Michael Jackson’s Death Sends Album Sales Soaring
Posted July 8, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Not surprisingly, Michael Jackson album sales have gone through the roof in the two weeks following the artist’s death.
Just how high did they skyrocket?
Nearly 800,000 copies of Jackson albums were sold in the U.S. this past week, nearly double the 422,000 copies sold the week directly following his passing on June 25, according to Billboard.com.
To put things into perspective, 297,000 copies of the late singer’s albums were sold in the year preceding his death.
Jackson is one of the biggest pop stars of all time, with an estimated 750 million records sold, surpassed only by Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
His renowned Thriller, released in 1982, remains the best selling album of all time.
While his albums top the charts on Amazon, Billboard and iTunes, Canadians didn’t stampede to record stores with the same force. Jackson’s Number Ones, a collection of his greatest hits, is currently ranked the third best-selling album in Canada, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition and Essential Michael Jackson reside at the 15th and 16th spot respectively.
