“Thriller” might be the most famous Halloween song ever made. So it surprises a lot of people to learn that the single never made it to No. 1.
Back in 1984, the “Thriller” album spent a record 37 weeks at No. 1. The single, though, stalled at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. For more than 40 years, that’s where the story ended.
Then, last week, Michael’s oldest son decided to do something about it.
Prince Jackson went on KTLA, the Los Angeles TV station, and asked fans for help. He told the station that “we are trying to get my father another number one.” He laid out the plan in plain terms: “the goal is to try and get my father’s song ‘Thriller,’ the single, to number one.”
He asked fans to “request the play from radio stations, buy the single, buy the vinyls.” It was a simple request from a son who wanted to give his dad one more win. Watch him explain the challenge himself, so you can hear the plan in his own words.
Prince explains his “Thriller” challenge to KTLA
So did it work?
Fans around the world started streaming. On Spotify’s global daily chart, “Thriller” sat at No. 47 on Oct. 29. The next day, it jumped to No. 8.
Then came Halloween, this past Saturday, Oct. 31.
That day, “Thriller” was the No. 1 song in the world on Spotify. It was played 6,606,221 times in a single day.
It beat another Halloween favorite to get there. “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. came in second with 6,077,954 plays.
Kworb, a website that keeps track of Spotify’s chart history, shows something even sweeter. Kworb’s chart records show it was the song’s first day at No. 1 on Spotify’s global chart. After all those years, the son’s request had pushed his father’s song to the top.
The good news didn’t stop at Spotify. In the UK, “Thriller” also went to No. 1 on the Hip-Hop and R&B Singles chart that week, according to MJVibe.
Prince has been busy this fall. Along with the “Thriller” push, he’s been talking with reporters about his father and the “Michael” movie. In this new interview with the Associated Press, he talks about bringing his dad’s story to the big screen.
Prince talks with the AP about his father’s story
There’s still one more chart to watch. The Billboard Hot 100 that counts Halloween week hasn’t come out yet. It’s expected next week, and fans will be waiting.
And if you’d like to see how that famous video came together in the first place, this behind-the-scenes film is a fun one to watch after the song itself.
Behind the scenes of making “Thriller”
Whatever happens on the next chart, Prince already got something special out of this. He asked and the fans answered. For one Halloween night, his dad’s song was the most played in the world.