Michael JacksonWhat better way to honor the prince?

“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” made motion picture history as the highest grossing concert film of all time. That’s not all. The two-disc companion to the movie released by Sony Music’s Epic Records makes its first week debut in the #1 spot on Canada’s Nielsen SoundScan Top 200 album chart, the U.S. Billboard Top 200 chart, as well as the Soundtrack album chart in both countries.

Sales totaled 44,441 in Canada and 373,100 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and this figure does not include significant sales from non-traditional retailers. In Canada, “This Is It” is Jackson’s first number one album since the establishment of SoundScan in 1997. With over 40,000 in first week sales, the album claims the third best sales week of 2009, trailing only behind U2 and Eminem’s releases. It’s no surprise that “This Is It” also claimed the #1 spot in 15 other countries, including Japan, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Middle East and Colombia. It was also top-3 in the UK, Australia, Argentina, Austra, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. Furthermore, a simultaneous #1 album and #1 documentary film as not happened since 1971 when the Rolling Stones did it with the album “Sticky Fingers” and movie “Gimme Shelter.”

Michael Jackson albums now occupy the top five spots of Billboard catalog album chart at #1, #3 and #4; his Number Ones album is this year’s best-selling overall album year to date. Michael Jackson’s accomplishments continue in Canada with eleven albums charting in Nielsen SoundScan’s Top Catalogue Albums including Thriller (Remastered), Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition, Essential Michael Jackson, and Number Ones. Throughout his career, Michael Jackson has spent a total of 51 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart. Only The Beatles and Elvis Presley have spent more weeks at the top.

According to the press release, Disc one features the original album masters of some of Michael’s biggest hits such as “Billie Jean,” “Smooth Criminal,”  ”Human Nature,” and “Thriller” arranged in the same sequence as they appear in the film. The disc ends with two versions of “This Is It,” the original and an orchestral version.  Disc two offers fans a rare listen to the early demo versions of classics “She’s Out Of My Life,” “Wanna Be Startin’,” “Somethin’,” and “Beat It.” This disc also features a recently discovered spoken word poem from Michael Jackson entitled “Planet Earth.”







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