Buoyed by the release of the biographical film <Michael>, two past albums by ‘the King of Pop’ Michael Jackson have entered the Top 10 of the U.S. Billboard main albums chart ‘Billboard 200’.

In a chart preview on the 10th (local time), Billboard stated that the landmark album <Thriller> (1982) and the best-of set <Number Ones> (2003) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, on ‘Billboard 200’. Billboard added that momentum from the biographical film <Michael> continues to echo on the charts, delivering two albums into the Top 10.

The latest climb is credited to a global wave of remembrance following the release of <Michael>. <Thriller> rose from No. 7 to No. 5 on a 36% week-over-week sales gain, and <Number Ones> jumped from No. 13 to No. 6 on a 65% increase. On the 8th, Michael Jackson also reached No. 1 on the United Kingdom Official Albums Chart ‘Top 100’, regarded alongside U.S. Billboard as one of the two major charts worldwide, for the first time in 12 years.

Notably, this is the first time since release that <Number Ones> has reached the Top 10, making it the eleventh ‘Billboard 200 Top 10’ album for Michael Jackson. Billboard noted that, with the rise of <Number Ones>, Michael Jackson, who died in 2009, has achieved at least one Top 10 album as a solo artist in every decade since the 1970s.

For Michael Jackson, the albums that reached the Top 10 were <Ben> and <Off the Wall> in the 1970s; <Thriller> and <Bad> in the 1980s; and <Dangerous> and <HIStory : Past, Present and Future, Book I> in the 1990s. In the 2000s, <Invincible> and <This Is It> made the Top 10, and in the 2010s, released after his death, <Michael> and <Xscape> entered the Top 10. With <Number Ones> now at No. 6, the streak continues into the 2020s.

Across both solo acts and groups, Michael Jackson is the fifth artist to achieve this milestone, following Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and James Taylor.

The film <Michael> is a biographical feature about the life and music of Michael Jackson, starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson. <Michael> opened earlier in North America and other markets, and it opens domestically on the 13th.