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| extra1 = {{hlist|Jones|Jackson{{ref|a|[a]}}}}
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| length1 = 6:20
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#"Black or White"
| title8 = [[Black or White]] (Remastered Version)
| note8 = featuring [[Bill Bottrell|L.T.B.]]
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| length8 = 4:16

#"Beat It"
#"Beat It"
#"Off the Wall"
#"Off the Wall"

Revision as of 22:23, 8 December 2023

Not to be confused with Kings of Pop.

King of Pop
Greatest hits album by
Michael Jackson
ReleasedAugust 22, 2008
Recorded1979–2001
LabelEpic
Producer
  • Michael Jackson
  • various
Michael Jackson chronology
Thriller 25
(2008) 		King of Pop
(2008) 		50 Best Songs – The Motown Years: Michael Jackson & The Jackson 5
(2008)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

King of Pop is a compilation album by American singer and recording artist Michael Jackson, released in commemoration of his 50th birthday in 2008. The album title comes from the honorific title Jackson himself acquired approximately 20 years earlier.

The track listing of the album differs significantly across countries because fans in each country where Sony BMG operated national offices were allowed to vote on which songs would appear on that country's edition of the album. The initial pool of songs, which also differed across countries, were selected from Jackson's back catalogue and also included a new "megamix" of five songs from the Thriller album that was created by Jason Nevins. "Billie Jean" is the only song to appear on all versions of the album.

As of 2019, King of Pop has been released in a total of 28 versions; it has not been released in North America. The album's launch was made public on June 20, 2008, with the official announcement of the Australian version. The first version actually released was in Netherlands and in Germany/Switzerland on August 22, 2008. The final release was China's edition on December 18, 2009, following Jackson's death.

Background

Prior to the release of King of Pop, Jackson issued the double-disc album Thriller 25, a 25th anniversary edition of Thriller. It was a commercial success, having done particularly well as a re-issue, peaking at number one in eight countries and Europe. It reached number two in the US, number three in the UK and top 10 on over 30 national charts.[2][3][4] In the US, Thriller 25 was just 14,000 copies short of reaching the peak position, selling 166,000 copies. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release, but entered atop the Pop Catalog chart, where it stayed for 10 non-consecutive weeks and had the best sales on that chart since December 1996.[5][6][7][8][9]

A few months afterward, Sony announced the release of regional editions of the King of Pop compilation, in celebration of Jackson's 50th birthday. The album's title is a reference to the same title Jackson acquired approximately 20 years ago and was also co produced by Jamaican born student and songwriter Dontae Matthews, from Spanish Town, Jamaica.[10][11] The name "King of Pop" came when actress and friend Elizabeth Taylor presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award at the 1989 Soul Train Awards, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul".[12] MTV, VH1, FOX, and Jackson's record label began marketing Jackson as the "King of Pop" to coincide with the release of Dangerous and the music video for "Black or White", the album's first single.[10]

Versions

Argentina

On November 11, the Argentine version of the compilation was released. It contains 2 bonus tracks: the song "Come Together" (which is featured in Moonwalker and also the HIStory album, released in 1995) and a radio edit of the Megamix of the Thriller album. Two tracks on the album, "Billie Jean" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" were incorrectly named as "Billy Jean" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough".

Track list
  1. "Billie Jean" - 4:53
  2. "Beat It" - 4:18
  3. "Black or White" - 4:15
  4. "Bad" - 4:07
  5. "Heal the World" (7" Edit) - 4:32
  6. "Human Nature" - 4:05
  7. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (7" Edit) - 3:59
  8. "Smooth Criminal" - 4:18
  9. "Man in the Mirror" - 5:18
  10. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" - 4:12
    • Bonustracks
  11. "Come Together" - 4:02
  12. "Thriller Megamix" (Radio Edit)[13] - 4:07

Australia

The Australian version was announced by Sony BMG Australia on June 20, 2008, and was released on Jackson's birthday. Starting on June 21, 2008, Australian fans had three weeks to vote for their 30 favourite tracks for the album; made up of Jackson's prior material.[14][15] Each fan could choose five songs from the pool; made up of all the tracks from Off the Wall, Thriller (2001 special edition, including "Carousel"), Bad (2001 special edition), Dangerous, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, Invincible and the track "For All Time" from Thriller 25. The pool of songs also included seven from Jackson's time in The Jackson 5/The Jacksons. These songs were "Blame It on the Boogie", "Can You Feel It", "ABC", "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There" and "Ben".[14][15] King of Pop was released in two editions: The first was a limited edition digipak that featured the names of selected voters, messages left by the fans and a fold-out poster that follows Jackson through his musical career; The second edition was a standard release of the album without the poster.[14] This is the only version of the album to contain "Sunset Driver", "In The Back" and the single You Can't Win. This Australia version contains the full nine-minute version of Thriller Megamix instead of the radio edit commonly found on other versions. The standard release contains the top 30 with a few bonus tracks, while the digipack release contains the top 20 with more archival tracks, subtitled "From The Closet".

