Unholyalliance said:

alphastreet said:

mindblowing list for sure, but I find inconsistencies with it too. Look at Thriller's number! It's supposed to be over 100 million copies, hello!

Thriller's numbers were always closer to 70 million. I guess if you add single sales then it probably comes out close to 100million.

That's what I believe

Swa said:

Take this with a grain of salt - but a contact of mine at Sony said there will be 3 DVDs coming out in November. He didn't give titles or if it will be a boxset deal or individuals, but said it's like one will be a video collection (again I know right?) and the others *may* be new releases.

bboy87 said:

Unholyalliance said:

Thriller's numbers were always closer to 70 million. I guess if you add single sales then it probably comes out close to 100million.

That's what I believe

Yeah the singles' sales were massive. I'm convinced when we got the results of how many copies it sold that it was the total of album and single units.

Swa said:

Take this with a grain of salt - but a contact of mine at Sony said there will be 3 DVDs coming out in November. He didn't give titles or if it will be a boxset deal or individuals, but said it's like one will be a video collection (again I know right?) and the others *may* be new releases.

Just when you think the rumors about DVDs would stop... they would've announced this if this was true so I'm taking this with both salt and pepper.

Steady Laughing is back:

http://www.gallery.steady-laughing.com/

MJJPictures is still in hiatus.

Who knows what went on with the domain with MJ Photos Collectors but hopefully they'll make a comeback soon.

Timmy84 said:

Steady Laughing is back:

http://www.gallery.steady-laughing.com/

Good

[img:$uid]http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a403/MarinaRose1814/Janet_Michael_Scream.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a403/MarinaRose1814/69.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz198/HannahButterfly/10miof9.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/a403/MarinaRose1814/normal_janet-janet-jackson-12675624-460-720.jpg[/img:$uid]

MyNameIsPiper said:

suga10 said:

Is it just me is Prince starting to look like Arnie Klein a bit.

Nah. That's Michael's original nose and chin all the way.

prince is michael's other twin besides blanket (mj's mini-me /clone)

Am I trippin? (1:30) Did she piss on herself?

WildStyle said:

HAPPYPERSON said:

Michael Jackson: The Numbers
Exclusive Look Into The Lifetime Sales Of The King Of Pop

Source: Sony Music USA, Universal Music
here are the total numbers internationally, last updated July 31st 2010. Numbers will include Jackson 5 sales but will be separated accordingly so readers can easily see MJ's solo sales plus Jackson 5 sales. Also, I will break it down with album sales, download/single sales, plus I will include ALL DVD/VHS and other forms of musical release. Remember, these are the actual recorded sales numbers by both Sony and Universal and are not inflated in anyway. There are some sales from certain countries that are very hard to track, even by Sony. So these numbers are about as close as anyone is going to get. As you can see, the initial 750,000,000 units quoted by MJ was not far off. This does not include any pirated, illegally downloaded, or fan made albums, nor does it include any unofficial releases.

THE SALES:

Jackson 5/The Jacksons

ALBUM SALES:
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5: 6,200,000
ABC: 7,500,000
Third Album: 7,150,000
Christmas Album: 4,200,000
Maybe Tomorrow: 3,900,000
Goin' Back To Indiana: 3,100,000
Greatest Hits: 6,500,000
Lookin' Through The Windows: 4,050,000
Skywriter: 3,200,000
The Jackson 5 In Japan: 1,300,000
Get It Together: 2,900,000
Dancing Machine: 3,000,000
Moving Violation: 2,200,000
The Jacksons: 6,000,000
Goin' Places: 800,000
Destiny: 3,500,000
Triumph: 3,400,000
The Jacksons Live: 2,800,000
Victory: 8,500,000
2300 Jackson St: 750,000
Jackson 5 The Ultimate Collection: 5,500,000
Jackson 5 Gold: 3,500,000
Anthology: 2,800,000
Ultimate Christmas Collection: 1,900,000
20th Century Masters: 3,000,000
Michael Jackson The Motown Years: 1,050,000
J is For Jackson 5: 700,000
Michael Jackson The Remix Suite: 1,600,000
Jackson 5 Greatest Hits: 900,000
Other: 10,800,000

Digital Downloads: 12,800,000DVD/VHS SALES: 2,600,000Ringtones: 1,600,000
Total Unit Sales: 129,700,000

--
Michael Jackson SOLO Album Sales:

