![]() ![]() Yet "Beat It" is a top-tier Jackson single because of how absurd, purposefully or otherwise, anyone else singing it sounds. "Man in the Mirror" (1988)Ī career-defining Jackson hit for its statement of self, from an artist with a notoriously conflicted relationship with his own image, “Man in the Mirror” is tragic in the way it foreshadows Jackson’s struggles to come – and triumphant as a pop achievement in its own right.įrom "Weird Al" Yankovic's immortal "Eat It" to Fall Out Boy's considerably less-immortal 2008 cover, there's a cartoonish aspect to "Beat It" that makes it prime for parody – or fools lesser artists into thinking they can appropriately do the track justice. The spiritual successor to "Billie Jean" as another groupie cautionary tale, “Dirty Diana” is a reminder that Jackson, whose legacy isn’t exactly one as a sex symbol, could channel carnal danger just like the rest of his male pop star peers. 1 single – also from "Bad" – is also one of his best rock songs. Neither about Princess Diana nor Diana Ross, Jackson's most sinister No. Sandwiched in the “Bad” album run of singles between the swaggering title track and the more profound “Man in the Mirror,” “The Way You Make Me Feel” is proof that, even almost two decades into his career, Jackson could make an earnest love song as pure as his original Jackson 5 recordings. Yet “Black or White” actually bangs, its undeniably great guitar line vaulting the song to the best of Jackson’s ’90s No. Some parts of Jackson’s racial-unity anthem hold up less than flawlessly in the current cultural climate, with lines like “I’m not going to spend my life being a color” that are probably in need of some unpacking. "Rock With You" (1980)Ī favorite from Jackson's fifth solo album, “Off the Wall,” the breezy “Rock With You” only scratches the surface of Jackson and Quincy Jones’ collaborations to come. “Say Say Say” picks up the pace while splitting its verses in two, handing McCartney the earnest opening notes while letting Jackson wail away on his appropriately funky melodies. “Say Say Say” deserves an apology – or at the very least, a second listen – from every listener who writes off Jackson’s collaborations with McCartney as less than the sum of the two artists’ parts. ![]() Its title track is a testament to how formidable Jackson's singles catalog is: a perfectly strong track in its own right but one that barely cracks the top 10 of his own No. With "Bad," Jackson became the first and only male artist to chart five No. Considering Jackson recently charted in the top 10 with his unreleased vocals in Drake’s "Don't Matter to Me," there’s still a possibility that another posthumous Jackson feature will replace it as his last charts-topping hit. 1 hit wouldn't have been “You Are Not Alone,” an overly sentimental ballad that’s more the style of its songwriter, R. In a more just world, Jackson's final No. Like "We Are the World," "Ben" is a Michael Jackson No. "Ben" is an earnest ode to a pet rat, recorded for the 1972 horror movie of the same name and written by composer Walter Scharf of "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory"-scoring fame. 1 track with the Jackson 5's charts-topping hit "I Want You Back," Jackson scored his first solo No. 1 spot, the song's inclusion on this list feels like a fluke.Īfter becoming the youngest artist to collaborate on a No. There's nothing egregiously wrong with "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" – it's just that, when it comes to the many superior Jackson hits that missed the No. The first single from Jackson's "Bad" album is also its weakest one. Co-written by Jackson and Lionel Richie, "We Are the World" may have raised more than $75 million for the USA for Africa organization, but it's less a real song than a star-studded and hopelessly overblown PSA and doesn't deserve to be counted as an official Michael Jackson No. Where to start with "We Are the World," the biggest charity single of all time, which recruited 46 singers to contribute a few words each to raise funds to combat poverty in Africa. 1, and judge for yourself which were the best – and worst – of his most-popular songs. 29, revisit Jackson’s 14 songs that reached No. ![]() In honor of what would’ve been Jackson’s 60th birthday on Aug. 1, while a good number of arguably lesser singles managed to reach the Billboard Hot 100’s peak. (Pretty Young Thing),” “Got to Be There,” “Smooth Criminal” and his “Scream” collaboration with sister Janet Jackson all failed to reach No. Bona fide classics such as “Thriller,” "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin,’ ” "P.Y.T. Yet for all his record-holding achievements, listeners may be surprised which of Jackson’s singles hit No. ![]()
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