Michael's Singles & Albums Sales in the USA
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 |
| 1,026,950 | Nov 08 | Thriller |
| 733,000 | Nov 08 | Billie Jean |
| 175,900 | Nov 08 | Somebody's Watching Me |
| 77,770 | Feb 08 | Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008 |
| 55,690 | Feb 05 | Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough |
| 41,450 | Feb 05 | Beat It |
| 26,600 | Feb 05 | The Way You Make Me Feel |
| 25,820 | Feb 05 | Smooth Criminal |
| 25,340 | Feb 05 | Rock With You |
| 20,580 | Feb 05 | Man In The Mirror |
| 19,010 | Feb 05 | P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) |
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 | |
| 1,475,000/Apr 07 | ? | Off The Wall (7 x Platinum) |
| 2,619,600/Dec 07 | 923,000 | Thriller (27 x Platinum) |
| 1,035,000/Apr 07 | 879,000 | Bad (8 x Platinum) |
| 5,918,000/Apr 07 | 298,000 | Dangerous (7 x Platinum) |
| 2,540,000/Apr 07 | 730,000 | History (7 x Platinum) |
| 276,860/Apr 07 | Blood On The Dance Floor (Platinum) | |
| 2,100,540/Jan 08 | Invincible (2 x Platinum) | |
| 901,000/Oct 07 | Greatest Hits History Vol.1 (Gold) | |
| 1,646,000/Nov 08 | Number Ones (Platinum) | |
| 83,480/Apr 07 | The Ultimate Collection (box-set) | |
| 349,000/Nov 08 | The Essential | |
| 607,000/Jul 08 | Thriller 25 | |
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:
1,073,624 - Thriller (December 2007)
309,425 - Off The Wall
218,140 - Bad
132,995 - Dangerous
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 (2 x Platinum) |
| 205,430 | Jun 06 | Video Greatest Hits - History (5 x Platinum) |
| 269,340 | Jun 06 | History On Film Volume II (3 x Platinum) |
| 642,200 | May 08 | Number Ones (4 x Platinum) |
| 23,000 | Jan 06 | The One (Gold) |
| 177,500 | Apr 08 | Live In Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour (Gold) |
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.