The best Michael Jackson songs span more than fifty years, from “I Want You Back” with the Jackson 5 in 1969 to the posthumous “Love Never Felt So Good” in 2014. This list ranks 40 of them, with each song’s Billboard Hot 100 peak, release year and album, plus a table of every solo No. 1 and a corrected FAQ.
In this article
- Quick facts about Michael Jackson’s chart career
- Michael Jackson’s 13 solo Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s
- The 40 best Michael Jackson songs, ranked
- The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons: the songs that started it
- Frequently asked questions
Quick facts about Michael Jackson’s chart career
Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was a mainstay on the Billboard charts from the age of 11 until his death in 2009, and beyond. As a solo artist he scored 13 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles, a record for a male artist that Drake later tied. Four more Jackson 5 songs with Michael on lead vocals also reached No. 1, and the group was the first act in history to see its first four Hot 100 entries all top the chart.
His 1982 album Thriller is widely regarded as the best-selling album of all time. It spent 37 weeks atop the Billboard 200, a record for an album by a single artist, sent all seven of its singles into the Hot 100 top 10, and is certified 34-times Platinum by the RIAA, the highest certification for an original studio album. The follow-up, 1987’s Bad, produced five Hot 100 No. 1s, a record no album matched until 2011. In 1995, “You Are Not Alone” became the first song ever to debut at No. 1.
Producer Quincy Jones shaped Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Rod Temperton wrote “Rock With You,” “Off the Wall” and “Thriller.” Teddy Riley brought New Jack Swing to Dangerous. Along the way Jackson worked with Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Siedah Garrett, Glen Ballard, Vincent Price, Mick Jagger, Janet Jackson and, after his death, Justin Timberlake and Drake.
Michael Jackson’s 13 solo Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s
| # | Song | Album | Year | Weeks at No. 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben | Ben | 1972 | 1 |
| 2 | Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough | Off the Wall | 1979 | 1 |
| 3 | Rock With You | Off the Wall | 1980 | 4 |
| 4 | Billie Jean | Thriller | 1983 | 7 |
| 5 | Beat It | Thriller | 1983 | 3 |
| 6 | Say Say Say (with Paul McCartney) | Pipes of Peace | 1983 | 6 |
| 7 | I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (with Siedah Garrett) | Bad | 1987 | 1 |
| 8 | Bad | Bad | 1987 | 2 |
| 9 | The Way You Make Me Feel | Bad | 1988 | 1 |
| 10 | Man in the Mirror | Bad | 1988 | 2 |
| 11 | Dirty Diana | Bad | 1988 | 1 |
| 12 | Black or White | Dangerous | 1991 | 7 |
| 13 | You Are Not Alone | HIStory | 1995 | 1 |
Add the Jackson 5’s four No. 1s from 1970, “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There,” and Michael sang lead on 17 chart-toppers.
The 40 best Michael Jackson songs, ranked
Ranking is a mix of chart performance, influence and how the songs have held up. Peak positions are Billboard Hot 100 unless stated.
1. Billie Jean
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (seven weeks) · Year: 1983 · Album: Thriller
The bassline, the hi-hat, the paranoid story of a woman who claims Jackson is the father of her son. “Billie Jean” spent seven weeks at No. 1 and turned a superstar into a global phenomenon. Its most famous moment came after it left the top spot: the Motown 25 performance on May 16, 1983, where Jackson debuted the moonwalk to an audience of millions. It is the song most fans name first, and Rolling Stone readers voted it No. 2 in their poll of his best.
2. Beat It
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (three weeks) · Year: 1983 · Album: Thriller
Quincy Jones wanted a rock song on Thriller; Jackson wrote one about walking away from a fight. Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo, recorded for free, gave it crossover credibility, and the song reached No. 14 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart alongside its pop run. It won the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, and its gang-fight video is one of the most recognisable ever made.
3. Thriller
Hot 100 peak: No. 4 · Year: 1984 · Album: Thriller
Written by Rod Temperton with a spoken cameo from horror legend Vincent Price, “Thriller” was the seventh and final single from the album. The 14-minute John Landis video, with its zombie dance, changed what a music video could be. It has become the definitive Halloween song, and every October it returns to the charts.
