Top charts

[MJBrazil21]

In which country did Michael Jackson top the charts the most?

 

[filmandmusic]

13 times in the USA
11 times in Spain (not counting the 2006 re releases as the chart stopped being relevant at that time)
9 times in Belgium
7 times in the UK

In general in most charts in the Western world he scored between 1 and 5 nr 1 hits. It's not an extraordinary statistic. As for the then communist part of the world? Nobody knows, probably not much.

 

[R1chard]

Spain had a lot of number ones, I think mostly with Visionary.

 

[filmandmusic]

Solo efforts:

Sweden: say say say, black or white
Iceland: earth song, smooth criminal, this is it
Norway: Don’t stop till you get enough, say say say, I just can’t stop loving you, Black or white
Denmark: Love never felt so good, Black or white, Blood on the dancefloor
Finland: Smooth criminal, Black or white, scream
Germany: Earth song, They don’t care about us
The Netherlands: Beat it, I just can’t stop loving you, Bad, Smooth criminal
France: Billie jean, Thriller, Black or white, You are not alone, You rock my world
Italy: Billie jean, Bad, Black or white, scream, They don’t care about us, Stranger in Moscow, Blood on the dancefloor
Austria: none :-(
Switzerland: Billie Jean, Black or white, You are not alone, Earth song
Greece: I just can’t stop loving you, Leave me alone, Black or white, In the closet
Ireland: One day in your life, Billie jean, Bad, I just can’t stop loving you, The way you make me feel, Leave me alone, Liberian girl, Black or white, You are not alone
Portugal: unknown
Belgium: One day in your life, Billie Jean, Beat it, Thriller, I just can.t stop loving you, Bad, Dirty diana, Smooth criminal, Black or white
Spain: The girl is mine, Billie jean, Say say say, Smooth criminal, Black or white, Scream, Stranger in Moscow, Blood on the dancefloor, You rock my world
UK: One day in your life, Billie jean, I just can‘t stop loving you, Black or white, You are not alone, Earth song, Blood on the dancefloor
US: Ben, Don’t stop till you get enough, Rock with you, Billie jean, Beat it, Say say say, I just can’t stop loving you, Bad, The way you make me feel, Man in the mirror, Dirty diana, Black or white, You are not alone
Canada: Billie jean, Beat it, Say say say, Bad, Black or white
Japan: none :-(
Australia: Ben, Don’t Stop till you get enough, Billie jean, Black or white
New Zeeland: Don’t stop till you get enough, Beat it, Black or white, Remember the time, Give in to me, You are not alone, Scream, Blood on the dancefloot

Most successful songs:

Black or white nr 1 in 16 countries
Billie Jean 10
You are not alone, Bad, I just can’t stop loving you 6
Say say say, Beat it, smooth criminal, blood on the dancefloor 5
Don’t stop till you get enough, scream, Earth song 4
One day in your life 3
Ben, You rock my world, Dirty diana, Thriller, They don’t care about us, Stranger in Moscow , The way you make me feel, Leave me alone 2
Give in to me, Remember the time, In the closet, Rock with you, Man in the mirror, The girl is mine, Liberian girl, Love never felt so good, this is it 1

Group efforts:

Can you feel it nr 1 in Belgium (bringing total to 10)
I want you back, abc, i’ll be there, the love you save nr 1 in US (bringing total to 17)
Show you the way to go nr 1 in UK ( bringing total to 8)

This is a grand total of 35 unique nr 1 hits in all the countries listed.

PS: these are all the stats I consider official. Other countries or regions either didn’t have a chart or had some obscure radio chart or the info is simply not known (mostly from communist countries but it is unlikely Western artists scored big hits there anyway)

 

[MJBrazil21]

Solo efforts:

Sweden: say say say, black or white
Iceland: earth song, smooth criminal, this is it
Norway: Don’t stop till you get enough, say say say, I just can’t stop loving you, Black or white
Denmark: Love never felt so good, Black or white, Blood on the dancefloor
Finland: Smooth criminal, Black or white, scream
Germany: Earth song, They don’t care about us
The Netherlands: Beat it, I just can’t stop loving you, Bad, Smooth criminal
France: Billie jean, Thriller, Black or white, You are not alone, You rock my world
Italy: Billie jean, Bad, Black or white, scream, They don’t care about us, Stranger in Moscow, Blood on the dancefloor
Austria: none :-(
Switzerland: Billie Jean, Black or white, You are not alone, Earth song
Greece: I just can’t stop loving you, Leave me alone, Black or white, In the closet
Ireland: One day in your life, Billie jean, Bad, I just can’t stop loving you, The way you make me feel, Leave me alone, Liberian girl, Black or white, You are not alone
Portugal: unknown
Belgium: One day in your life, Billie Jean, Beat it, Thriller, I just can.t stop loving you, Bad, Dirty diana, Smooth criminal, Black or white
Spain: The girl is mine, Billie jean, Say say say, Smooth criminal, Black or white, Scream, Stranger in Moscow, Blood on the dancefloor, You rock my world
UK: One day in your life, Billie jean, I just can‘t stop loving you, Black or white, You are not alone, Earth song, Blood on the dancefloor
US: Ben, Don’t stop till you get enough, Rock with you, Billie jean, Beat it, Say say say, I just can’t stop loving you, Bad, The way you make me feel, Man in the mirror, Dirty diana, Black or white, You are not alone
Canada: Billie jean, Beat it, Say say say, Bad, Black or white
Japan: none :-(
Australia: Ben, Don’t Stop till you get enough, Billie jean, Black or white
New Zeeland: Don’t stop till you get enough, Beat it, Black or white, Remember the time, Give in to me, You are not alone, Scream, Blood on the dancefloot

