Today marks the day the “Thriller” album was released forty years ago. November 30th, 1982.

Until this point the only publicly heard song was “The Girl Is Mine,” Michael’s duet with Paul McCartney, which was released the month before. However everything changed forty years ago today, as the world was introduced to tracks like “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Human Nature,” and of course “Billie Jean,” which would go on to arguably become Michael’s signature song.

So much has happened in the last forty years. It’s not easy recalling what Michaelmania was like. On studying the “Thriller” era to create our timeline, we were transported back in time. Two things struck us. Firstly, it’s almost inconceivable for one person to be so successful and so famous. Secondly, someone actually was that successful and that famous…and all by the age of 24. That person was Michael Jackson.

We encourage you today to check out the in-depth history of “Thriller” through our timeline of events from 1982 – 1985. This is what we define as being the “Thriller” era. It marks the key moments that has made “Thriller” and Michael such a staying power decades on. It lays bare the reasons why even now, forty years later, the album is able to break back into the top 10 albums on the Billboard charts.

“Thriller” remains to this day as the biggest selling album of all time; a record it’s held since February 1984. The album got that Guinness World Record for selling 25 million albums. Today it has since sold over 100 million.