Got To Be There: 6,000,000
Ben: 6,500,000
Music & Me: 4,800,000
Forever Michael: 4,900,000
Off The Wall: 22,100,000
Thriller: 69,800,000
Bad: 36,100,000
Dangerous: 35,200,000
HIStory: 20,900,000 (41.8 million units)
Blood On The Dance Floor: 7,000,000
20th Century Masters: 2,500,000
Invincible: 13,300,000
Number Ones: 11,900,000
The Ultimate Collection: 1,020,000 (6 million units)
The Essential: 8,900,000 (17.8 million units)
Visionary: 5,000,000
King Of Pop: 6,000,000
Hello World The Motown Solo Collection: 1,020,000
Michael Jackson The Stripped Mixes: 1,350,000
The Definitive Collection: 1,200,000
This Is It: 5,200,000
Other: 22,000,000

Total Albums: 292,690,000 or 327,290,000 if you include multiple disc albums as separate unit sales


--
Singles/Digital Downloads:

Motown/Universal Albums: 27,000,000
Off The Wall: 22,000,000
Thriller: 41,500,000
Bad: 32,800,000
Dangerous: 30,300,000
HIStory: 26,000,000
BOTDF: 2,300,000
Invincible: 6,800,000
Other: 15,000,000
Total Singles/Digital Downloads: 203,700,000

--
VHS/DVD's:

The Making Of MJ's Thriller: 9,500,000
Moonwalker: 3,500,000
Ghosts: 300,000
Number Ones: 5,600,000
The One: 1,050,000
Live In Bucharest: 2,500,000
This Is It: 11,200,000
Other: 4,000,000
Total VHS/DVD Sales: 37,650,000

*this number is set to jump over the next decade as Sony unleashes many new DVD projects including the first this November.


--
Music Video Sales:

I-Tunes: 9,500,000
Other Sources: 6,000,000

Total Music Video Sales: 15,500,000

--
Ringtones:

Total Global Ringtone Sales: 6,500,000



Total Michael Jackson Unit Sales: 590,640,000
Total Michael Jackson Unit Sales (J5 Included): 720,340,000


Keep this number in mind as we move closer to the new album and the 9 new releases slated before the end of 2017. This number will surely grow throughout the years.

That is truly mind blowing!

Thriller sales including singles? Yeah right, then why was it in the guiness book and why did it get the award at the World Music Awards? Singles would be a seperate category from album sales.

mimi07 said:

alphastreet said:

I love the red shirt and black and white Bad era pics just posted so much

But at the same time I'm still filled with emotions. I'm lookiing at how beautiful he is and in awe, and then I tell myself he's gone and am ready to cry but then I just start getting so mean instead, cause it's easier than crying and when I do that, my thoughts are nothing like myself

but then the cries came, they were coming quite a bit tonight I don't know when this will stop. But I find that I mostly cry about what happened in 1993 and after, all those things more than Murray cause Murray did is horrible and I can't even admit it, it's traumatizing.

alphastreet said:

Thriller sales including singles? Yeah right, then why was it in the guiness book and why did it get the award at the World Music Awards? Singles would be a seperate category from album sales.

Watching Oprah Interview with Michael, missing him, wishing we could see him again.

[Edited 9/2/10 14:22pm]

Appeals court sets hearing in Jackson estate case

Associated Press - 30 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - A California appeals court has scheduled a hearing for Michael Jackson's father to argue he deserves a role in his son's estate. The Second District Court of Appeal on Thursday set an Oct. 6 date for Joe Jackson's attorneys to argue his case. Michael Jackson's 2002 will omitted his father. A ruling after the 2009 death of the pop star placed his attorney John Branca and family friend John McClain in charge of his affairs. Joe Jackson appealed the ruling in November. Michael Jackson's estate has earned tens of millions of dollars since the singer's death at age 50.

[Edited 9/2/10 14:52pm]

a channel in the middle east named NessaTV will be airing the never before seen HIStory tour show in Tunis this month

Thriller sales that you are all questioning from that list are just the PHYSICAL product.

According to the list:

Thriller: 69,800,000 - physical units.

Then if you look to the next category

Thriller: 41,500,000 - digital downloads

What is curious is that the digital downloads and singles are combined. It would be great to get some clarity over how many digital downloads of the album have taken place.

Being a long time fan the often quoted figure of 110 seemed to spring from out of the blue - at one stage Thriller had sales of the 70 million mark then next it was being reported as 110 million (and this was a few years prior to Michael's death).

Swa said:

Thriller sales that you are all questioning from that list are just the PHYSICAL product.

According to the list:

Thriller: 69,800,000 - physical units.

Then if you look to the next category

Thriller: 41,500,000 - digital downloads

What is curious is that the digital downloads and singles are combined. It would be great to get some clarity over how many digital downloads of the album have taken place.

Being a long time fan the often quoted figure of 110 seemed to spring from out of the blue - at one stage Thriller had sales of the 70 million mark then next it was being reported as 110 million (and this was a few years prior to Michael's death).

The 110 million number is starting to make more sense when I read it like this...

alphastreet said:

Thriller sales including singles? Yeah right, then why was it in the guiness book and why did it get the award at the World Music Awards? Singles would be a seperate category from album sales.

