Epic/Legacy Recordings proudly
celebrates the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller,
the world's biggest-selling album of all time, with a newly expanded
deluxe edition of the phenomenal record-breaking pop culture touchstone,
available in the U.S. on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. The album will
be available worldwide the week of February 11, 2008.
The Michael Jackson Thriller
25th anniversary celebration kicks off in December 2007 with the release
of a new single and continues throughout 2008 with a multi-faceted global
marketing campaign featuring high-profile television, radio and online
events around the world.
The Thriller - 25th Anniversary
Edition will include the original album in its entirety as well
as seven bonus tracks and a DVD featuring Michael Jackson's groundbreaking
short films from Thriller ("Thriller," "Beat It,"
and "Billie Jean") and the artist's Emmy-nominated breakout
performance of "Billie Jean" from the legendary "Motown
25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" television special (first broadcast
on NBC on May 16, 1983).
The newly expanded version
of Thriller premieres six tracks previously unreleased in any
form: "Beat It 2008" with Fergie; a new Kanye West remix of
"Billie Jean"; a new 2008 version of "Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'" with Akon; will.i.am remixes of "The Girl Is Mine"
and "P.Y.T."; and "For All Time," a rare unreleased
cut from the original Thriller recording sessions, newly mixed
and mastered by Michael Jackson.
The deluxe Thriller - 25th
Anniversary Edition packaging contains a personal greeting from
Michael Jackson to his fans penned exclusively for this special release.
Originally released in the
US 25 years ago on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records, Thriller,
Michael Jackson's sixth solo album and second with producer Quincy Jones,
rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the Jackson 5 into the
stratosphere of international superstardom. Introducing the "robot"
and the "moonwalk" into the international lexicon of clubland
dance moves via the pulsing sounds of Thriller, Michael Jackson
revolutionized all aspects of mainstream pop culture -- from radio airwaves
to the newly emerging art form of music videos -- becoming the world's
most popular entertainer in the process.
The original Thriller
spent an astounding 80 consecutive weeks in the American Top 10, 37
of those at #1. Seven of the album's original nine tracks became Top
10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 while Individual singles from
Thriller reached #1 chart positions in the US, the UK, France, Italy,
Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand
and Canada.
Thriller made history
as the first and only record to be America's top-selling album two years
running (1983 and 1984).
Thriller has been certified
27x platinum by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond Award status in the
US. In addition, the album has achieved Diamond or Multi-Platinum status
in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany,
Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland
and the UK. In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named
Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time, an achievement which
remains unsurpassed to this day.
In February 1984, Michael Jackson
held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight,
which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone
in a single year. Seven of Michael's Grammys that year were for Thriller:
Album of the Year; Record of the Year ("Beat It"); Best Male
Pop Vocal Performance ("Thriller"); Best Engineered Recording,
Non-Classical (Thriller); Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Beat
It"); Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Billie Jean");
Best R&B Song ("Billie Jean"). (Michael's eighth Grammy
that year was in the Best Recording For Children - Single or Album,
Musical or Spoken category for "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial").
That same year, Michael Jackson took home eight American Music Awards
and three MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, "The Making
of Michael Jackson's Thriller" took home the Best Video
Album trophy at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.
Named the "Most Successful
Entertainer of All Time" by the Guinness World Records, Michael
Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in
pop culture. He was named the World Music Award's Best-Selling Pop Male
Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award's Artist
of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo
artist in 2001.