4. Man in the Mirror
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (two weeks) · Year: 1988 · Album: Bad
Written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard, with backing from the Winans and a choir led by gospel pioneer Andraé Crouch, “Man in the Mirror” is Jackson’s great self-improvement anthem. It made Bad the first album ever to produce four Hot 100 No. 1s, and Rolling Stone readers voted it the best Michael Jackson song of all.
5. Rock With You
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (four weeks) · Year: 1980 · Album: Off the Wall
Rod Temperton’s smooth disco-soul ballad was Jackson’s third solo No. 1 and, at the time, his longest-running. It ranked No. 4 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 for 1980 and helped Jackson earn Top Singles Artist that year. The Off the Wall era is where the child star became the adult artist.
6. Smooth Criminal
Hot 100 peak: No. 7 · Year: 1989 · Album: Bad
The seventh and last single from Bad, and the centrepiece of Jackson’s film Moonwalker. The anti-gravity lean in the video became one of his signature moves. Rolling Stone readers placed it fifth in their poll, and Alien Ant Farm’s 2001 cover introduced it to a new generation.
7. Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week) · Year: 1979 · Album: Off the Wall
The first single from Off the Wall and Jackson’s first No. 1 on Epic Records. A disco-funk track with an irresistible hook, it won his first Grammy, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and announced the mature artist who would become the King of Pop.
8. The Way You Make Me Feel
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week) · Year: 1988 · Album: Bad
The third single from Bad and its third consecutive No. 1, a feel-good shuffle about being in love. Paul Anka later recorded a swing version on his Rock Swings album.
9. Black or White
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (seven weeks) · Year: 1991 · Album: Dangerous
The lead single from Dangerous, featuring Slash on guitar, spent seven weeks at No. 1, matching “Billie Jean” for Jackson’s longest reign. Its video pioneered the morphing effect, and its message about race made it one of his most quoted songs.
10. Bad
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (two weeks) · Year: 1987 · Album: Bad
The title track was inspired by a real story about a boy who left for private school and was killed out of jealousy when he returned. Produced by Quincy Jones, it spent two weeks at No. 1 and gave Jackson his second No. 1 title track after “Ben.”
11. Dirty Diana
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week) · Year: 1988 · Album: Bad
A rock song about a relentless groupie, with Steve Stevens on guitar. It was Bad’s fifth and final No. 1, setting the record for most No. 1s from one album that stood until 2011.
12. I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (with Siedah Garrett)
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week) · Year: 1987 · Album: Bad
Written by Jackson, this duet with Quincy Jones’s protégée Siedah Garrett was the lead single from Bad, an unexpected ballad opening an album of uptempo tracks. It also topped the Adult Contemporary chart in four weeks.
13. Say Say Say (with Paul McCartney)
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (six weeks) · Year: 1983 · Album: Pipes of Peace
After “The Girl Is Mine,” McCartney invited Jackson onto his own album, and the result spent six weeks at No. 1. By Billboard’s own weighting it ranks as the biggest Hot 100 hit of Jackson’s career.
14. Remember the Time
Hot 100 peak: No. 3 · Year: 1992 · Album: Dangerous
Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing production and a star-studded Egyptian-themed video with Eddie Murphy, Iman and Magic Johnson. A showcase for Jackson’s vocal range and his knack for a hook.
15. Human Nature
Hot 100 peak: No. 7 · Year: 1983 · Album: Thriller
The gentlest of Thriller’s seven top-10 singles. SWV took its melody back to No. 2 in 1993 with “Right Here (Human Nature Remix),” and it remains one of the most sampled tracks in his catalog.
16. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Hot 100 peak: No. 5 · Year: 1983 · Album: Thriller
The fourth single from Thriller, written by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones, with the “mama-se mama-sa” chant that closes it. It peaked at No. 5 and returned to the chart in 2008 via an Akon remix for the album’s 25th anniversary.
17. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
Hot 100 peak: No. 10 · Year: 1983 · Album: Thriller
Thriller’s sixth consecutive top-10 single, with Janet and LaToya Jackson on backing vocals. Sampled by Monica and by Kanye West on “Good Life.”
18. You Are Not Alone
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week) · Year: 1995 · Album: HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I
Written by R. Kelly, this ballad made chart history as the first song ever to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100, on September 2, 1995. It was Jackson’s 13th and last solo No. 1, and was nominated for a Grammy.
19. Off the Wall
Hot 100 peak: No. 10 · Year: 1980 · Album: Off the Wall
The title track, another Rod Temperton composition, gave the album its third top-10 single, following two No. 1s.
