Michael Jackson recordings dominate the charts with staggering popularity surge
By DPA, IANSMonday, June 29, 2009
LONDON - Days after his sudden death, pop star Michael Jackson’s 2003 album of his greatest hits, “Number Ones”, has surged again to the top of the album charts in Britain, music industry market groups reported Sunday. Altogether, 43 singles and 11 albums by Jackson and by the family group The Jackson 5 have also surged forward on the music industry charts of the top-200 titles.
A week ago, the Number Ones album with 18 number-one hits by Jackson had stood at 121.
Sunday, besides the top ranking for that album, four further Jackson albums were now in the top-20, including Thriller (7), King of Pop (14), Off the Wall (17) and The Essential Michael Jackson (20).
Among the singles, the 1988 number Man in the Mirror had risen to 11th position, from 21st previously, with four other singles now in the top-40: Billie Jean (25), Smooth Criminal (28), Beat It (30) and Earth Song (38).
The British music store chain HMV reported that sales of Jackson CDs had surged 80-fold in the first 24 hours after the pop star’s death, a higher figure than, by comparison, the growth in sales after the deaths of Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Freddie Mercury.
