Michael Jackson’s Thriller returned to No. 2 as Halloween reissues helped lift vinyl sales to their highest tracked week.
Michael Jackson returned to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with Thriller, and record buyers played a big part in getting the album there.
The 1982 release sold 19,000 vinyl copies during the Halloween tracking week, according to Billboard. That is its biggest vinyl week since Luminate began tracking sales electronically in 1991.
The No. 2 finish is the album’s highest position since 1984. Jackson last reached that spot with Xscape, which debuted there in May 2014.
Vinyl accounted for about 86% of its 22,000 album sales. Across purchases, streams and track sales, Thriller earned 55,000 equivalent album units, up 89%. It rose from No. 13.
The buying surge coincided with a fresh set of physical editions. Golden Pearl vinyl, a red-and-black marble pressing and a gold metallic cassette all carried October 30 release dates, putting their arrival one day before Halloween.
The two colored records were priced at $22.98 each, while the cassette was $19.98. The Golden Pearl edition was offered as a direct-to-consumer exclusive. Each product listing limited purchases to four copies per customer.
The listed track programs run through nine songs, opening with “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and closing with “The Lady In My Life.” Buyers get the familiar album in new physical forms, including “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and its title track.
Jackson’s Halloween chart returns have produced milestones before.
As AllHipHop reported last year, the song “Thriller” reached the Hot 100’s Top 10 again, giving him Top 10 hits across six decades. This week, the album comes close to the summit of a different chart.
The record also entered Halloween with renewed interest built earlier in 2026. The April release of the biopic “Michael” sent Jackson’s catalog back up the charts, with Thriller returning to the Billboard 200’s Top 10.
That gave the album another major audience moment months before the seasonal rush.
Streaming still supplied the largest share of this week’s album units at 32,000. But purchases grew 335%, putting the physical catalog business at the center of this return. The results cover October 30 through November 5 and appear on the November 14 chart.