Most successful songs:

Black or white nr 1 in 16 countries
Billie Jean 10
You are not alone, Bad, I just can’t stop loving you 6
Say say say, Beat it, smooth criminal, blood on the dancefloor 5
Don’t stop till you get enough, scream, Earth song 4
One day in your life 3
Ben, You rock my world, Dirty diana, Thriller, They don’t care about us, Stranger in Moscow , The way you make me feel, Leave me alone 2
Give in to me, Remember the time, In the closet, Rock with you, Man in the mirror, The girl is mine, Liberian girl, Love never felt so good, this is it 1

Group efforts:

Can you feel it nr 1 in Belgium (bringing total to 10)
I want you back, abc, i’ll be there, the love you save nr 1 in US (bringing total to 17)
Show you the way to go nr 1 in UK ( bringing total to 8)

This is a grand total of 35 unique nr 1 hits in all the countries listed.

PS: these are all the stats I consider official. Other countries or regions either didn’t have a chart or had some obscure radio chart or the info is simply not known (mostly from communist countries but it is unlikely Western artists scored big hits there anyway)

Japan none?

 

[zinniabooklover]

Solo efforts:
Ireland: One day in your life, Billie jean, Bad, I just can’t stop loving you, The way you make me feel, Leave me alone, Liberian girl, Black or white, You are not alone

9 for Ireland. Yay!

@Seanc

Loving the fact that Ireland, Belgium and the UK all had ODIYL at No.1.

I was surprised he didn't have any No.1's in Japan.

f&m, I'm posting this thread as FYI - it's from 2009 so the data is very old. But the interview in the first post might be interesting for you to read. I found it quite interesting and I'm not so into this stuff as you are.

Everything you ever wanted to know about worldwide record sales—Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Pink F

Everything you ever wanted to know about worldwide record sales—Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and more! On the UK message board I wrote about last week, ukmix.org, a poster calling himself MJDangerous has been submitting reams of information about sales figures from around the...

www.mjjcommunity.com

 

[filmandmusic]

For Japan I picked the data from the official Japanese charts, only a handful of Western songs ever reached nr 1 over there. The Bee gees did it once with Massachusetts , Irene Cara did it with what a feeling, Simon & Garfunkel sounds of silence, it is almost impossible to crack the chart. I think Michael never even had a top 10 hit there. I believe Say say say reached top 40 but that’s it.

Personally I respect it and it is awesome that they are almost not affected by mainstream Western music. I think the story is the same in other Asian countries btw.

PS his albums thriller and bad did sell very well in Japan so it is not that he wasn’t popular.

 

[Seanc]

9 for Ireland. Yay!

@Seanc

Loving the fact that Ireland, Belgium and the UK all had ODIYL at No.1.

I was surprised he didn't have any No.1's in Japan.

f&m, I'm posting this thread as FYI - it's from 2009 so the data is very old. But the interview in the first post might be interesting for you to read. I found it quite interesting and I'm not so into this stuff as you are.

Everything you ever wanted to know about worldwide record sales—Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Pink F

Everything you ever wanted to know about worldwide record sales—Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and more! On the UK message board I wrote about last week, ukmix.org, a poster calling himself MJDangerous has been submitting reams of information about sales figures from around the...

www.mjjcommunity.com

@zinniabooklover Cool. I'll check it out...Japan has a very different approach to charts....you can sell a lot of records there but not have really high chart positions. Watching Thriller 40 now literally as write this. You know i'm a chart data nerd ODIYL was number 1 here ...so was Liberian Girl. Interesting fact in the 60's 70's and 80's the Irish charts were based on shipments to record shops not actual sales. I'll read it though.

 

[zinniabooklover]

For Japan I picked the data from the official Japanese charts, only a handful of Western songs ever reached nr 1 over there. The Bee gees did it once with Massachusetts , Irene Cara did it with what a feeling, Simon & Garfunkel sounds of silence, it is almost impossible to crack the chart. I think Michael never even had a top 10 hit there. I believe Say say say reached top 40 but that’s it.

This is so interesting. Thanks for this info.

Personally I respect it and it is awesome that they are almost not affected by mainstream Western music. I think the story is the same in other Asian countries btw.

That is an excellent point and I agree wholeheartedly. Western culture is not the be all and end all.

PS his albums thriller and bad did sell very well in Japan so it is not that he wasn’t popular.

Oh, I know. Look at the reception he got when he toured over there. That's why I was a little bit confused. But it's all good.

 

[R1chard]

I was the person who put all the flags on the Wikipedia page for Number Ones