Prince Jackson, Michael Jackson’s oldest son, stopped by a Los Angeles morning show this week with a simple ask for fans. He wants to get his dad another number one.
That might sound odd. Michael topped the charts over and over in his lifetime. But the song Prince has in mind is the one you’d least expect.
It’s “Thriller.”
Now, “Thriller” is the title track of the best-selling album in history, and that album sat at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a record 37 weeks. The single was a different story. When it came out in 1984 it peaked at No. 4, and more than 40 years later it still hasn’t been a No. 1 hit.
Prince told KTLA that the album is stacked with incredible songs, but the goal right now is to get the single “Thriller” to the top spot. He said the way fans can help is to request it from radio stations, buy the single, pick up the vinyl and the albums and stream it as much as they can. He told the station they’re trying to get his father another number one.
If you’ve somehow never sat through the whole thing, here’s the 14-minute short film that turned a pop song into a worldwide event.
The full “Thriller” short film that made music video history
The timing isn’t random. A fan campaign called the Thriller Challenge, tagged #ThrillerChallenge2026 online, runs from tomorrow, Oct 30, through Nov 5. That’s the exact Billboard chart week that includes Halloween, which is why fans are trying to pile all their plays and purchases into those few days. Prince is backing the push and plans to join a big streaming party on Oct 31, Halloween night. It’s a fan effort, not an official company one, and he’s simply lending his name and his voice to it.
There’s a reason this year could be different. Halloween lands on a Saturday, so Friday and Saturday fall inside the same chart week, which stacks all those plays together. “Thriller” has been climbing back for a while now. In 2018 it returned to the Hot 100, and last year it reached No. 10, its first time in the top 10 since 1984.
Nobody’s promising a miracle here. Whether a 40-year-old Halloween song can actually hit No. 1 in 2026 is anyone’s guess, and the final chart won’t be known until around Nov 9 or 10.
But you can hear why Prince feels it deserves the shot. Watch the short film above and it’s easy to forget “Thriller” was ever just a single sitting at No. 4. For a kid who grew up watching his dad become the biggest star on the planet, getting the song its first No. 1 would mean a lot. He’s asking fans to help him try.