Michael Jackson’s discography is full of songs that are timeless classics, one of which has been getting some increased attention lately: On the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated November 12), the 1982 favorite “Thriller” re-entered pretty high up, all the way near the top at No. 26.
.@michaeljackson's "Thriller" re-enters this week's #Hot100 chart at No. 26.
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) November 8, 2022
As for why Jackson’s 40-year-old song is doing so well all this time later, it would seem the explanation is a seasonal uptick in interest due to Halloween.
On the Spotify Global Daily chart for October 31, “Thriller” had 1,947,543 plays, good for No. 51 on the chart. However, “Thriller – 2003 Edit” fared well, too, garnering an additional 1,769,662 streams and sliding into No. 63. Combined, the two versions had 3,717,205 plays that day, and if the versions had been lumped together in the rankings, they would have reached No. 13.
The two “Thriller” versions fared even better on the US chart: “Thriller” was No. 21 and the “2003 Edit” was No. 23. The versions’ combined 1,882,804 streams would have been good enough for No. 2 behind Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.”
“Thriller” did well on Spotify’s weekly charts, too. On the Global chart dated November 3, only the base “Thriller” made the top 200, sliding in at No. 195 with 6,371,382 streams. In just the US, though, both versions charted, and combined, they would have hit No. 29 with 5,032,990 cumulative streams.
Revisit the song’s iconic video below.