There's no proof that Thriller sold 100 million copies though. This has been repeated throughout most of the chart sales community, the main voice being a huge fan of Michael Jackson, and including Sony, (that is if those figures are from them). If Thriller sold 100 million copies then that would mean Elvis Presley and The Beatles have achieved 1 billion+ in albums sales and that isn't true, in the least. It's not uncommon for sales to be inflated for the sake of publicity. Though adding single sales would bring the total closer to 100 million as those singles are still part of the Thriller experience.

Either way, whether Thriller sold 70, 85, or 105 million physical copies is inconsequential at this point. Thriller is the only album, ever, to reach way above 50 million in sales. No other album has ever achieved that feat and with the way the music industry is going, there is a high possibility that something like that won't ever be achieved again for a good long while. (At that time maybe Thriller will be way past 100 million.) That's more than enough and I'm pretty certain that MJ couldn't have been happier about that. (Maybe besides all of his albums achieving Thriller's insane numbers. lol)

I think what is more significant is that while The Beatles and Elvis Presley have him beat in terms of actual sales, MJ trumps them when it comes to actual sales p/album. He sells way more p/album than any other act. It's amazing, in itself, that he is actually able to compete with both acts based on the, significantly, smaller amount of albums in his solo catalog. As time goes on and Sony releases way more stuff that current grand total will become, exponentially, bigger. The two aforementioned have him beat, greatly, in terms of single sales, but that's okay. I think it's awesome that people were moved to buy his albums rather than just the singles throughout his solo career. It seems that he really ushered in an era of strong album sales for everyone back in the 80s & 90s. Though, with the advent of the internet it seems to be going back to a single era. Yet, June 25th, 2009 still proved that people will still buy albums as also proving that people still rely on traditional media for their news.

[Edited 9/2/10 17:08pm]

[img:$uid]http://i34.tinypic.com/2e0myh3.jpg[/img:$uid]

The First Meeting

"I first met Michael Jackson at a recording studio on Beverly Blvd. in Hollywood, where he was three quarters of the way through finishing what would be the largest selling album in history. CBS records indicated that the project was between myself and another very well known photographer whose identity was never divulged to me.

Michael wanted to personally meet both candidates before deciding who he wanted to work with on the album package. I know now after having worked a substantial amount of time with Michael on other projects since, that he needed someone that was at the top of his profession, wasn't egotistical, was trustworthy and creative. But most importantly someone who would treat him with delicacy and consideration, who wasn't threatening or offending.

My first impression of Michael as he slowly and carefully moved through the studio doors where our meeting would take place was that he was taller and thinner than I had expected. His hand shake was very delicate with hardly a squeeze, and I was very conscious to return the same.

As we talked, Michael would ask me questions in his whispered voice about my likes and dislikes. I could tell from the way he poised his questions, that in a sly way, I was being highly scrutinized. That's when I first realized how important it was to Michael to work with the exact kind of person that would make him feel comfortable. Our meeting lasted about twenty minutes and we parted with a cordial good-bye.

The Call Back

Three days later I received a phone call from CBS Records saying that phase one was over and now Michael wanted to come to see my studio and look at my photographs. My studio entrance has a loud buzzer, but instead there was a very gentle knock at the door. Rather than have my secretary answer the door, I wanted to answer it myself. I wanted Michael to know that I was real and approachable and also wanted to avoid anything that may have had the potential of creating an uncomfortable situation for Michael. Evidently I passed the test as I received confirmation two days later from CBS that Michael had selected me to do the honors, and the album shoot was scheduled to take place in two weeks.

My fee from CBS was to be $4,000.00 - which was very good back then (and just about top dollar for an album cover). During the next two weeks I had various meetings with the creative heads from CBS and Freddie Demand, Michael's Manager at that time. The purpose was to create a visual direction for the album that everyone agreed on.

Shoot Day

The day of the shoot arrived, I had hired one of the best fashion stylists in LA to gather a large variety of wardrobe, and we began the arduous process of selecting attire for the cover and inside spread. After about an hour of weeding through the clothes, Michael couldn't find anything he was crazy about. I started to panic for a moment, then I noticed Michael looking at the white suit I was wearing. He asked if we had anything like it. We didn't, so I asked him if he would like to wear mine. Considering his choices, this was exactly what he wanted. Fortunately for the shoot and the time involved, the suit fit.

We had decided prior to the shoot that Michael would have a tiger cub in the shots so we had a selection for him to choose from. He loved a six week old cub but was very squeamish about letting it get to close to his face because of possible scratches from its claws. Throughout the shoot I had to get Michael to forget about the possibility of getting scratched, and to focus his attention on me and the camera.

