January, 1980 Michael hits the Top 10 with the single "Rock With You" January, 1980 Michael wins 3 American Music Awards: Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Off The Wall), Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist, & Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"). January, 1980 Michael wins 2 Billboard Awards: Top Black Artist and Top Black Album February 14, 1980 "Rock With You" is certified Gold. February 27, 1980 Michael wins a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male ("Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"). January, 1981 Michael wins American Music Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Off The Wall). October 16, 1982 Michael writes and produces a single for Diana Ross called "Muscles." November 9, 1982 A storybook album for 'E.T.: The Extraterrestrial' is released. The album contains narration and a new song from Michael. Michael later receives a Grammy for this album. December, 1982 Michael releases Thriller, which contains a record 7 Top 10 hits, including the #1 hits "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and "Thriller." The album spends 37 weeks at #1 and remains on the Billboard album chart for 122 weeks. It is eventually certified 26x Platinum in the United States. January 31, 1983 Thriller is certified Platinum. February 21, 1983 Thriller reaches #1 for the first of 37 weeks. March 5, 1983 "Billie Jean" reaches #1 on the singles charts for the first of 7 weeks. March 25, 1983 Michael performs the moonwalk for a live audience for the first time. It is on the taping of the television special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever." The show airs on television on May 16, 1983. March 31, 1983 Michael's "Beat It" short film premieres on MTV. April 4, 1983 "Billie Jean" is certified Gold. May 9, 1983 "Beat It" is certified Gold. May 16, 1983 The television special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever," in which Michael performs the moonwalk for the first time, airs on television. May, 1983 Michael hit the Top 40 with "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." December 2, 1983 The almost-14-minute-long "Thriller" short film is debuted on MTV. December, 1983 "Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller" - a long form video - is released and becomes the best-selling music home video ever. January, 1984 Michael receives 8 American Music Awards: Favorite Male Artist (Pop/Rock), Favorite Male Artist (Soul/R&B), Favorite Pop/Rock Single ("Billie Jean"), Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Thriller), Favorite Pop/Rock Video ("Beat It"), Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Thriller), Favorite Soul/R&B Video ("Beat It"), plus the Special Award of Merit. February 27, 1984 MTV world premieres Michael's Pepsi commercial. February, 1984 Michael is nominated for 12 Grammy Awards and wins 8 of them: Record of the Year & Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male ("Beat It"); Album of the Year & Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male (Thriller); Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male & Best Rhythm & Blues Song (songwriter) ("Billie Jean"); Best Recording for Children (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) & Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) (with Quincy Jones). March, 1984 Jackson hit #1 with "Thriller." July 6, 1984 For five months, beginning July 6, 1984, the Jacksons toured America and Canada with the Victory Tour. September, 1984 Michael wins three MTV Video Music Awards: Best Overall Video, Viewer's Choice Award, and Best Choreography for "Thriller." October 30, 1984 Thriller is certified 20x Platinum January 28, 1985 "We Are The World" is recorded in one night - the night of the American Music Awards. The song was written by Michael and Lionel Richie. Quincy Jones produced the single. The performers on the single include Michael, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, and many others. February, 1985 Michael wins a Grammy Award for Best Video, Long Form ("Making Michael Jackson's Thriller"). June 24, 1985 Off The Wall is certified 5x Platinum. February, 1986 Michael wins the Grammy Award for Song of the Year (songwriter) ("We Are The World" with Lionel Richie). August 8, 1987 “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” a duet with Siedah Garret, is released in advance of the forthcoming album Bad. This single becomes the seventh #1 single of Michael's solo career. August 28, 1987 Michael releases Bad. It tops the charts for eight weeks and spawns seven hit singles. September 12, 1987 Michael launches his Bad Tour on which he spends over a year visiting 15 countries. September 28, 1987 "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is certified Gold and hits #1 for 2 weeks. October, 1987 Michael hits #1 for 2 weeks with "Bad." November 9, 1987 Bad is certified 3x Platinum December 31, 1987 Bad is certified 4x Platinum January, 1988 Michael releases his autobiography, Moonwalk. January, 1988 Michael receives an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single ("Bad"). January, 1988 Michael wins 3 Billboard Music Awards. March 21, 1988 Bad is certified 5x Platinum. June 1, 1988 Bad is certified 6x Platinum and Off The Wall is certified 6x Platinum. September, 1988 Michael is honored at the MTV Video Music Awards with the MTV Vanguard Award. January, 1989 Michael is honored with the Award of Achievement at the American Music Awards. January 10, 1989 The "Moonwalker" long-form video is released. February 14, 1989 "Billie Jean," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," and "Beat It" are certified Platinum and "Off The Wall" and "She's Out Of My Life" are certified Gold. April 17, 1989 The "Moonwalker" long-form video is certified 8x Platinum. December 4, 1989 The single "Thriller" is certified Platinum.