--- description: When Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album was released 35 years ago, there was no mention of it in the TIME magazine. But that changed quickly title: Why Michael Jackson's Biggest Success Was a Surprise image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560903e0eeb9ecc/6988e6acfb4eac00df894a5f/jackson.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Music](/tag/music/) ## Music Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Michael Jackson's Biggest Success Was a Surprise  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 29, 2017 3:00 PM CUT  Michael Jackson while being presented with a Platinum Award for "Thriller" in 1983 Michael Jackson while being presented with a Platinum Award for "Thriller" in 1983Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Image  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 29, 2017 3:00 PM CUT The release of the album that would become, by some measures, the most successful record in music history went unnoticed by TIME. When it was first released 35 years ago, on Nov. 30, 1982, there was no mention of Michael Jackson’s _Thriller_ in the magazine’s pages. But it didn’t take too long for that to [change](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-05-23/page/44/ "undefined"), as the album sat atop the charts for weeks, selling enough copies to[ drive discussion](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-07-18/page/64/ "undefined") of a boom across the entire record industry and the growth of [music-video culture](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-12-26/page/58/ "undefined"). According to one TIME [report](http://time.com/vault/issue/1983-12-26/spread/58/ "undefined") about a year after its release, _Thriller_ was still selling 200,000 copies a week going into the 1983 holiday season. By the time Jackson appeared on the [cover](http://time.com/vault/issue/1984-03-19/page/2/ "undefined") of TIME magazine in 1984, the [headline](http://time.com/vault/issue/1984-03-19/page/70/ "undefined") was straightforward — “Why He’s a Thriller” — and the album had become the best-selling album ever. (It [still](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab%5Factive=top%5Ftallies&ttt=T1A#search%5Fsection "undefined") claims that [title](https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7693419/michael-jackson-thriller-highest-certified-album "undefined"), though the Eagles’ Greatest Hits has surpassed or tied with _Thriller_ at times.) But, while it could be said that a success of that magnitude is always a surprise in some way, that story, by Jay Cocks, also suggested a deeper reason why mainstream news outlets like TIME may have overlooked the album when it was first released: --- > “” --- When Jackson [died in 2009](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1907409%5F1907486%5F1907482,00.html "undefined"), _Thriller_ was still remembered by many as a high point in his career — and one that proved that he would never again be overlooked by music critics. “For Generation X the magic is partly nostalgic; everyone between the ages of 35 and 45 remembers exactly where they were when they heard ‘Beat It’ for the first time,” wrote TIME’s Richard Corliss in his remembrance of the pop idol. “But as a piece of music, it remains the greatest pop album of all time.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5033766/thriller-michael-jackson-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5033766/thriller-michael-jackson-anniversary/"},"headline":"Why Michael Jackson's Biggest Success Was a Surprise","datePublished":"2017-11-29T15:00:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:19:51.061Z","description":"Thriller was released 35 years ago","url":"https://time.com/5033766/thriller-michael-jackson-anniversary/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560903e0eeb9ecc/6988e6acfb4eac00df894a5f/jackson.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9560903e0eeb9ecc/6988e6acfb4eac00df894a5f/jackson.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michael Jackson Presented Platinum Award for \"Thriller,\" 1983","caption":"Michael Jackson Presented Platinum Award for \"Thriller,\" 1983","creditText":"Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Image","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/music/","name":"Music"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5033766/thriller-michael-jackson-anniversary/","name":"Why Michael Jackson's Biggest Success Was a Surprise"}}]}] ```