Just before Halloween, Prince Jackson made a wish out loud.
Prince is Michael’s oldest son, and he asked fans to help “Thriller” get the No. 1 it never had. It was a simple request from a son about his dad’s music, and fans took it to heart.
Now the numbers are in from across the Atlantic, and they tell a story nobody expected from a song that’s been around since 1983.
Here’s how it played out on the UK Official Singles Chart, the main weekly chart in Britain.
On November 1, the Official Charts Company put out its midweek “First Look.” “Thriller” was sitting at No. 2. The chart team wrote it plainly: “Michael Jackson’s Thriller (2) threatens to take the Number 1 spot, as Halloween season draws to a close.”
That got a lot of fans excited. For many of them, it was the first sign that Prince’s request was working. Could it really happen, more than four decades later?
It didn’t quite reach the top. The song that held it off was Jamie Miller’s “Babydoll,” which stayed at No. 1.
But when the full chart came out on November 6, “Thriller” had still done something it had never done before. In the words of the Official Charts Company: “Michael Jackson’s Thriller storms 12 places to Number 5, securing a brand-new Official Chart peak.”
No. 5 is the highest “Thriller” has ever climbed on the UK Official Singles Chart, 43 years after it first came out.
It was also the song’s first time ever in the UK Top 5. Its old best was No. 9, and that only happened last year. The Official Charts Company put it this way: “After reaching a new high of Number 9 in 2025, the Halloween favourite enters the Top 5 for the first time.”
Its chart numbers jumped 74% from one week to the next, too.
Back in 1983, the song never got this high in Britain. This year it took a Halloween season and a nudge from Michael’s son to finally get it there.
The Jacksons know how to throw a Halloween party with this song in mind. Associated Press filmed the family hosting a “Thriller Night” party, and it’s a fun reminder of what “Thriller” means to them at this time of year.
The Jackson family’s “Thriller Night” Halloween party
There’s one more piece of good news for Prince. According to fan chart trackers at MJVibe, “Thriller” also went all the way to No. 1 on the UK’s Hip Hop and R&B singles chart. That’s up from No. 2 at Halloween last year. The same roundup had it at No. 6 on Spotify worldwide.
The main UK No. 1 is still out of reach for now. But Michael’s son asked for a push, and fans gave “Thriller” its best week ever on the UK Official Singles Chart.