During a television show Michael debuted
the dance move: moonwalk. The perfor-
mance received an overwhelming response
from the live audience and viewers. The
performance sparked a new interest in the
album Thriller and millions rushed to the
store to purchase it.
“Beat It” and “Billie Jean” still remained at
the top of the charts. The short film and
single “Thriller” was released on 2nd De-
cember 1983. For the 14 minute short film,
John Landis was hired to direct and Rick
Baker for special effects make up. The film
cost an estimated $1 million of Michael’s
own money. To re-coup some of the budget
costs, John Landis negotiated a deal with
Showtime, MTV and Vestron to fund a 60
minute documentary on the making of the
short film. Making Michael Jackson’s Thriller
was aired in 1984 and sold on video tape. It
became the biggest selling music video of
all time, with estimated sales of 9 million as
of 2006.
On January 16th, 1984, Michael Jackson
won 8 American Music Awards, including
“Favourite Male Pop/Rock Artist”, “Favou-
rite Pop/Rock Album” for Thriller, “Favourite
Soul/R&B Album” for Thriller as well as the
Award of Merit.
On January 27, 1984, Michael was burned
on the back of his head while filming a com-
mercial with his brothers for the Pepsi Cor-
poration. Pepsi paid Michael Jackson $1.5
million, which he immediately donated to a
burn centre created in his name and honour.
In May 1984, Michael was asked to do-
nate the song “Beat It” for anti drink driving
advertisements. For donating the song and
for his many achievements in recoding and
charity, Michael was given a special award
at a presentation at the White House by
President Ronald Reagan.
Today, Thriller is by far the biggest selling
album of all time. Thriller went on to sell
upwards of 109 million copies, causing
Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli to
muse that “at some point, Thriller stopped
selling like a leisure item — like a magazine,
a toy, tickets to a hit movie — and started
selling like a household staple.”
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