With mega-hits like “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and the titular track “Thriller,” Michael Jackson‘s 1982 Thriller album was one of the greatest musical accomplishments of all-time, and it has the awards to back it up: eight Grammy wins in total for the magnum opus. Even decades after its release, the album is still selling like crazy, and now Jackson can add one more record to his already long list of accomplishments.
Thriller has officially gone 30x Platinum, the first-ever album to reach that many sales. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) chairman, Cary Sherman, said:
RIAA has awarded gold and platinum records on behalf of the music business for nearly 60 years, but this is the first time an artist has crossed the 30 times multi-platinum plateau. What an exceptional achievement and testament to Thriller‘s enduring spot in our hearts and musical history.
The album already went 20x Platinum back in 1984, and reached 29x Platinum status shortly after the singer’s death in 2009. The RIAA claims that Thriller has sold at least 1 billion copies worldwide. In this day and age of digital and streaming, it’ll be damn near impossible for anyone to surpass the benchmark that Jackson set.
(via Rolling Stone)