During breaks Michael would stand in front of a full length mirror and practice continual spins, the legendary ones that are now so familiar to us all. He would come alive in front of that mirror. It was fascinating, because he had such a shy and subdued manner throughout the photo session. For lunch he ordered a special meal brought in from a vegetarian restaurant...the ----- on 3rd Avenue, which is his favorite in town. In fact, a few months later he would hire that chef as his personal cook, and to this day.

The shoot lasted about 6 hours with no particular problems out of the ordinary. At the days end, we said good-bye, and arranged to meet in a few days to go over the results. About four days later the photos were ready and we met at Michael's recording studio on Beverly Boulevard. Michael was in the middle of finishing up one of the tracks, so I set up my light table and spread out the transparencies so he could see them all at one time.

The Album Cover

Michael walked into the studio - he was in a very good mood. He looked over the transparencies and was very excited and pleased with what he saw. He said "There are so many good ones here, how can I ever make a decision?" He told me to hold on a minute, and went to the back of the studio. After a moment, he came back out with Quincy Jones. Quincy took one look at the transparencies and without any hesitation pointed to one, and said "That's the cover!"

That was the fastest I have ever seen anyone pick a final transparency for anything, and it was a good choice. I was happy, Michael was happy, the label was happy, and I guess the world was happy."

A kind of magic emerges from this young couple. I really did not know what awaited me when I arrived, but what I saw made me think of the scene which two in love act as if they were alone in the world, in spite of the crowd which surrounds them. That only comes when two people are deeply enthusiastic about one another. Like everyone, I had heard rumours which surrounded their marriage several weeks ago. But it was necessary that I see them with my own eyes to work out the depth and sincerity of their love. This love, neither could hide from me. It will be enough for you to realise it by looking at my photographs, especially those which I took of Lisa. There are attitudes which cannot be faked. In fact, I did not even need to guide Michael and Lisa. I did not need, for example, to ask them to intertwine. They spontaneously did it and most naturally. I had to only say to them to place themselves at such or such a place, and the rest came naturally. They spoke to each other in a very soft tone, the tone of two people very much in love with one another.

It's like when you see two people in the street who're in love and act like there is no one else around them. I saw it with my own eyes.

If you look at the photographs, you'll notice that there is something going on, especially with Lisa. I didn't have to tell them to put their arms around each other, they just did it.

Having spent an entire day with them, I saw some magical things. They talked to each other very quietly like lovers would. For the first shot, I told them to stand close. They immediately put their arms around each other and Lisa cuddled right up to Michael. I told Lisa to sit in a chair and Michael to kneel beside her. He put his arm around her and pulled her head to his chest, while Lisa tenderly took hold of his hand.

Between shots, they were whispering and giggling to each other. They were so happy it was hard to keep their attention on the camera. They were so much into each other.

They are so happy with the photos. Michael put Xs over the ones he liked, and the pages of photos were covered with Xs. But the loving ones with Lisa, showing their happiness, were his favourites.

[Edited 9/2/10 16:38pm]

mimi07 said:

It's like when you see two people in the street who're in love and act like there is no one else around them. I saw it with my own eyes.

This was a really weird transition. I thought that the author was still talking about Michael & Quincy or Michael and that tiger cub. lol I almost flipped out of my chair.

Swa said:

Thriller sales that you are all questioning from that list are just the PHYSICAL product.

According to the list:

Thriller: 69,800,000 - physical units.

Then if you look to the next category

Thriller: 41,500,000 - digital downloads

What is curious is that the digital downloads and singles are combined. It would be great to get some clarity over how many digital downloads of the album have taken place.

Being a long time fan the often quoted figure of 110 seemed to spring from out of the blue - at one stage Thriller had sales of the 70 million mark then next it was being reported as 110 million (and this was a few years prior to Michael's death).

I think that when they were saying that, they meant, actual, physical copies, but do you remember when the 110 million number was quoted? Especially since a huge chunk of those digital downloads came after June 25th 2009 and the author claims that these numbers calculated everything up to the end of July 2010. According to some in the chart analysis community, Thriller's physical album estimates back in 2008 were about 62 million, or so.

Unholyalliance said:

mimi07 said:

It's like when you see two people in the street who're in love and act like there is no one else around them. I saw it with my own eyes.

This was a really weird transition. I thought that the author was still talking about Michael & Quincy or Michael and that tiger cub. lol I almost flipped out of my chair.

Swa said:

Thriller sales that you are all questioning from that list are just the PHYSICAL product.

According to the list:

Thriller: 69,800,000 - physical units.

Then if you look to the next category

Thriller: 41,500,000 - digital downloads

What is curious is that the digital downloads and singles are combined. It would be great to get some clarity over how many digital downloads of the album have taken place.

