Michael's Singles & Albums Sales in the USA


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On this page you will find information we have collected on the sales of Michael's singles and albums in the USA, from the Motown years, from the SoundScan era (which started in November 1991), and from America's largest - but by no means only - record/music club, BMG.

There are lots of gaps - please contact us if you can help with any of the missing figures.

Many thanks to Hanboo & JR King for posting SoundScan sales figures on ukmix & Classic Divas, respectively.

Singles

Singles will be added to this list, and sales up-dated, as and when we find the information.

Key: SScan = sales according to SoundScan; Date = date the sales figure relates to.

      SScan     Date  Title
   1,056,000    Jan 06  You Are Not Alone
      758,000    Dec 05  Black Or White
      719,000    Jan 06  Scream
      576,000    Dec 05  Remember The Time
      493,000    Dec 05  Will You Be There
      327,000    Jan 06  They Don't Care About Us
      304,000    Jan 06  Heal The World
      271,680    Jun 04  In The Closet
      245,680    Jun 04  Jam
      189,190    Jun 04  Blood On The Dance Floor
      179,460    Jun 04  Who Is It
     

Here are some SoundScan figures for digital downloads:

      SScan    Date  Title
   2,343,000    Jun 10  Thriller
   1,882,000    Jun 10  Billie Jean
   1,575,000    Jun 10  Beat It
   1,281,000    Jun 10  Man In The Mirror
   1,259,000    Jun 10  Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
   1,094,000    Jun 10  The Way You Make Me Feel
   1,015,000    Jun 10  Smooth Criminal
   1,002,000    Jun 10  P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
      616,870    Nov 09  Black Or White
      588,720    Nov 09  Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
      521,410    Jul 09  Rock With You
      403,400    Nov 09  Human Nature
      346,310    Jul 09  Bad
      308,240    Jul 09  Dirty Diana
      295,900    Jul 09  You Are Not Alone
      265,680    Jul 09  Will You Be There
      259,960    Jul 09  Remember The Time
      219,100    Jul 09  Off The Wall
      211,230    Jul 09  We Are The World
      187,630    Sep 09  Scream
      175,900    Nov 08  Somebody's Watching Me
      170,730    Jul 09  You Rock My World
      161,280    Nov 09  They Don't Care About Us
      129,340    Jul 09  Ben
      121,400    Jul 09  The Girl Is Mine
      116,440    Jul 09  Rockin' Robin
      115,780    Jul 09  Heal The World
        98,470    Jul 09  She's Out Of My Life
        97,960    Jul 09  Got To Be There
        88,330    Jul 09  Working Day And Night
        86,370    Jul 09  I Just Can't Stop Loving You
        84,470    Jul 09  Say Say Say
        79,350    Jul 09  Leave Me Alone
        77,770    Feb 08  Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008
        77,070    Jul 09  Butterflies
        73,080    Jul 09  In The Closet
        69,400    Jul 09  The Lady In My Life
        55,140    Jul 09  Another Part Of Me
        52,800    Jul 09  Earth Song
        49,050    Jul 09  We Are The World (Demo)
        46,540    Jul 09  Smile
        42,340    Jul 09  Gone Too Soon
        40,890    Jul 09  Give In To Me
        39,570    Jul 09  Who Is It
        35,390    Jul 09  Jam
     

Albums

Motown wasn't a member of the RIAA in the early-to-mid 1970s, so Michael's early solo albums have never been independently certified. The figures quoted here are the official Motown sales, dating from 1995, for the USA. Motown albums are listed before Michael's later releases.

Note: RIAA awards relate to shipments - not actual sales (and each disc of a double album is counted separately - hence History's certification of 7 x Platinum means a shipment of 3.5 million, not 7 million).

Key: SScan = sales in SoundScan era, Date = date of SoundScan figure, BMG = BMG Music Club sales between 1990-2003, < = less than.

      SScan/Date  BMG  Title (RIAA Award)
      10,000/Dec 05         ?  Got To Be There
        7,000/Dec 05         ?  Ben
      <1,000/Dec 05         ?  Music & Me
      <1,000/Dec 05         ?  Forever, Michael
    146,000/Dec 05         ?  The Best Of
        3,000/Dec 05         ?  One Day In Your Life
      <1,000/Dec 05         ?  Farewell My Summer Love
      <1,000/Dec 05         ?  Looking Back To Yesterday
         1,000/Dec05         ?  The Original Soul Of
      50,000/Dec 05         ?  Anthology
      48,000/Dec 05    The Best Of - The Millennium Collection
      24,000/Dec 05    Love Songs
  1,996,860/Dec 09         ?  Off The Wall (8 x Platinum)
  4,810,000/Jun 10      923,000  Thriller (29 x Platinum) (including Thriller 25)
  1,579,051/Jun 10      879,000  Bad (8 x Platinum)
  6,300,000/Dec 09      298,000  Dangerous (7 x Platinum)
  2,584,000/Dec 09      730,000  History (7 x Platinum)
     352,000/Dec 09    Blood On The Dance Floor (Platinum)
  2,221,020/Dec 09    Invincible (2 x Platinum)
  1,171,782/Jun 10    Greatest Hits History Vol.1 (Gold)
  4,264,880/Jun 10    Number Ones (3 x Platinum)
     187,170/Oct 09    The Ultimate Collection (box-set)
  1,651,290/Jun 10    The Essential (2 x Platinum)
     105,800/Jun10    The Definitive Collection
  1,566,470/Jun 10    This Is It (2 x Platinum)
     

The totals for Off The Wall to Dangerous include the special editions released in October 2001. The individual totals, up to April 2007, for the special editions are as follows:

Music Videos & DVDs

Key: SScan = sales according to SoundScan, Date = date the sales figure relates to.

      SScan    Date  Title (RIAA Award)
      137,150  Jun 06  Moonwalker (8 x Platinum)
      156,000  Dec 05  Dangerous - The Short Films (3 x Platinum)
      520,330  Jun 10  Video Greatest Hits - History (9 x Platinum)
      398,160  Jun 10  History On Film Volume II (6 x Platinum)
   1,296,030  Jun 10  Number Ones (13 x Platinum)
        23,000  Jan 06  The One (Gold)
      704,540  Jun 10  Live In Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour (6 x Platinum)
     

Making Michael Jackson's Thriller has never been certified in the States, but is said to have sold around 900,000 copies. Moonwalker's 8 x Platinum relates to a shipment of 800,000.