealand Platinum = 20,000
     2,350,000      1,037,000  Rock With You
 USA Platinum = 1 million / USA SoundScan downloads = 25,000/ Japan = 2,000 /
 New Zealand Gold = 10,000
        950,000         516,000  Off The Wall
 USA Gold = 500,000 / Japan = 16,000
     1,000,000         500,000  She's Out Of My Life
 USA Gold = 500,000
          30,000    Girlfriend
     2,150,000      1,070,000  The Girl Is Mine
 USA Gold = 1 million / Japan = 60,000 / New Zealand Gold = 10,000
     6,209,700      3,809,700  Billie Jean
 USA Platinum = 1 million / USA SoundScan downloads = 733,000 / UK = 738,000 /
 Canada 2 x Platinum = 200,000 / France Platinum = 1 million (Sales = 1,088,700) /
 Japan = 40,000 / New Zealand Gold = 10,000
     4,432,000      2,707,000  Beat It
 USA Platinum = 1 million / USA SoundScan downloads = 41,000 / Japan = 84,000 /
 UK Silver = 250,000 / Canada Platinum = 100,000 / France Platinum = 1 million (Sales
 = 1,182,000) / Holland Gold = 40,000 / New Zealand Gold = 10,000
     1,800,000           14,000  Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
 Japan = 14,000
     1,050,000    Human Nature
     1,050,000    P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
     2,850,000      1,778,000  Say Say Say
 USA Platinum = 1 million / Canada Platinum = 100,000 / Japan = 178,000 /
 France Gold = 500,000
     4,427,000      3,380,000  Thriller
 USA Platinum = 1 million / USA SoundScan downloads = 1.027 million / Japan = 103,000 /
 UK Silver = 250,000 / France Platinum = 1 million
     2,250,000      1,337,000  I Just Can't Stop Loving You
 USA Gold = 1 million / Japan = 32,000 / New Zealand Silver = 5,000 / UK = 300,000
     1,628,000         565,000  Bad
 France Silver = 200,000 (Sales = 298,000) / Japan = 32,000 / UK = 235,000
     1,390,000         306,000  The Way You Make Me Feel
 USA SoundScan downloads = 26,000 / Japan = 5,000 / UK = 275,000
        900,000           53,000  Man In The Mirror
 Japan = 3,000 / UK = 50,000
        180,000    Get It
     1,200,000        130,000  Dirty Diana
 UK = 130,000
        830,000          65,000  Another Part Of Me
 
UK = 65,000
     1,350,000         401,000  Smooth Criminal
 USA SoundScan downloads = 26,000 / France Silver = 200,000 / UK = 175,000
        485,000         250,000  Leave Me Alone
 UK = 250,000
        165,000           60,000  Liberian Girl
 UK = 60,000
     2,442,400      1,864,400  Black Or White
 USA SoundScan = 758,000 / UK = 345,000 / Australia 2 x Platinum = 140,000 /
 Canada Gold = 50,000 / France Silver = 125,000 (Sales = 267,400) / Germany Gold =
 250,000 / Japan = 34,000 / New Zealand Platinum = 20,000
     1,300,000         761,000  Remember The Time
 USA SoundScan = 576,000 / Australia Gold = 35,000 / UK = 150,000
        620,000         367,000  In The Closet
 USA SoundScan = 272,000 / Australia Gold = 35,000 / UK = 60,000
        510,000         291,000  Jam
 USA SoundScan = 246,000 / UK = 45,000
        540,000         230,000  Who Is It
 USA SoundScan = 180,000 / UK = 50,000
     1,629,000      1,213,000  Heal The World
 USA SoundScan = 304,000 / UK = 455,000 / Germany Gold = 250,000 / France Silver
 = 125,000 (Sales = 204,000)
        300,000           40,000  Give In To Me
 
Australia Gold = 35,000 / New Zealand Gold = 5,000
     1,050,000         623,000  Will You Be There
 USA SoundScan = 493,000 / New Zealand Gold = 5,000 / UK = 125,000
          60,000           20,000  Gone Too Soon
 UK = 20,000
     1,993,000      1,256,000  Scream / Childhood
 USA SoundScan = 719,000 / UK Gold = 400,000 / Japan = 4,000 / Australia Gold =
 35,000 / New Zealand Gold = 5,000 / France = 93,000
     3,086,700      2,362,700  You Are Not Alone
 USA SoundScan = 1.056 million / UK = 650,000 / Australia Platinum = 70,000 /
 France Gold = 250,000 (Sales = 291,700) / Germany Gold = 250,000 / New Zealand
 Gold = 5,000 / Switzerland Gold = 25,000 / Austria Gold = 25,000
     3,173,000      2,432,000  Earth Song
 UK = 1.073 million / France Gold = 250,000 / Germany 2 x Platinum = 1 million /
 Switzerland Platinum = 50,000 / Norway Gold = 10,000 / Austria Platinum = 50,000
     1,764,500      1,376,500  They Don't Care About Us
 USA SoundScan = 327,000 / UK = 270,000 / Australia Gold = 35,000 / France Silver
 = 125,000 (Sales = 209,500) / Germany Platinum = 500,000 / Norway Gold = 10,000 /
 Austria Gold = 25,000
        475,000         160,000  Why
 
France Silver = 125,000 (Sales = 160,000)
        540,000         255,000  Stranger In Moscow
 USA SoundScan ~ 90,000 / UK = 165,000
        960,000         664,000  Blood On The Dance Floor
 USA SoundScan = 189,000 / Australia Gold = 35,000 / Germany Gold - 250,000 /
 New Zealand Gold = 5,000 / UK = 185,000
        375,000         150,000  History / Ghosts
 UK = 150,000
        915,000         553,000  You Rock My World
 France Gold = 250,000 / Australia Gold = 35,000 / Japan = 8,000 / Norway Gold
 = 10,000 / UK = 250,000
          45,000           20,000  Cry
 UK = 20,000
        225,000         110,000  One More Chance
 USA SoundScan = 30,000 / UK = 80,000
        350,000         280,000  Visionary - The Video Singles (20 dual-disc reissues released individually)
 UK = 200,000 / Italy = 80,000
     The Girl Is Mine 2008
     Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008
 
USA SoundScan Downloads = 77,770+
     Beat It 2008
   63,669,900    34,395,300  CBS / EPIC / SONY TOTAL
     
   77,708,600    48,432,600  TOTAL SOLO SINGLE SALES