Being a long time fan the often quoted figure of 110 seemed to spring from out of the blue - at one stage Thriller had sales of the 70 million mark then next it was being reported as 110 million (and this was a few years prior to Michael's death).

I think that when they were saying that, they meant, actual, physical copies, but do you remember when the 110 million number was quoted? Especially since a huge chunk of those digital downloads came after June 25th 2009 and the author claims that these numbers calculated everything up to the end of July 2010. According to some in the chart analysis community, Thriller's physical album estimates back in 2008 were about 62 million, or so.

In 2006 by Guinness. There's this plaque that MJ's holding where it says Thriller sold 104 million. The extra copies were added in the next three years... someone quoted the album to be 110 million around early 2009.

ViintageJunkiie said:

Am I trippin? (1:30) Did she piss on herself?

I think it was the lighting casting a shadow. She sure had a grip on him though!

Heres is an interesting article about the album sales done by the WSJ a year or so ago.

In the last three years of his life, long after the release of his final original album, Michael Jackson's career album sales took a curious leap.

For many years, Mr. Jackson's lifetime sales tally typically was reported at 200 million albums world-wide. But in late 2006, news articles began putting the number at 750 million, a figure that became part of the popular lore as Mr. Jackson was attempting a comeback. In the last few weeks, it has popped up in obituaries and retrospectives.

So how did the sales figure nearly quadruple? A likely explanation is that a rough tally of individual songs was misinterpreted or misrepresented to reflect album sales.

Such a numerical misstep is surprisingly easy to make in the world of album sales figures, where reliable information is spotty in the U.S., and often nonexistent overseas.

"When we were asked how many albums Michael Jackson sold, we were as embarrassed as anybody," says Adrian Strain, a spokesman for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a London-based trade group. "We had to go to the Guinness Book of World Records."

Inflated numbers aren't unique to Mr. Jackson. The Beatles' supposed one-billion-plus sales record also reflects an estimate of the number of songs, not albums, according to trackers of such landmarks. Other performers, such as AC/DC, Julio Iglesias and ABBA, supposedly are members of the 200 million album club, but compiled sales figures put their respective totals closer to 100 million.

The modern era of music measurement began in the U.S. in 1991, when retailers began transmitting sales reports electronically to Nielsen SoundScan. Before then, the iconic Billboard charts relied on rankings rather than absolute sales figures from record stores. The magazine didn't know whether, at a given store, the No. 1 album outsold all others combined, or whether they were more tightly bunched, so it assumed equal spacing in assembling its chart, according to Geoff Mayfield, former director of charts at Billboard. Once SoundScan started compiling actual sales totals, Billboard used those numbers instead.

Today, SoundScan covers about 95% of music sales in the U.S., according to Chris Muratore, vice president of retail relations and research services for Nielsen Entertainment. SoundScan calculates that Mr. Jackson's albums have sold 23 million copies since 1991 -- far more than Julio Iglesias's 5.1 million, but a far cry from the Beatles' 57.6 million.

But SoundScan doesn't track data by album outside the U.S. and Canada, and has no numbers prior to 1991 -- nine years after the release of "Thriller," Michael Jackson's biggest hit. Also, SoundScan doesn't include sales made to record labels' music-club members as part of their promotional offers of, say, 10 albums for a penny. "It's not a true consumer decision to purchase each one of those items," Mr. Muratore says.

SoundScan isn't the only source of sales data. In the U.S., the Recording Industry Association of America charges record labels a few hundred dollars to certify shipments of albums. The RIAA reported 61.5 million album sales by Mr. Jackson throughout his career, fewer than half the total for Garth Brooks, and only 17th in the U.S. overall.

But record labels don't always request certification, and sales might not be tracked for more than a short period of time after an album is released. On the other hand, the certified numbers might overstate sales if stores order more albums than they are able to sell.

RIAA shipment figures also are used to determine which albums can claim coveted "gold" status (500,000 albums sold in the U.S.); or platinum (one million albums).

Outside the U.S., industry trade groups have their own methods for tracking album sales, but the data aren't standardized or readily accessible. The IFPI, the international trade group, provides rankings and industrywide totals, not sales by a given artist or album.

Turning to the Guinness World Records won't yield more definitive information, either. In the record book's most recent entry on "Thriller" sales, Guinness notes that in 1982, "estimations from Sony and the Recording Industry Association of America put sales at over 55 million copies, although Jackson's management claims that international sales have pushed the total world-wide figure to over 100 million." Guinness concludes that "while it is impossible to verify the final global sales, there is no doubt that it remains the biggest-selling album of all time."

With so little hard data made available by the recording industry, amateur music-data trackers have stepped in to try to fill the void. These sleuths dig through certifications, SoundScan figures and other sources to compile sales by album and artist.

