The world’s best-selling album turned 40, and a Paramount+ production explores the ’80s masterpiece through exclusive interviews and previously unreleased footage
The youth who first heard Thriller were surviving musically amid the ruins of punk and synth pop. Michael Jackson was then an established and successful artist whose 1979 album Off The Wall won his first Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, although there was very little rhythm and blues. Instead, it was a project that pulsated with rock, funk and disco, a mix that critics and radio stations were reluctant to label as “pop” because of his ethnicity. It was at that moment that he decided to move away from his African-American musical roots that had pigeonholed him since The Jackson 5. He needed to reinvent himself, to speak to the world, and to do so he had to be ambitious. “I want to create the best-selling record in history,” he told his producer Quincy Jones, who let out a laugh at the sound of it, though inwardly, he knew he was deadly serious.
Michael Jackson with Quincy Jones at the 1994 Grammy ceremony.
More than four decades after its release in November 1982, the result of that production is the focus of the new documentary Thriller 40, which pays tribute to a studio album that effectively achieved its goal with more than 100 million copies sold, a milestone in history that still stands today. Of course, it was not the only recognition, as it won eight Grammy Awards, another eight trophies from the American Music Awards (AMA) and was certified 34 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Rediscovering the Legend
The trailer reveals previously unreleased footage about the creation of this classic, plus interviews with figures including Usher, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am, Mark Ronson, Misty Copeland and Maxwell, who explore the process of creating the title, the music videos, the iconic Moonwalk (which debuted on 1983’s Motown 25 special), the artist’s genius and the project’s eventual world domination. “It’s the ultimate role model in modern pop music,” the Black Eyed Peas member states in the preview. “If Thriller were released today, it would still be the greatest album ever made,” he adds.
The featurette also takes a look back from the first track “The Girl is Mine” with Paul McCartney, to the last track, “Beat It,” which incorporated the participation of Eddie Van Halen. The meticulous production, which included reducing tracks to avoid compressing the sound on vinyl, is a testament to the commitment between Jackson and Jones to innovation, implanting radical change in the industry in a demonstration that musical art is about sharing, not segregation.
Thriller 40 will arrive on the Paramount+ platform on December 2.