After doing some preliminary research, according to Wikipedia Encyclopidia Michael Jackson's album discography is as follows as of February 21, 2008. I am checking on some other Industry Contacts to verify this information.
Should you desire to reasearch more/in depth search about this most informative topic of Michael Jackson's Album/Single Discography, you can access Wikipedia by going to Wikipedia Encyclopidia.org type in the search area Michael Jackson.
Totals...
Worldwide: Approximately 250 million.
USA: Approximately 71 million (only 61 million certified by RIAA because Motown was not part of the RIAA system during Michael Jackson's solo career in the early to mid-1970s).
Year Album name RIAA certification Shipments Date obtained Nielsen Soundscan
Jun 16, 1995 HIStory - Past, Present And Future - Book I 7x platinum 3,500,000 Oct 12, 1999 2,540,000
May 11, 1997 Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix Platinum 1,000,000 Oct 30, 2000 276,860
Oct 30, 2001 Invincible 2x platinum 2,000,000 Jan 25, 2002 2,097,000
Nov 13, 2001 Greatest Hits - HIStory Volume I Gold 500,000 Nov 30, 2005 900,720
Nov 18, 2003 Number Ones Platinum 1,000,000 Nov 18, 2005 1,221,000
Nov 16, 2004 Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection Not certified N/A N/A 83,480
Jul 19, 2005 The Essential Michael Jackson Not certified N/A N/A 188,995
According to the RIAA, Jackson has shipped an additional 24 million albums in the United States since Mar 1, 1991 - the date on which Nielsen Soundscan came into effect. Based on RIAA certifications, pre 1991 albums; Off The Wall, Thriller & Bad shipped a combined 9 million copies in the United States (of which 6,498,580 were scanned). Post 1991 albums shipped 15 million copies in the U.S (of which 13,358,055 were scanned). Nielsen Soundscan reported sales of 19,856,635 of Jackson's albums from (Mar 1, 1991 - Apr 15, 2007)
Jackson has released seven albums in total since 1995, which have sold forty-five million copies wordwide. 1995's HIStory album sold eighteen million copies worldwide - which makes it the highest-selling multiple-disc album ever released by a solo artist. These sales were supported by an ambitious world tour and Jackson caused a media frenzy wherever he went during this era. 1997's, Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory - In The Mix, was released with minimal fuss and or promotion and went onto become the best-selling remix album of all-time, with six million copies sold thus far. The next album was 'Invincible', released in late 2001. The album had strong sales, selling two million copies in the United States and 8 million worldwide by early 2002. Shortly after the release of Invincible, Jackson issued a just hits version of his HIStory album, achieving Gold status four years after it's released in the United States and selling an estimated three million copies to date. Strangely Jackson issued another greatest hit's compilation in 2003; Number Ones. This sold well, with over seven million copies sold, a surprisingly high number considering. He then went onto released The Ultimate Collection in 2004 - his first box set chronicling his career and The Essential Collection in 2005 - released on the heels of his innocent verdict in 2005, these two have combined sales of about three million worldwide.
Woo~~Hoo~~~Rock On Mike~~~Rock On~~~