One such enthusiast, Lau Ho Hoi, who works for a construction firm in Hong Kong and posts on a popular U.K. online music forum, gained attention on the music blog Hitsville last week for his posts from 2004 compiling Mr. Jackson's sales by country. In an updated analysis, he calculated that the pop star sold 131.5 million albums world-wide, and 65.6 million singles. The total doesn't include digital downloads, which have taken off for Mr. Jackson since his death.

Guillaume Vieira, an engineer in Paris, has compiled his own totals for his Web site, Fan of Music. By his count, Michael Jackson had sold 205.5 million albums before his death, plus many millions more in singles and downloads.

It is an impressive total, and second only to the Beatles, but far fewer than 750 million. That figure first got legs in late 2006, when Raymone Bain, a publicist for Mr. Jackson at the time, touted in a letter to Jackson fan clubs that sales had "exceeded over 750 million units."

Units could be interpreted to mean a rough tally of the number of songs sold, not albums. But many journalists and fans interpreted the figure as albums sold, and a wildly inflated number was born.

Mr. Jackson's record label, Sony Music, declined to share sales numbers. Ms. Bain didn't respond to requests for comment; she sued Mr. Jackson in May after their business relationship ended. In her lawsuit, she claimed Mr. Jackson sold "over 1 billion records world-wide."

mimi07 said:

[img:$uid]http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo175/james283126/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz-63.jpg[/img:$uid]

Does Jermaine make anyone else lol? He's like "why is this dude all up on me." I think he's about to cry.

Tonight I was thinking about dag, or some other

MJ fam who was sayin on here a week ago...I'm gonna

paraphrase but...they said something like..

I may not have "known" him but I felt like I "knew"

him better than some of the people in my life I know best.

I can't agree with that more. And he certainly

had more of a hand in my taste in everything from

art, to music, fashion, to just about anything....

I still get sad sometimes when I think about

Michael being gone. I was riding with my mom

today and "Rock With You" came on and she

was singing along..and before June 25th, I would

have laughed and enjoyed that moment. Now it's

like I have to breathe and try not to cry. It's funny

because I'm listening to "Black or White" as I type this

and I'm not in tears - but when it comes on unexpected,

it can mess me up. I think I sorta understand what Janet

(or some other family members of Mike's were saying about

how seeing TII might be too upsetting. I was pumped to see it,

but I imagine, had it been unexpected seeing it for the first time,

it would have messed me up big time.)

One of the things I miss most about MJ being alive is

knowing he is somewhere in this world. (And usually

I could hop onto like MJNO or MJstar and figure out

where he was, and what he was up to.) But now, I

can't.

I hope he is in Heaven and I hope he is

watching over his family, friends, and fans.

As silly as it might sound, I wish he could

come back. I wish we could find a lucky star.

Anyone know if eBay carries them?

I want Michael back! I'll end this post with a random funny moment,

that made me laugh when I was 11 seeing it for the first time, and

still at 25, cracks a huge smile on my face.

Swa said:

One such enthusiast, Lau Ho Hoi, who works for a construction firm in Hong Kong and posts on a popular U.K. online music forum, gained attention on the music blog Hitsville last week for his posts from 2004 compiling Mr. Jackson's sales by country. In an updated analysis, he calculated that the pop star sold 131.5 million albums world-wide, and 65.6 million singles. The total doesn't include digital downloads, which have taken off for Mr. Jackson since his death.

Guillaume Vieira, an engineer in Paris, has compiled his own totals for his Web site, Fan of Music. By his count, Michael Jackson had sold 205.5 million albums before his death, plus many millions more in singles and downloads.

The italicized is probably Nelson, but I know that the bolded is MJDangerous. I trust his figures the most and what's really awesome is that he's done in depth chart and sales analysis for so many acts, including Prince. Also, he finally managed to finish up the sales for Elvis Presley and posted the info for about 100 of his released albums. (This angered a lot of Elvis stans who still think that he, miraculously, sold 600 million+ singles and albums before the advent of Billboard and the RIAA. They've both been permabanned from UKMix since, unfortunately, but that WSJ article you posted was referencing this article that came out last year:

http://www.hitsville.org/...-and-more/

FTA:

Hitsville: Thanks for taking the time to talk about this. What’s your experience in collecting worldwide sales figures? They are notoriously difficult to discern, aren’t they?

Guillaume Vieira: Figures are difficult to discern in the beginning, but I faced enough of them to discern them immediately and quite easily now. I’ve checked charts, certifications and officially reported sales of over 10,000 albums in the last six years. When a figure is said to have been officially reported but hasn’t, I know it instantly. As I said, it is easy for me—I already know all the figures that have been really reported.

