[danfan]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Musi....ap/index.html

According to that article, he has sold 750 million albums. Seems like a bit of a stretch to me. From what I have found:

Off The Wall - 20 million
Thriller - 104 million (amazing)
Bad - 32 million
Dangerous - 30 million

That's 186 million. Amazing indeed, but where the hell is 750 million coming from? Anything after Dangerous didn't sell much. No way in hell the Jackson 5 sold 550 million albums.

Any guesses?

[Dave 1986]

No idea where the writer of that article got that figure from. I guess that was the first large number that entered his head and he just typed it. I don't think even Elvis or The Beatles are anywhere near 750 Mil.

[TheseDays2005]

thriller indeed sold just over 100m, with that being is best selling album, it takes 1st grade math to do the maths

[mo_rizwan]

The figure 750 million was first announced at the 2006 World Music Awards, where Mike received the Diamond Award (a year after Bon Jovi). It's anyone's guess whether that's true or not.

I will say this; Thriller DID NOT sell 104 million copies. The last time Thriller got a proper count was in 2001, and that was 52 million copies. There's no way that in 5 years (2001-2006).....when he ended up looking more strange, dangled a child off a balcony, did a controversial interview and faced child molestation charges in America (and don't forget that legal/illegal downloads are happening).....that Thriller would double it's sale.

According to the the editor and chief of The Guiness World Records Book (and I have the audio of this interview), the figure of 104 million came from Sony BMG (Record Company), but it's still to be confirmed.....

"From the US, we have 27 million confirmed sales. In the UK; 2.9 million. From the International sales, we're probably gonna estimate 30 (or so) million.

At our very top, we maybe peak at 65 million.

Michael Jackson's people; they're own sales figures boosts us up to something like 104 million.

Ultimately, I think it will remain the biggest selling album of all time."

- Craig, Editor of Guiness World Records Book

[danfan]

According to wikipedia (take it with a grain of salt), I get a total of 233 million albums. There's also this quote:

"As a solo artist at Epic Records (1979-2006), Michael Jackson released six albums to achieve multi-platinum status, those being; Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), HIStory (1995) & Invincible (2001), which between them sold approximately 212 million copies worldwide, with 54.5 million of those being sold in the United States alone - making him one of few artists to sell well over 150 million albums outside the United States. Thrillers sales account for half of Jackson's worldwide and U.S totals."

750 million my arse.

[mo_rizwan]

Originally Posted by danfan

According to wikipedia (take it with a grain of salt), I get a total of 233 million albums.

According to This Page, there have been 5 musical artists that have sold 500 or more records:

Michael Jackson
The Beatles
Bing Crosby
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra

(in that order)

Their source for Michael Jackson is listed as a YouTube video of Mike at the World Music Awards, who (as I've mentioned before in my previous post) got their info from Sony BMG.

So like you say, all this has to be taken with a grain of salt. Personally, I don't think MJ has sold over 500 million albums.

I hope I'm wrong

[(Don't)Lie_to_me]

He hasn't sold three quarters-of-a-billion records.

Just no.

[danfan]

There's no way. The numbers don't add up. I'd like someone to pose the question to Sony.

[TheseDays2005]

Originally Posted by (Don't)Lie_to_me

He hasn't sold a quarter-of-a-billion records.

Just no.

1 or 3 quarter?

Anyway,
It would suprise me if Jackson outsold the Beatles. I assume vinyl or even cassette are included?

[danfan]

Originally Posted by TheseDays2005

1 or 3 quarter?

Anyway,
It would suprise me if Jackson outsold the Beatles. I assume vinyl or even cassette are included?

Must be - Thriller was around a good few years before CD's took off.