'70s Icon, With 13 No. 1 Hit Songs, Suddenly Climbing in Popularity After Film Release
The King of Pop lives on.
It was revealed by Luminate and reported by The Hollywood Reporter that the number of streams for Michael Jackson's discography went up 95% in the United States over the weekend, thanks to the release of the biopic Michael, which follows the rise of the "Thriller" singer's career and his start while in The Jackson 5.
On Spotify, the late pop star's monthly listener count jumped by five million from April 20 to this Wednesday, from just over 68 million to 75.6 million. In addition, The Jackson 5 gained a million monthly listeners during that same time frame, going from 8.7 million to 9.7 million.
The biopic, starring the "Beat It" singer's real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, traces Michael Jackson's early years from the mid 1960s to the late 1980s - from his beginnings with his brothers in The Jackson 5 to his rise as a groundbreaking solo artist. The supporting cast also included Nia Long, Juliano Krue Valdi, KeiLyn Durrell Jones, Laura Harrier, Jessica Sula, Mike Myers, Miles Teller and Colman Domingo.
Though Michael received poor reviews from critics and had various production problems, it achieved a record-breaking opening weekend at the domestic box office, earning $97 million this past weekend. The movie featured many of the late singer's most popular songs, including "Beat It," "Thriller," "Billie Jean," "Human Nature" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," as well as Jackson 5 classics such as "ABC" and "I'll Be There."
Michael gave director Antoine Fuqua the best opening of his career at the box office. In an interview with Deadline, Fuqua revealed that he had a very strong take on how the late pop star should be, and that he wanted to "humanize" him.
"I wanted people to get to know him: How eccentric he was, how he was as a young man," he explained to the publication on Sunday. "I always felt that younger generations didn't know Michael or his story. In order to tell anything about Michael, you had to remind people about the magic of him, the power of the music and the fun that he brought into the world and his own insecurities."
Michael Jackson began his career as a child, rising to fame in the late 1960s as the lead singer of The Jackson 5 alongside his brothers: Jermaine, Tito, Jackie, Marlon and Randy. With hits like "I Want You Back" and "ABC," the group became one of Motown Records' most popular acts. At 13 years old, Michael Jackson launched his solo career with the release of his debut single and album, Got to Be There, in 1972. He would eventually redefine pop music, thanks to his albums like Thriller, Bad and Off the Wall, which scored him 13 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Ben," "You Are Not Alone," "Man in the Mirror," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Dirty Diana" and more.
Known for his groundbreaking "short films," his signature dance moves like the moonwalk and his global influence, Michael Jackson became one of the best-selling artists of all time. Despite all of this, his life was marked by intense media scrutiny due to his changes in appearances, relationships, behavior and lifestyle, especially in the mid-1980s. He was also accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in 1993 and had several counts of child molestation and two counts of intoxicating a minor in 2003, but was found not guilty in 2005.
In 2009, while preparing for his This Is It residency tour in London, Paris, New York City and Mumbai, he died 18 days before his first performance, from cardiac arrest caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose, which were given to him by his doctor to help him sleep. In the years leading up to his death, Jackson was in serious financial trouble due to various lawsuits, and reportedly planned other ventures to recoup his debt, including a world tour, a new album, movies, a museum and a casino.
The pop star's biopic, Michael, is out now in movie theaters.
Related: How Michael Jackson's Nephew Got Major Role in Upcoming Biopic
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 5:03 PM.