20. She’s Out of My Life
Hot 100 peak: No. 10 · Year: 1980 · Album: Off the Wall
Quincy Jones kept the arrangement sparse for this ballad, and Jackson can be heard breaking down at the end of the take. The fourth top-10 from Off the Wall.
21. Will You Be There
Hot 100 peak: No. 7 · Year: 1993 · Album: Dangerous
A gospel-tinged ballad that became the theme to Free Willy and won the MTV Movie Award for best song. The seventh top-40 hit from Dangerous.
22. In the Closet
Hot 100 peak: No. 6 · Year: 1992 · Album: Dangerous
The whispering “Mystery Girl” on this track was revealed to be Princess Stephanie of Monaco. The song was first conceived as a duet with Madonna before the two parted ways over its direction.
23. Scream (with Janet Jackson) / Childhood
Hot 100 peak: No. 5 · Year: 1995 · Album: HIStory
Michael’s first duet with his sister Janet, a furious response to media coverage of his personal life, paired with “Childhood” as a double A-side. Mark Romanek’s black-and-white video was famously expensive.
24. They Don’t Care About Us
Hot 100 peak: No. 30 · Year: 1996 · Album: HIStory
A protest song about injustice and mistreatment, with two Spike Lee videos, one shot in a Brazilian favela and one in a prison. Modest on the Hot 100, it has become one of his most streamed and most covered songs.
25. Heal the World
Hot 100 peak: No. 27 · Year: 1992 · Album: Dangerous
Written by Jackson and co-produced with Bruce Swedien, a plea for children and humanity that Jackson performed at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show. It gave its name to his charitable foundation.
26. Earth Song
Hot 100 peak: Not released as a US single · UK peak: No. 1 · Year: 1995 · Album: HIStory
A blues-and-gospel epic about the environment and social justice, “Earth Song” was Jackson’s best-selling single in the UK, where it spent six weeks at No. 1 over Christmas 1995. Fans voted it his best song in a 2009 poll after his death.
27. Blood on the Dance Floor
Hot 100 peak: No. 42 · US Dance Club Songs: No. 1 · Year: 1997 · Album: Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix
Written and produced with Teddy Riley, a dance-pop track about a dangerous woman named Susie. It topped the US dance chart and reached No. 1 in the UK.
28. You Rock My World
Hot 100 peak: No. 10 · Year: 2001 · Album: Invincible
The lead single from his final studio album, co-produced with Rodney Jerkins, with a Paul Hunter video featuring Chris Tucker, Michael Madsen and Marlon Brando.
29. Jam
Hot 100 peak: No. 26 · Year: 1992 · Album: Dangerous
The New Jack Swing opener of Dangerous, with a rap from Heavy D and a video co-starring Michael Jordan. A song about fusing everything into something new, which is what the album did.
30. Who Is It
Hot 100 peak: No. 14 · Year: 1993 · Album: Dangerous
A brooding song about betrayal, with Jackson beatboxing the rhythm. Its video shows him in multiple disguises.
31. Dangerous
Hot 100 peak: Not released as a US single · Year: 1993 · Album: Dangerous
The title track from an album that sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and produced nine singles. An uptempo dance number with a driving beat, best known for Jackson’s live performances of it.
32. Stranger in Moscow
Hot 100 peak: Did not chart · UK peak: No. 4 · Year: 1996 · Album: HIStory
Written during the Dangerous tour, one of his loneliest and most beautiful ballads. A modest performer in the US, it is a favourite among fans and critics.
33. Another Part of Me
Hot 100 peak: No. 11 · Year: 1988 · Album: Bad
First heard in 1986 in the Disney 3D film Captain EO, then released as the sixth single from Bad.
34. Butterflies
Hot 100 peak: No. 14 · Year: 2002 · Album: Invincible
A neo-soul ballad with backing from British duo Floetry, one of the highlights of Invincible.
35. Love Never Felt So Good (with Justin Timberlake)
Hot 100 peak: No. 9 · Year: 2014 · Album: Xscape
Originally written with Paul Anka in 1983, released posthumously as a duet with Justin Timberlake. It reached No. 9, giving Jackson a top-10 hit five years after his death.
36. Chicago
Hot 100 peak: Not a single · Year: 2014 · Album: Xscape
A track from the posthumous Xscape album about a woman who hid that she was married. It shows how much unreleased material Jackson left behind.
