Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson is an American R&B, pop and rock artist whose recording career has spanned from 1963 to the present. In 1982, Jackson recorded what is reported as the best-selling album of all-time, Thriller with reported worldwide sales of over 104 million [2] from Guinness World Records. A reference to sales of over 104 million for Thriller was also made by Beyonce Knowles as she presented him with the Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards on November 15, 2006. Jackson's record company Sony BMG has never given an accumulative sales figure for Jackson, but estimates vary for Jackson's top 3 albums as selling between 90 and 120 million alone. [3]. It has been estimated by various fan sites that Jackson's accumulative worldwide sales is about 300 million, while in November 2006, Jackson's publicist, Raymone K. Bain, announced that Jackson had sold over 750 million albums and singles worldwide.[4][5], although this figure has not been verified.
Jackson has been awarded numerous honors, including the World Music Awards' Best-selling pop male artist of the Millennium [6], and on 14 November 2006 Guinness Book Of Records presented Jackson with an award for The most successful Artist of all time for achieving a staggering $125 million in album/singles sales in one year - among other certificates. [7]. Jackson is often referred to as the 'King of Pop' by fans and media alike.
From 1963 to 1984, Jackson was also a member of The Jackson 5 (later called "The Jacksons"). Their accumulative worldwide sales are reported to be approximately 60 million [8]. Sometimes their sales total is added to Jackson's solo sales total because he was their lead singer from 1968 to 1984 and chief songwriter from 1978 to 1984.