Named the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" by the Guinness World Records, Michael Jackson is among the most highly acclaimed and influential artists in pop culture. He was named the World Music Award's Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: in 1997 as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist in 2001.
Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music in the late 1970s as the first black entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his videos aired on MTV, such as "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", helped to put make the young channel popular, while videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson a staple on MTV into the 1990s. He transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool as well. Jackson introduced complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, along with a distinctive musical sound and vocal style that have influenced numerous hip hop, pop, and R&B artists.
In February 1984, Michael Jackson held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight, which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone in a single year. Seven of Michael's Grammys that year were for Thriller: Album of the Year; Record of the Year ("Beat It"); Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("Thriller"); Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical (Thriller); Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Beat It"); Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Billie Jean"); Best R&B Song ("Billie Jean"). (Michael's eighth Grammy that year was in the Best Recording For Children - Single or Album, Musical or Spoken category for "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial").
That same year, Michael Jackson took home eight American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. The following year, "The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller" took home the Best Video Album trophy at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.
On February 11, 2008, Jackson issued Thriller 25, a 25th anniversary edition of his top-selling album Thriller.
Originally released in the US 25 years ago on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson's sixth solo album and second with producer Quincy Jones, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international superstardom.
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