Michael - Worldwide Single Sales
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 |