Michael Jackson's 1980s song 'Thriller' makes chart history
'Thriller' soared up the charts with a little help from the spooky season.
Michael Jackson has become the first artist in history to have a song appear in the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 in six different decades.
His iconic single, 'Thriller', has reached the #10 spot on the latest chart (November 15) after receiving a significant boost during the Halloween season.
It was at #32 on the previous chart. According to Billboard, the 'King of Pop' has ranked in the top 10 in the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s, ‘10s and the ‘20s.
He beat the record set by the late Andy Williams, who featured in the top 10 in five distinct decades. Williams is known for hits such as 'It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' and 'The Hawaiian Wedding Song (Ke Kali Nei Au)'.
'Thriller' first appeared on the Hot 100 in February 1984 and peaked at number 4 after debuting at number 20 on the chart.
It was the seventh single released from Jackson's award-winning album of the same name. It followed 'The Girl Is Mine', 'Billie Jean', 'Beat It', 'Wanna Be Startin' Something'', 'Human Nature' and 'P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)'.
The 'Thriller' music video, which has over a billion views on YouTube, is often considered one of the greatest music videos of all time.
Jackson's official Instagram page shared a fun fact about the video for Halloween.
"This zombie scene from 'Thriller' was filmed in East Los Angeles, at Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street. Did you know that the production team for the short film printed out false location maps as to prevent the press or anyone from sneaking on to the shoot?"
Despite the track's incredible success, 'Thriller' is not on Billboard's recent '25 Biggest Halloween Songs' of all time. The list is based solely on their performance on the Hot 100.
'Thriller' placed #22 on the chart, which angered his fans. "There are NOT 21 songs bigger than 'Thriller'!" one wrote.
'Monster Mash' by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers reached the No.1 spot in 1962.
Janet Jackson's 'Black Cat' ranked eighth while Eminem and Rihanna's 'The Monster' placed fourth.
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Image credit: YouTube/Michael Jackson ('Thriller' music video)