37. Blame It on the Boogie (The Jacksons)
Hot 100 peak: No. 54 · Year: 1978 · Album: Destiny
A disco staple that under-performed on the US pop chart but became a dancefloor standard and a UK top-10 hit.
38. Ben
Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week) · Year: 1972 · Album: Ben
Jackson’s first solo No. 1, at 14, was a love song to a rat from the film of the same name. Sweet, strange and a permanent part of the catalog.
39. Got to Be There
Hot 100 peak: No. 4 · Year: 1971 · Album: Got to Be There
His debut solo single, released while the Jackson 5 were still charting, reached No. 4 and showed Motown that Michael could carry a record alone.
40. Rockin’ Robin
Hot 100 peak: No. 2 · Year: 1972 · Album: Got to Be There
A playful cover of Bobby Day’s 1958 hit, sung by a 13-year-old Michael, that reached No. 2 on both the Hot 100 and the R&B chart.
The Jackson 5 and The Jacksons: the songs that started it
Before the solo career there was the family band from Gary, Indiana: Michael with brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon, signed to Motown by Berry Gordy. Their first four Hot 100 entries all went to No. 1 in 1970, a feat no act had managed before.
| Song | Hot 100 peak | Year |
|---|---|---|
| I Want You Back | No. 1 (one week) | 1970 |
| ABC | No. 1 (two weeks) | 1970 |
| The Love You Save | No. 1 (two weeks) | 1970 |
| I’ll Be There | No. 1 (five weeks) | 1970 |
| Mama’s Pearl | No. 2 | 1971 |
| Never Can Say Goodbye | No. 2 | 1971 |
| Dancing Machine | No. 2 | 1974 |
| Enjoy Yourself (The Jacksons) | No. 6 | 1977 |
| Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) (The Jacksons) | No. 7 | 1979 |
| State of Shock (with Mick Jagger) | No. 3 | 1984 |
“ABC” replaced the Beatles’ “Let It Be” at No. 1, and “The Love You Save” replaced “The Long and Winding Road,” a symbolic hand-over from pop’s biggest group to its future king. “I’ll Be There,” five weeks at No. 1, was later taken back to the top by Mariah Carey in 1992. After leaving Motown for Epic in 1976 the group became The Jacksons, and “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” became their biggest dance record.
Frequently asked questions
What is Michael Jackson’s most famous song?
“Billie Jean” is the song most people name, and “Thriller” is the one most people have seen, thanks to its video. By Billboard’s chart weighting, “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney is his biggest Hot 100 hit, with six weeks at No. 1.
What is Michael Jackson’s best album?
Thriller (1982). It is widely regarded as the best-selling album of all time, spent 37 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, sent all seven singles into the Hot 100 top 10, and is certified 34-times Platinum by the RIAA.
How many No. 1 songs did Michael Jackson have?
Thirteen as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100, tied with Drake for the most by a male artist. Add the Jackson 5’s four No. 1s with Michael on lead vocals and the total is 17.
What are Michael Jackson’s top 5 hits?
By chart performance: “Say Say Say,” “Billie Jean,” “I’ll Be There,” “Beat It” and “Rock With You.” By popular vote, Rolling Stone readers chose “Man in the Mirror,” “Billie Jean,” “Thriller,” “Beat It” and “Smooth Criminal.”
Which album had the most No. 1 singles?
Bad (1987), with five: “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana.” No album matched that until Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream in 2011.
What is Michael Jackson’s most romantic song?
“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” his 1987 duet with Siedah Garrett, which topped both the Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary chart. “Rock With You” and “The Way You Make Me Feel” are the other usual answers.
Which Michael Jackson song was the first to debut at No. 1?
“You Are Not Alone,” on the Hot 100 dated September 2, 1995. It was the first song in the chart’s history to enter at No. 1.
Did Michael Jackson have hits after his death?
Yes. “Love Never Felt So Good” with Justin Timberlake reached No. 9 in 2014, and Drake’s 2018 track “Don’t Matter to Me,” which samples an unreleased Jackson recording, also peaked at No. 9.
Chart positions are Billboard Hot 100 peaks unless stated. Updated September 2026.
That’s all! You can also check out The 31 Best Lisa Marie Presley Songs and 15 Best Bass Songs.
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