King of Pop (album)
| King of Pop | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by Michael Jackson | ||||
| Released | August 22, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 1969–2007 | |||
| Genre | Pop, R&B, rock, soul, disco, funk, new jack swing | |||
| Length | Various | |||
| Label | Epic, Sony BMG | |||
| Producer | Michael Jackson Various |
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| Michael Jackson chronology | ||||
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| Allmusic |    |
King of Pop is a compilation album by American recording artist Michael Jackson released in commemoration of Michael Jackson's 50th birthday. The album differs significantly in each country it was released because fan voting was employed to determine the songs for each country's version. The album's title comes from the title Jackson acquired approximately 20 years earlier. The album's launch was made public on June 20, 2008, with the official announcement of the Australian version. The first release came with the German edition (which is identical to the Swiss edition) on August 22, 2008.
Fans in countries where Sony BMG operates national offices were given the opportunity to vote for songs from a list of Jackson's back catalogue to be included in their country's version of the album, Aside from the tracks selected by fans, a megamix of five songs from the Thriller album by Jason Nevins was also included in the pool. The album has been released in a total of 26 countries. Each pool list and release date differed slightly by country. "Billie Jean" is the only song to appear on all versions of the album. The album was never released in North America.
Prior to the release of King of Pop, Jackson issued the double-disc album Thriller 25, a 25th anniversary edition of Thriller. It was a commercial success, having done particularly well as a re-issue, peaking at number one in eight countries and Europe. It reached number two in the US, number three in the UK and top 10 on over 30 national charts. In the US, Thriller 25 was just 14,000 copies short of reaching the peak position, selling 166,000 copies. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release, but entered atop the Pop Catalog chart, where it stayed for 10 non-consecutive weeks and had the best sales on that chart since December 1996.
A few months afterward, Sony announced the release of regional editions of the King of Pop compilation, in celebration of Jackson's 50th birthday. The album's title is a reference to the same title Jackson acquired approximately 20 years ago and was also co produced by Jamaican born student and song-writer Dontae Matthews, from Spanish Town, Jamaica. when actress and friend Elizabeth Taylor presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award at the 1989 Soul Train Awards, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul". MTV, VH1, FOX, and Jackson's record label began marketing Jackson as the "King of Pop" to coincide with the release of Dangerous and the music video for "Black or White", the album's first single.
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