Michael Jackson’s Top 50 Hit Songs on the Billboard Hot 100

In a career that spanned almost all 50 years of his life, Michael Jackson became a mainstay on the Billboard charts, evolving from a child star into a global phenomenon and an undisputed legend.

His dominance on the Billboard Hot 100 reflects his record-breaking career: As a solo artist, 13 of his singles reached No.

1 – tied with Drake for the most by a male artist in history – and an additional four songs by the Jackson 5, with Michael on lead vocals, topped the chart.

Jackson first gained major recognition as the lead singer of family band the Jackson 5 with his siblings Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito, who notched massive hits for Motown off the bat.

By age 12, the earliest instance of Jackson’s record-shattering capabilities emerged: The Jackson 5 became the first act to have their first four Hot 100 entries all reach No.

1.

Parallel to his siblings’ success, Michael scored solo hits – including Hot 100 champ “Ben” – through the 1970s.

Although 1979’s Quincy Jones-produced Off the Wall was his fifth album, its bold creative direction positioned a then-21-year-old Michael as a fully-formed artist who would soon claim the King of Pop crown.

The follow-up, 1982’s Thriller , is widely considered the best-selling album of all time and spent an astonishing 37 weeks atop the Billboard 200 – a record for an album by a single artist.

In another first, th album’s seven singles all reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with two, the immortal “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” topping the chart.

While Thriller showed Jackson at unprecedented commercial heights, the superstar continued to make Hot 100 history with subsequent projects.

1987’s Bad produced a record five No.

1 singles, a mark unmatched by any album until 2011, and “You Are Not Alone” in 1995, became the first song to ever debut at No.

1 on the Hot 100.