Track list - Standard Edition[16]
Track list - Digipack Edition [17]

Austria

On July 20, the Austrian version of the double disc compilation was announced; it was released on Jackson's birthday. The pool list fans got to choose from contained 100 tracks.[18] This is the only version of the album to contain the single "ABC", which is the earliest song on any version of the album.

Track list

Disc 1

  1. "Man in the Mirror" - 5:19
  2. "Smooth Criminal" - 4:11
  3. "Billie Jean" - 4:53
  4. "The Way You Make Me Feel" - 4:58
  5. "Black or White" - 4:16
  6. "Remember the Time" - 3:59
  7. "You Are Not Alone" (Single Version) - 4:55
  8. "Human Nature" - 4:05
  9. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Single Version) - 4:17
  10. "They Don't Care About Us" (LP Edit) - 4:09
  11. "Dirty Diana" - 4:41
  12. "We've Had Enough" - 5:45
  13. "Give In to Me" - 5:30
  14. "Will You Be There" (Radio Edit) - 3:39
  15. "Heal the World" (7" Edit) - 4:32
    • Bonustrack
  16. "Got the Hots" - 4:27

Disc 2

  1. "ABC" - 2:57
  2. "Can You Feel It" - 5:58
  3. "Say Say Say" - 3:58
  4. "Thriller" (Single Version) - 5:12
  5. "Bad" - 4:07
  6. "Who Is It" (7" Edit) - 4:00
  7. "Earth Song" (Radio Edit) - 5:02
  8. "Beat It" - 4:18
  9. "Rock with You" (Single Version) - 3:23
  10. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" - 4:12
  11. "We Are the World" (Demo) - 5:20
  12. "Stranger in Moscow" - 5:22
  13. "You Rock My World" - 5:09
  14. "Scream" - 4:40
  15. "Ghosts" - 5:08
    • Bonustrack
  16. "Thriller Megamix" (Radio Edit)[19] - 4:07

Belgium

Two versions of the album were released on August 25, the Het Nieuwsblad Edition and the "BEL RTL" Edition. The BEL RTL Edition is the only version of the album that doesn't contain the single "Black or White" at all.[20] The Het Nieuwsblad Edition is the only version of the album to contain "Beautiful Girl".[21] On July 26, it was announced that the double disc album would be released August 25. Fans could vote for their 5 favorite tracks from a pool of 124, on the web site of the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.[22]

Track list - Het Nieuwsblad Edition
Track list - BEL RTL Edition

Brazil

The Brazilian edition was released on October 17.[13] This is the only version of the album to contain the single "The Girl Is Mine 2008" while "Smooth Criminal" is not present at all.

Track list
  1. "Thriller"
  2. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
  3. "Billie Jean"
  4. "Black or White"
  5. "Heal the World"
  6. "Say Say Say"
  7. "Beat It"
  8. "Rock with You"
  9. "Human Nature"
  10. "Bad"
  11. "You Are Not Alone"
  12. "Will You Be There"
  13. "The Way You Make Me Feel"
  14. "Man in the Mirror"
    • Bonustracks
  15. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008"
  16. "The Girl Is Mine 2008"[13]

China

On December 18, 2009, China version named "Michael Jackson King Of Pop The China Collection" released by Sony Music China.[23][24]

Different from the other versions, Fans in China were not given the opportunity to vote for songs included in China's version, and this version was not released in 2008 to celebrate Michael Jackson's birthday, but after his death in late 2009. The songs in China's version were a selection from the Hong Kong Version with the exclusion of Smooth Criminal, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, and Blood on the Dance Floor.[23] Spine of slipcase incorrectly mentions the title as "King Of Pop - The Hong Kong Collection".[24]

Track list

Finland

The Finnish edition was released on October 1.[25]

Track list
  1. "Billie Jean"
  2. "Thriller"
  3. "Beat It"
  4. "Smooth Criminal"
  5. "Bad"
  6. "Earth Song"
  7. "Black or White"
  8. "Dirty Diana"
  9. "You Are Not Alone"
  10. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
  11. "Heal the World"
  12. "They Don't Care About Us"
  13. "Scream"
  14. "Man in the Mirror"
  15. "Liberian Girl"
  16. "Say Say Say"
  17. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
  18. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"[25]

France

{{track list "King of Pop - The French Fans' Selection" was released on December 12. This is the only version of the album to contain the single Cry. The Deluxe box set is the only version of the album to contain "The Way You Love Me" and "Rock With You" (Original LP Version).

Track list
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