Number Ones (Michael Jackson album)

Number Ones
Greatest hits album by
Michael Jackson
ReleasedNovember 18, 2003 (2003-11-18)
Recorded1978–2003
GenrePop
Length
  • 78:52 (US version)
  • 79:01 (International version)
Label
Producer
Michael Jackson chronology
Love Songs
(2002) 		Number Ones
(2003) 		The Ultimate Collection
(2004)
Singles from Number Ones
  1. "One More Chance"
    Released: November 22, 2003[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Guardian Unlimited[3]
Rolling Stone (2010)[4]

Number Ones is a greatest hits album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on November 18, 2003, by Epic Records.[5] Number Ones was Jackson's first standalone compilation album with Epic Records, after the release of the first disc of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I in 1995 (and after the re-release of that disc as a single album titled Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I in 2001). The album included Jackson's singles that reportedly reached number 1 in charts around the world, hence the album's name. Number Ones also features the last original single released during Jackson's lifetime, "One More Chance", released four days after the release of the album.

Number Ones was successful around the world, originally reaching number one in the United Kingdom, among other countries. The album eventually returned to the top spot in the UK after Jackson's sudden death in 2009, and became the number one selling album in the United States for six non-consecutive weeks and stayed at number one for twenty-seven weeks on the US Top Pop Catalog Albums chart that year. However, as a 'catalog' title, initially Number Ones was excluded from the Billboard 200, the main albums chart in the United States, denying Jackson a seventh solo number one album on the chart. The rules preventing titles older than 18 months to chart on the Billboard 200 were subsequently changed in the fall of 2009 due to the posthumous success of Jackson, as well as The Beatles re-mastered re-releases.

With Number Ones, Jackson was the first artist to sell more than one million music downloads in one week. The album was also the third best-selling album of 2009 in the United States according to Nielsen Soundscan and ninth best-selling worldwide according to IFPI.[6][7] By 2021, Number Ones was certified 5× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). At the 2009 American Music Awards, it won two awards - Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. One of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, the compilation managed to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.[8]

  1. ^ Lecocq, Richard; Allard, François (2018). Michael Jackson All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London, England: Cassell. ISBN 9781788400572.
  2. ^ AllMusic review
  3. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (14 November 2003). "CD: Michael Jackson, Number Ones". TheGuardian.com.
  4. ^ "Rolling Stone (2010) review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2010-07-10. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  5. ^ "Michael Jackson's latest CD sells better than expected - Nov. 27, 2003".
  6. ^ "2009 U.S. Music Purchases up 2.1% over 2008; Music Sales Exceed 1.5 Billion for Second Consecutive Year". Business Wire. January 6, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  7. ^ "CBC News – Boyle, Jackson top worldwide album sales". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 30, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Sullivan, Randall (2012). Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1611859935. Retrieved July 29, 2022.