Michael Jackson has done something that no one else has, despite passing away in 2009.
The “Thriller” singer has had a song on the Billboard Hot 100 in every decade since the 1970s.
The feat happened after the resurgence of his song “Chicago,” which debuted at No. 30, People magazine reported.
That gave Jackson new Hot 100 entries in six decades, not counting the hits he made as part of the Jackson 5, Forbes reported.
Here’s the breakdown:
- 11 songs in the ’70s
- 20 in the ’80s
- 12 in the ‘90s
- Four in the 2000s
- Four in the 2010s
- One in the 2020s
The song itself is not new. It was part of his posthumous album, “Xscape,” released in 2014.
Two other songs from “Xscape” previously hit the charts. “Love Never Felt So Good,” which features Justin Timberlake, peaked at No. 9 while “Slave to the Rhythm” reached No. 45, Billboard said.
The last time Jackson was on the Hot 100 chart was Drake’s “Don’t Matter to Me,” which hit the chart in 2018 and made it to the Top 10.
So how did a more than 10-year-old song make it into the Hot 100?
Billboard actually allows older songs to chart if they’re in the top 50 songs and show a large growth in consumption.
“Chicago” did that, with 10.7 million on-demand streams in the U.S. from May 22 to 28, a 30% increase over the prior week.
The surge can be attributed to the “Michael” biopic, despite it not being one of Jackson’s hits and not being featured in the film, but it has found its footing on social media, specifically TikTok, People said.
It was also not promoted as a single, Forbes reported.
It has more than 388 million streams globally, according to Billboard.
“Chicago” wasn’t the only Jackson to appear on the latest chart. He also had “Billie Jean,” “Human Nature” and “Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough” all appearing.
Jackson died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol, The Associated Press reported. The drug was administered by Dr. Conrad Murray, who had no training on the use of propofol. Murray was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison, but was released after two years for good behavior and prison overcrowding. In 2016, he still maintained he was innocent, the AP said.
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