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Music

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Just Became the First Album to Go 30 Times Platinum

When it comes to any previous platinum certification accomplishment, 'Thriller' has now "Beat It."

Move over Adele! Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best album of all time, Jackson's magnum opus with Quincy Jones, has sold a lot of copies: It's sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, and, now, in America, it's become the first album to top the 30 million mark. Recording Industry Association of America, i.e. the guys who hand out the gold and platinum plaques, announced yesterday that the album is the first in the organization's history to reach the platinum mark 30 times over.

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"RIAA has awarded Gold & Platinum records on behalf of the music business for nearly 60 years, but this is the first time an artist has crossed the 30X multi-Platinum plateau," RIAA chairman and CEO Cary Sherman said in a statement, according to Billboard. "We are honored to celebrate the unique status of Thriller in Gold & Platinum history. What an exceptional achievement and testament to Thriller's enduring spot in our hearts and musical history."

Thriller was released in 1982, and you may remember it as the album with the music video where Michael Jackson wears the red jacket with the zippers and does the Halloween classic zombie Thriller dance. Weirdly enough, I just had a dream about that video last night! Anyway, you might say that when it comes to any previous platinum certification accomplishment, Thriller has now "Beat It" ("Beat It" is a title of a song on the album, which hopefully you know considering that fully 10 percent of the country has bought this album at some point). Anyway, let's all play "Wanna Be Startin' Something" today and celebrate!

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