Hitsville: As you’ve no doubt noticed, the New York Times after Michael Jackson’s death stated flatly that he had sold 750 million records worldwide, and that Thriller had sold an “estimated” 100 million. Every other news outlet in the land, not to mention the indefatigable U.S. cable channels, cited similar figures. Are they accurate? What’s your best estimate about Thriller?

Vieira: The figure of “over 100 million” for Thriller came out, just like the figure of 750 million for Jackson, in November 2006 at World Music Awards. The last reported figure by Sony was 54 million worldwide, during the HIStory era, while the Guinness Book of World Records reported Thriller at “over 50 million” worldwide. In 2006, his management team reported it sold 104 million worldwide—54 million in the US according to the RIAA and 50 million elsewhere according to Guinness!

Thriller indeed sold over 28 million copies in the US. It was a giant blockbuster there (37 weeks #1). But to sell 100 million it would have to be even more successful in every other market than in the US, which represents 40 percent of international sales. It was for sure a blockbuster, but that much was simply not possible!

In UK, its shipment is up to 4,12 million copies with last week’s sales.

In France, it sold a record breaking 3,3 million copies (1,8 million by Feb 1984 according to Billboard; 2,5 million by 1988 according to SNEP—the French equivalent of the RIAA. Then we have documented sales for recent years).

Italy, 1,19 million up to 2001, published by Sony Music. Thriller25 is Gold there, as a whole it sold 1,3 million in this country by now.

Germany, 3xPlat (1,5m**) since 1995, not many figures since that time but chart performances put it around 2 million.

Sweden, recently certified 4xPlatinum, 400,000, plus 20,000 copies for Thriller 25.

Netherlands, 800,000 copies by 1996 (8xPlatinum, highest certified album ever), by now over 1 million.

Austria, 400,000, 8xPlatinum, again highest figure ever reached (local albums included).

Belgium, 550,000, 11xPlatinum, second to Helmut Lotti’s Goes Classic only.

Spain, 500,000 by 1984, around a million currently.

In Europe, it sold close to 17 million copies. This figure is massive—more impressive than 28 million in US. Since IFPI introduced album certifications for Europe in 1994, no album ever reached even 10 million. The only one studio album that reached 10 million in Europe in the last 20 years is Dangerous, by Michael Jackson himself, released in 1991, which sold 12 million copies in the old continent. That album, regarded as half a flop in the US, is to Europe/Asia/Oceania the equivalent of Shania Twain’s Come On Over in the US—The biggest album released in the last 2 decades.

Billboard recently reported a figure of 2,5 million copies in Japan for Thriller (it sold 1,616,000 copies while charting in 83/84 alone, without counting imports, 30% of sales of foreign acts). It sold around 6,5 million in Asia.

Over a million in Australia, recently certified 14xPlatinum (980,000). In South America, it is the best selling album ever for a foreign act: more than 600,000 copies in Argentina, over 1,3 million in Brazil, 400,000 in Chile and a million in Mexico. Then over 3 million in Canada. In Africa, it sold 600,000 copies in South Africa alone, 300,000 copies in Turkey, over 2 million in the continent.

Then we only have to add figures: US 28,5m, Europe 17m, Canada 3,3m, Asia 6,5m, Latin America + Oceania 6m, Africa 2m, total around 63 million. As you can see, a lot of accurate data is actually known; the jigsaw is far from being as obscure as people may think. Give or take a maximum of 2m, this figure of 63 million is correct.

mimi07 said:

[img:$uid]http://i34.tinypic.com/2e0myh3.jpg[/img:$uid]

The First Meeting

"I first met Michael Jackson at a recording studio on Beverly Blvd. in Hollywood, where he was three quarters of the way through finishing what would be the largest selling album in history. CBS records indicated that the project was between myself and another very well known photographer whose identity was never divulged to me.

Michael wanted to personally meet both candidates before deciding who he wanted to work with on the album package. I know now after having worked a substantial amount of time with Michael on other projects since, that he needed someone that was at the top of his profession, wasn't egotistical, was trustworthy and creative. But most importantly someone who would treat him with delicacy and consideration, who wasn't threatening or offending.

My first impression of Michael as he slowly and carefully moved through the studio doors where our meeting would take place was that he was taller and thinner than I had expected. His hand shake was very delicate with hardly a squeeze, and I was very conscious to return the same.

As we talked, Michael would ask me questions in his whispered voice about my likes and dislikes. I could tell from the way he poised his questions, that in a sly way, I was being highly scrutinized. That's when I first realized how important it was to Michael to work with the exact kind of person that would make him feel comfortable. Our meeting lasted about twenty minutes and we parted with a cordial good-bye.

