Michael Jackson’s Bad Hits New Billboard Sales Peak After 40 Years

Nearly four decades after its original release, Michael Jackson’s Bad has reached a new milestone by climbing to its highest-ever position on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. The iconic album rises from No. 21 to No. 13, setting a new personal best on the sales-only ranking almost 15 years after it first appeared there in December 2009.

The Billboard Top Album Sales chart measures purchases of albums and EPs across digital downloads, CDs, cassettes, and vinyl. Since debuting on the chart, Bad has spent 55 weeks among America’s bestselling albums, continuing to attract buyers despite the dominance of music streaming platforms.

Jackson remains one of the few legacy artists who continues to generate strong album sales alongside consistent streaming numbers. Over the years, he has placed 23 releases on the Top Album Sales chart, with 10 reaching the top 10. Four albums—Dangerous, Invincible, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I—have each spent time at No. 1. While Bad has now climbed to No. 13, it joins Scream, which peaked at No. 11 in 2017, as one of Jackson’s closest albums to narrowly miss the top 10.

The renewed momentum for Bad extends beyond a single ranking. The album has returned to its peak position of No. 8 on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart while also reentering the Top R&B Albums chart at No. 23 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at No. 44. In addition, it has reappeared on the Billboard 200, debuting this week at No. 148.

Jackson’s catalog continues to dominate Billboard’s sales rankings, with four of his albums currently occupying spots on the 50-position Top Album Sales chart. Thriller slips to No. 8, Number Ones remains at No. 11, and Off the Wall climbs from No. 20 to No. 15, placing just two positions behind Bad.