On this day, November 2, 1983, Michael Jackson dropped a bombshell on the music world. The single “Thriller” was released, the seventh and final track from an album that had already shattered records. And yet, this one hit even harder.

By late 1983, the album Thriller had already spun off six massive hits:

• “The Girl Is Mine” (with Paul McCartney)
• “Billie Jean”
• “Beat It”
• “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”
• “Human Nature”
• “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”

Each track had charted in the Top 10. “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” both hit No. 1, unheard of at the time. And then came the title track: “Thriller.” The song itself was spooky fun.

Ghouls, funk, and a creepy voiceover by horror legend Vincent Price. But the single didn’t just ride on sound, it rode on spectacle.

The Music Video

On November 2, “Thriller” hit the airwaves. Weeks later, the music video premiered—and the world tilted. This wasn’t a video. It was a movie.

Directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), the “Thriller” video ran nearly 14 minutes. It had makeup, costumes, choreography, a plot, and a budget Hollywood would envy. Michael Jackson turned a music video into an art form.

MTV had never seen anything like it, and neither had anyone else. It became appointment television. People gathered around screens to watch a pop star dance with the dead. Jackson’s red jacket. The zombie moves. That now-iconic group routine.

The video changed music marketing forever.

The Impact 

“Thriller” only reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, but its impact was towering.

The album soared. Sales exploded. MTV shifted. Pop music had a new king. And the GRAMMYs noticed.

Jackson won a record eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including Album of the Year.

Thriller became, and it still remains, the best-selling album of all time, with over 70 million copies sold.

Why does it still matter?

Because “Thriller” wasn’t just a hit. It was a moment that redefined what music could be.

It fused sound, cinema, and image. It broke racial barriers on TV. It made music visual, theatrical, and unforgettable. Jackson didn’t just make a record; he built a universe.

Fun fact: The Library of Congress added the “Thriller” video to the National Film Registry.