The Call Back

Three days later I received a phone call from CBS Records saying that phase one was over and now Michael wanted to come to see my studio and look at my photographs. My studio entrance has a loud buzzer, but instead there was a very gentle knock at the door. Rather than have my secretary answer the door, I wanted to answer it myself. I wanted Michael to know that I was real and approachable and also wanted to avoid anything that may have had the potential of creating an uncomfortable situation for Michael. Evidently I passed the test as I received confirmation two days later from CBS that Michael had selected me to do the honors, and the album shoot was scheduled to take place in two weeks.

My fee from CBS was to be $4,000.00 - which was very good back then (and just about top dollar for an album cover). During the next two weeks I had various meetings with the creative heads from CBS and Freddie Demand, Michael's Manager at that time. The purpose was to create a visual direction for the album that everyone agreed on.

Shoot Day

The day of the shoot arrived, I had hired one of the best fashion stylists in LA to gather a large variety of wardrobe, and we began the arduous process of selecting attire for the cover and inside spread. After about an hour of weeding through the clothes, Michael couldn't find anything he was crazy about. I started to panic for a moment, then I noticed Michael looking at the white suit I was wearing. He asked if we had anything like it. We didn't, so I asked him if he would like to wear mine. Considering his choices, this was exactly what he wanted. Fortunately for the shoot and the time involved, the suit fit.

We had decided prior to the shoot that Michael would have a tiger cub in the shots so we had a selection for him to choose from. He loved a six week old cub but was very squeamish about letting it get to close to his face because of possible scratches from its claws. Throughout the shoot I had to get Michael to forget about the possibility of getting scratched, and to focus his attention on me and the camera.

During breaks Michael would stand in front of a full length mirror and practice continual spins, the legendary ones that are now so familiar to us all. He would come alive in front of that mirror. It was fascinating, because he had such a shy and subdued manner throughout the photo session. For lunch he ordered a special meal brought in from a vegetarian restaurant...the ----- on 3rd Avenue, which is his favorite in town. In fact, a few months later he would hire that chef as his personal cook, and to this day.

The shoot lasted about 6 hours with no particular problems out of the ordinary. At the days end, we said good-bye, and arranged to meet in a few days to go over the results. About four days later the photos were ready and we met at Michael's recording studio on Beverly Boulevard. Michael was in the middle of finishing up one of the tracks, so I set up my light table and spread out the transparencies so he could see them all at one time.

The Album Cover

Michael walked into the studio - he was in a very good mood. He looked over the transparencies and was very excited and pleased with what he saw. He said "There are so many good ones here, how can I ever make a decision?" He told me to hold on a minute, and went to the back of the studio. After a moment, he came back out with Quincy Jones. Quincy took one look at the transparencies and without any hesitation pointed to one, and said "That's the cover!"

That was the fastest I have ever seen anyone pick a final transparency for anything, and it was a good choice. I was happy, Michael was happy, the label was happy, and I guess the world was happy."

A kind of magic emerges from this young couple. I really did not know what awaited me when I arrived, but what I saw made me think of the scene which two in love act as if they were alone in the world, in spite of the crowd which surrounds them. That only comes when two people are deeply enthusiastic about one another. Like everyone, I had heard rumours which surrounded their marriage several weeks ago. But it was necessary that I see them with my own eyes to work out the depth and sincerity of their love. This love, neither could hide from me. It will be enough for you to realise it by looking at my photographs, especially those which I took of Lisa. There are attitudes which cannot be faked. In fact, I did not even need to guide Michael and Lisa. I did not need, for example, to ask them to intertwine. They spontaneously did it and most naturally. I had to only say to them to place themselves at such or such a place, and the rest came naturally. They spoke to each other in a very soft tone, the tone of two people very much in love with one another.

It's like when you see two people in the street who're in love and act like there is no one else around them. I saw it with my own eyes.

If you look at the photographs, you'll notice that there is something going on, especially with Lisa. I didn't have to tell them to put their arms around each other, they just did it.

Having spent an entire day with them, I saw some magical things. They talked to each other very quietly like lovers would. For the first shot, I told them to stand close. They immediately put their arms around each other and Lisa cuddled right up to Michael. I told Lisa to sit in a chair and Michael to kneel beside her. He put his arm around her and pulled her head to his chest, while Lisa tenderly took hold of his hand.

Between shots, they were whispering and giggling to each other. They were so happy it was hard to keep their attention on the camera. They were so much into each other.

They are so happy with the photos. Michael put Xs over the ones he liked, and the pages of photos were covered with Xs. But the loving ones with Lisa, showing their happiness, were his favourites.

[Edited 9/2/10 16:38pm]

Okay, is this article talking about THRILLER or HIStory?

The bolded part mentions the biggest selling album in history, which is Thriller, then at the end of the article, it mentions Lisa. I don't know if they're referring to LMP or not...

^^ I think it's just edited two sections of the interview together.

The first talks about Thriller.

The second about Lisa Marie and MJ