Michael Jackson don't sell so much in USA

[big DB]

Yes, but Leona Lewis got to #20 with 1 album and Mike got to #15 with all his album sales combined. Mike's album only sold just over half of Leona's if we make this a level playing field for comparison purposes.
Even though Leona is much lower than Mike in the list, I'd say that she has been much more successful this year, especially as she is a new artist.

I agree but the stats dont say that, and thats what this topic is about, how well Michael is doing in the USA, well despite Leonas brilliant year, Michael with his decade old albums, some dating back older than that, still outsold her. This is a great statement for the current climate of music.

EDIT, also let me put in here since I know the figures for Thriller 25 released Feb 08, was over 1 million, I know the sales of his other albums havent tainted this figure as much as some would believe.

[Mystic]

Umm....isn't Thriller 25 the 2nd best selling album of 2008?

[rahul_adams2001]

I agree but the stats dont say that, and thats what this topic is about, how well Michael is doing in the USA, well despite Leonas brilliant year, Michael with his decade old albums, some dating back older than that, still outsold her. This is a great statement for the current climate of music.

Who's Leona?????????????????????????????

[big DB]

Who's Leona?????????????????????????????

Leona Lewis, the Xfactor winner from 2 years ago, Bleeding Love ring a bell?

[bobmoo79]

His legacy's BEEN cemented... uhh Thriller anyone?

We all know Thriller, but one album does not make a legacy. Whether we like it or not, as time goes on people think of Mike's success in terms of Thriller alone. The other albums are being forgotten and put to the side, which is a shame because they were major successes in themselves, even though they didn't match Thriller in sales terms. As this happens, his legacy is being eroded IMO. At the end of the day, it's not the facts that matter the most, it's about what people remember the most. With Michael JAckson, people acknowledge Thriller but the rest is becoming more and more scarred by the negativity that surrounds him. Madonna on the other hand is still lauded as a huge success yet she has not been able to reach Mike's level of success and her album is not performing exceptionally better than Mike's worldwide. It's all about how they manage their careers and the public perception. By keeping the focus on the music and his talent, he would be in a much better position now. Madonna went through a lot of negativity too and ploughed through it with album after album and tour after tour.

[bobmoo79]

I agree but the stats dont say that, and thats what this topic is about, how well Michael is doing in the USA, well despite Leonas brilliant year, Michael with his decade old albums, some dating back older than that, still outsold her. This is a great statement for the current climate of music.

EDIT, also let me put in here since I know the figures for Thriller 25 released Feb 08, was over 1 million, I know the sales of his other albums havent tainted this figure as much as some would believe.

Thriller 25 hasn't sold over a million in the US.
It is more like 700,000 which admittedly is pretty good since Mike didn't really go out and promote.
T25 is currently the 37th best selling album of 2008 in the US. To go from 37th best selling album of 2008 to 15th best selling act of 2008, his other albums played quite a major role IMO.

[big DB]

We all know Thriller, but one album does not make a legacy. Whether we like it or not, as time goes on people think of Mike's success in terms of Thriller alone. The other albums are being forgotten and put to the side, which is a shame because they were major successes in themselves, even though they didn't match Thriller in sales terms. As this happens, his legacy is being eroded IMO. At the end of the day, it's not the facts that matter the most, it's about what people remember the most. With Michael JAckson, people acknowledge Thriller but the rest is becoming more and more scarred by the negativity that surrounds him. Madonna on the other hand is still lauded as a huge success yet she has not been able to reach Mike's level of success and her album is not performing exceptionally better than Mike's worldwide. It's all about how they manage their careers and the public perception. By keeping the focus on the music and his talent, he would be in a much better position now. Madonna went through a lot of negativity too and ploughed through it with album after album and tour after tour.

it can make a legacy if its the biggest selling album of all time, FOR ALL TIME. Noone can reach Thrillers sales these days so putting that negativity on Michael isnt fair by the media, look at Leona, the biggest new comer of this year, who cant even get past the 10 million mark in a year?

Michael could still do that in the mid 90's even with invincible he sold 5 million within 2 months of its release and that was scoffed at, and it seems you are scoffing at that.


and each album Madonna releases becomes as irrelevants as the next, just recently her latest single charted at the late 30s and dropped off the top 40 within a week, a HUGE Flop....quantity over quality? Seems the case with her, I cant tell you a decent single she has had in the last ten years apart from Beautiful Stranger, the rest are as forgettable as the rest of the music out these days.

Thriller 25 hasn't sold over a million in the US.
It is more like 700,000 which admittedly is pretty good since Mike didn't really go out and promote.
T25 is currently the 37th best selling album of the 2008 in the US. To go from 37th best selling album of 2008 to 15th best selling act of 2008, his other albums played a major role IMO.

Fair enough I got it confused with worldwide figures.

[rahul_adams2001]

Leona Lewis, the Xfactor winner from 2 years ago, Bleeding Love ring a bell?

ohh thanks for telling..seems like new artist..Dont know why but i have tried so hard to like these new artists like justin,beyonce,usher,chris brown,britney spears but all in vain..they suck soo bad or maybe its just me..Anyway Michael has already raised bars so high,now all others can do is keep chasing but in the end they die without anybody caring about them..

[big DB]

To go from 37th best selling album of 2008 to 15th best selling act of 2008, his other albums played quite a major role IMO.

To put a bottomline on this, it seems to me he is still selling extremely well in the USA . If he is charting in the best sellers of 2008 with a low number of sales for an reissue of an album he actually released in 1983, coupled with the sales of other albums NOT promoted this year, then I think he has done tremendously well!

Remember all albums were reissues, nothing new since 2001, and he is still in the best sellers of this year, and people are trying to tell me he isnt selling well in the USA. Nah get over it! lol

[FinalEyes]

That's crap, Michael has a huge following in this country. Don't believe Wikipedia.

[big DB]

ohh thanks for telling..seems like new artist..Dont know why but i have tried so hard to like these new artists like justin,beyonce,usher,chris brown,britney spears but all in vain..they suck soo bad or maybe its just me..Anyway Michael has already raised bars so high,now all others can do is keep chasing but in the end they die without anybody caring about them..

yea the whole music industry has changed, noone will sell as many records as Michael, ever!

[rahul_adams2001]

yea the whole music industry has changed, noone will sell as many records as Michael, ever!

ya it has but its goin in wrong direction i think..

[MJsPYT1]

Well, first of all, he's only released 7 solo albums since 1979. Every single artist in that list that are above Michael have released more albums than he has. Of course they're going to sell more. It has nothing to do with it being in the US and it's not hard to understand. It's just that they're popular and have released more albums. Second, why pinpoint only the US? Michael isn't the biggest selling artist in a lot of other countries as well, and he has done a lot more touring in other parts of the world. He's done a lot of stuff in Europe, but he's not the best selling artist there either.

i agree

...but it doesnt really matter to me......as we already know, he's got the #1 selling album of all time..

[elusive moonwalker]

you cant compair the full sales of an artist who has only released 6 albums in around 25 years to an artist that may have released 15 albums in the same time span.of course you would expect the artist that has released 15 albums to have sold more than an artist that released 6 albums if u want to work it out interms of success then compair the sales compaired to the amount of albums released

[mijacfan]

total b.s. michael has sold millions or records in the u.s.a . your "facts "are all wrong.get over it people he is very successful in his own country. i dont have the space to list every thing but check out the thiller 25 sales usa bought more then every other country. stop the lies... the three singers you listed only would have more sales is because they release alot more albums and singles.