"Billie Jean" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, Thriller (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones and co-produced by Jackson. "Billie Jean" blends post-disco, R&B, funk, and dance-pop. The lyrics describe a woman, Billie Jean, who claims that the narrator is the father of her newborn son, which he denies. Jackson said the lyrics were based on groupies' claims about his older brothers when he toured with them as the Jackson 5.
Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 29, 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who had previously worked with Jackson on his 1979 album Off the Wall and who would later produce his 1987 album Bad. Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". With the ongoing backlash against disco music at the time, he moved in a new musical direction, resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, synth-pop, and R&B sounds. Thriller foreshadows the contradictory themes of Jackson's personal life, as he began using a motif of paranoia and darker themes. Paul McCartney appears on "The Girl Is Mine", the first credited appearance of a featured artist on a Michael Jackson album. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a budget of $750,000.
Invincible is the tenth and final studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on October 30, 2001, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's last album before his death in 2009. It features appearances from Carlos Santana, the Notorious B.I.G., and Slash. It incorporates R&B, pop and soul, and similarly to Jackson's previous material, the album explores themes such as love, romance, isolation, media criticism, and social issues.
"Thriller" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records in November 1983 in the UK and on January 23, 1984, in the US, as the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album, Thriller.
"Love Will Never Do (Without You)" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson and was composed by songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Janet recorded the song for her fourth studio album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). It was released as the seventh commercial single from the album by A&M Records on October 2, 1990. In 1991 it topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, becoming the fifth number-one hit of her career and the fourth number-one single from Rhythm Nation 1814. On both the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Dance Club Songs charts, the single peaked in the top five. It also peaked within the top 40 in several countries. It is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 500,000 units in the US alone.
"You Are Not Alone" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his ninth studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995). It was released on August 15, 1995 by Epic and Sony, as the second single from the album.
Ben is the second studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on August 4, 1972, while Jackson was still a member of the Jackson 5. It received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Ben, however, was more successful on the music charts than Jackson's previous studio album, peaking within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Internationally, the album was less successful, peaking at number 12 in Canada, while charting within the top 200 positions in Australia and France.
"Who Is It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on July 13, 1992, as the fifth single from Jackson's eighth studio album, Dangerous (1991). The song was written and composed by Jackson, and produced by Jackson and Bill Bottrell. The song's lyrics pertain to despair over being left by someone you love; some critics noted a comparison to the lyrics of the song to Jackson's single "Billie Jean" from the album Thriller. As part of the promotion for the song, two music videos were released in 1992. The song was not performed by Jackson on any of his world concert tours. He did, however, perform a small segment of the song in his interview with Oprah Winfrey in early 1993.
"Black or White" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on November 11, 1991, as the first single from his eighth studio album, Dangerous (1991). Jackson wrote, composed, and produced it with Bill Bottrell. Epic Records described it as "a rock 'n' roll dance song about racial harmony".
"One More Chance" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was written by R. Kelly and included on Jackson's compilation album Number Ones, released on November 22, 2003. The song was later included on the Australian, French, Swedish and Indonesian editions of King of Pop and the Japanese limited edition of The Ultimate Collection box set.
"Dirty Diana" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It is the ninth track on Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad (1987). The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988, as the fifth single from the album. It presents a harder rock sound similar to "Beat It" from Thriller (1982) and a guitar solo played by Steve Stevens. "Dirty Diana" was written and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. The song's lyrics pertain to groupies. "Dirty Diana" has a moderate tempo and is played in the key of G minor.
"You Rock My World" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his tenth and final studio album, Invincible (2001). It was released as the lead single from the album on August 22, 2001, by Epic Records.
"Butterflies" is a song by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius, and produced by Jackson and Harris. The track appears on Jackson's tenth studio album, Invincible (2001). The song also appeared in The Ultimate Collection (2004). "Butterflies" is a midtempo ballad. The single received generally positive reviews from music critics; some music reviewers described the song as being one of the best songs on Invincible while others felt that it was a "decent track".
"Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson with Carly Simon from Jackson's seventh studio album, All for You (2001). It was written and produced by Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, with additional lyrics by Simon. The R&B and hip hop song is built around a sample of 1972's "You're So Vain" by Simon, who also added some new spoken parts into the song; it talks about an unidentified man who attempted to extort money from Jackson. A remix featuring Missy Elliott was released as the third and final single from the album on November 6, 2001, by Virgin Records.
American singer Michael Jackson released 67 singles as a lead artist, and 10 as a featured artist. One of the best-selling artists of all time, his album and single sales as of 2013 stood at 400 million. In the United States, Jackson amassed 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and was the first artist to have a top-ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades. In 2012, Jackson was ranked the fifth best selling singles artist in the United Kingdom with 15.3 million singles sold.
"Beat It" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, Thriller (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson later said: "I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if I were to buy a rock song... and I wanted the children to really enjoy it—the school children as well as the college students." It includes a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen.
"Heaven Can Wait" is a song recorded by Michael Jackson, originally released on his 2001 studio album Invincible. The song was written by Jackson, Teddy Riley, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard, Nate Smith, Teron Beal, Eritza Laues and Kenny Quiller.
"Fall Again" is a song written for Michael Jackson by Walter Afanasieff and Robin Thicke with some lyrics written by Jackson. He recorded his demo of the song in 1999. Songwriter Afanasieff confirmed in January 2000, "We worked to the point that we were three-fourths of the way finished, then the incident happened when his son (Prince) got very sick. We’re going to have to reserve a little spot to finish the song." The demo was later released on November 16, 2004, as an album track of Jackson's limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection. In 2010, a version by Kenny G with Robin Thicke on vocals became a hit. The song has been performed by many artists. Jackson recorded a demo of the song in 1999 during the sessions for his album Invincible, but the song was never finished.
"Invincible" is a song by English rapper Tinie Tempah. Written by Tempah, co-written and produced by iSHi, the song features guest vocals from American recording artist, Kelly Rowland. It was released on 26 December 2010, serving as the fourth official single from Tempah's debut album, Disc-Overy. The song was conceived by Tempah as a tribute to the music which Rowland used to release when she was part of Destiny's Child. Critics noted the song's production, which consists of brassy horns and a piano riff similar to David Guetta and Rowland's hit single "When Love Takes Over" (2009). An accompanying music video sees Tempah travelling through London reminiscing about his humble beginnings. Rowland appears as a projected image on the buildings.
