I never understand it when anyone puts an artist above Michael Jackson…

Michael Jackson has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart for the first time in his career this week. With the achievement, he also becomes the sixth artist to reach the top spot posthumously.

The surge appears closely connected to the ongoing success of MICHAEL, which has become one of the year’s biggest commercial releases. As interest in the project increased, streams and sales for many of Jackson’s biggest songs also experienced major growth across platforms.

At this point, it is fair to place Michael Jackson in conversations surrounding the biggest artists of the year, even nearly two decades after his passing. Whether those conversations officially include posthumous artists is another debate entirely, but the commercial numbers are difficult to ignore.

Can you imagine if streaming were around when Michael Jackson reached his peak? “Thriller” would’ve received 100 billion streams.

Quincy

Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.