Here is something genuinely strange happening on the charts right now. “Billie Jean” — released in January 1983, when the compact disc was brand new, and nobody had heard of the internet — is currently outperforming every other record Michael Jackson ever made.
On Billboard’s R&B Streaming Songs chart, which measures the most-played R&B tracks on Spotify, Apple Music and similar platforms across America, “Billie Jean” has now spent twelve weeks at number one.
To understand why that matters, look at the competition. Jackson has had three number ones on that chart. The other two are “Thriller” and “Don’t Matter to Me,” his posthumous collaboration with Drake. Neither managed a double-digit run. In fact, “Billie Jean” has now ruled for twice as long as his other two number ones combined.
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Official Video)
And it is not just leading. At various points this year, Jackson has occupied ten of the fifteen slots on that chart, including the whole top four — “Billie Jean,” “Chicago,” “Beat It,” and “Human Nature” sitting at one, two, three, and four simultaneously.
There is an oddity buried in that list. “Chicago” is not a classic single. It was never released as a single at all — it is a posthumous track from 2014. And it has been outperforming songs that defined the eighties.
Becoming Michael with Jaafar Jackson
The cause is not mysterious. The biopic Michael was released in April 2026 and has passed a billion dollars worldwide, sending an entirely new audience — much of it too young to remember him — straight into his back catalog. In the last week of April alone, his solo music pulled 137.5 million US streams, a personal record.
The effects have shown up everywhere. “Billie Jean” reached number one on the Billboard Global 200 in May, a chart that did not exist until 2020. In Britain, The Essential Michael Jackson topped the Official Albums Streaming chart for the first time in his career, 205 weeks into its run.
He has now scored Top 10 hits in six different decades, making him the first artist in history to do so.
Michael Jackson died in 2009. “Billie Jean” is 43 years old. And in 2026, it is beating every other song he ever recorded, in a format that didn’t exist while he was alive.