Thriller (song)

Composition

"Thriller" is a disco-funk song. It was written by the English songwriter Rod Temperton, who had previously written "Rock with You" and "Off the Wall" for Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall. Temperton wanted to write something theatrical to suit Jackson's love of film. He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the bassline that runs through the song, then wrote a chord progression that built to a climax. He recalled: "I wanted it to build and build–a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the tune to heighten suspense." According to Hooktheory.com, the song is written in the key of C Dorian (the second mode of the B major scale, in which C is used as the tonic) with a moderate tempo of 118 beats per minute.

Temperton's first version was titled "Starlight", with the chorus lyric: "Give me some starlight / Starlight sun". The production team, led by Quincy Jones, believed the song should be the title track, but they thought that "Starlight" was not a strong album title. Instead, they wanted something "mysterious" to match Jackson's "evolving persona". Temperton considered several titles, including "Midnight Man", which Jones felt was "going in the right direction". Finally, he conceived "Thriller", but worried that it was "a crap word to sing ... It sounded terrible! However, we got Michael to spit it into the microphone a few times and it worked."

With the title decided, Temperton wrote lyrics within "a couple of hours". The intro features sound effects such as a creaking door, thunder, footsteps, winds, and howling wolves. For the ending, Temperton envisioned a spoken-word sequence, but did not know what form it should take. It was decided to have a famous voice from the horror genre perform it, and Jones's then-wife, Peggy Lipton, suggested her friend Vincent Price. Temperton composed the words for Price's part in a taxi on the way to the studio on the day of recording.

Recording

Along with the rest of the album, "Thriller" was recorded over eight weeks in 1982. It was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The engineer Bruce Swedien had Jackson record his vocals in different approaches, doubling takes and recording at different distances from the microphone. Some background vocals were recorded in the studio's shower stall.

The bassline and verse pads were performed on a Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer, layered with a Prophet-5. The percussion was created with a LinnDrum drum machine modified with sound chips from two other drum machines: a snare, hi-hat and congas from an LM-1 and a clap from a TR-808. The Rhodes piano was performed by Greg Phillinganes and the guitar by David Williams.

To record the howls, Swedien set up tape recorders up around his dog in a barn overnight, but it never howled. Instead, Jackson recorded the howls himself, combined with Coyote sound effects, as seen in the original Track Sheets. For the creaking doors, Swedien rented doors designed for sound effects from the Universal Studios Lot and recorded the hinges. Vincent Price recorded his part in three takes; Jones, acknowledging that doing a voice-over for a song is difficult, praised Price and described his takes as "fabulous".

Release

The album Thriller was released in November 1982 on Epic Records and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200. "Thriller" was not initially planned for release as a single, as Epic saw it as a novelty song. The Epic executive Walter Yetnikoff asked: "Who wants a single about monsters?"

By mid-1983, sales of the album had begun to decline. Jackson, who was "obsessive" about his sales figures, urged Yetnikoff and another Epic executive, Larry Stessel, to help conceive a plan to return the album to the top of the charts. Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested releasing "Thriller", backed by a new music video. It was the final single from the album, released in the US in January 1984. Alternative versions of "Thriller", including the "Starlight" demo, were released on the 2022 anniversary reissue Thriller 40. The 2025 song "Wake Me Up" by the Canadian singer the Weeknd and French electronic duo Justice contains an interpolation of "Thriller".

Music video

Main article: Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video)

The music video for "Thriller" references numerous horror films and stars Jackson performing a dance routine with a horde of the undead. Directed by horror director John Landis and written by Landis and Jackson, Jackson contacted Landis after seeing An American Werewolf in London (1981). The pair conceived a 13-minute short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. Jackson's record company refused to finance it, believing Thriller had peaked, so a making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to receive financing from television networks.

Michael Jackson's Thriller premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983. It was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. It doubled sales of Thriller, and the documentary sold over a million copies, becoming the best-selling videotape at the time. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, and popularizing the making-of documentary format.

Many elements have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's Thriller jacket, designed by Landis's wife Deborah Nadoolman Landis. The zombie dance, choreographed by Michael Peters for the music video, is re-enacted worldwide by fans and remains popular on YouTube. The Library of Congress described it as "the most famous music video of all time". In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. In September 2024, Michael Jackson's Thriller became the fourth Jackson video to reach one billion YouTube views.

Chart performance

"Thriller" entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts at number 20. It reached number seven the following week, number five the next, and peaked the next week at number four, where it stayed for two weeks. It finished at number 78 on the Hot 100's year-end chart for 1984. "Thriller" reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. On March 10, 1984, it reached its peak at number 3. "Thriller" debuted on the UK singles chart on November 19, 1983, at number 24, and the following week peaked at number ten; it appeared on the chart for 52 weeks. From February 5, 1984, "Thriller" was at number one on the French Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the Belgian VRT Top 30 Chart for two weeks in January 1984.

Following Jackson's death in 2009, his music surged in popularity. In the week of his death, "Thriller" was Jackson's best-selling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the Billboard Hot Digital Singles Chart. On July 11, "Thriller" reached number two on the Billboard Hot Digital Singles Chart and remained in the top ten for three consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 23 the week of Jackson's death and climbed to number 12 the following week. On July 12, "Thriller" reached number two on the Italian Singles Chart and was later certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. "Thriller" reached at number three on the Australian ARIA Chart and Swiss Singles Chart and topped the Spanish Singles Charts for one week. It reached number nine on the German Singles Chart, seven on the Norwegian Singles Chart, eight on the Irish Singles Chart, and 25 on the Danish Singles Chart. In the third week of July, "Thriller" reached number 11 in Finland.

"Thriller" has returned to the Billboard Hot 100 chart multiple times due to its popularity around Halloween. It re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2013 at number 42, number 31 in November 2018, and number 19 in November 2021, its highest placement since 1984. This gave Jackson at least one top-20 hit across seven consecutive decades from 1969 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2025, the single returned to the top ten at number 10. The song's placement made Michael Jackson the first artist to chart in the top ten in six consecutive decades.

"Thriller" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 4, 1989, for sales of over one million physical units in the US As of August 2016, the song had sold 4,024,398 copies in the US. The song was later certified Diamond by RIAA for sales over 10 million equivalent-units. "Thriller" reached number one on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs, R&B Streaming Songs and R&B Digital Song Sales charts the week of November 8, 2023, more than a decade after Jackson's death. On the week of November 9, 2024, "Thriller" topped a Billboard multimetric chart for the first time, reaching the top spot on Hot R&B Songs.

"Thriller" achieved its highest position in the UK Singles Chart in November 2025, reaching number nine, a place higher than its original peak in 1983.

"Thriller" also peaked at number ten on the US Billboard 100 chart in November 2025, solidifying Michael Jackson's entry into the top 10 in six different decades starting from the 70's. This is baring his top ten entry as a member of the Jackson 5 in late December 1969 with the song, I Want You Back. This makes him the only artist in history to achieve this feat.

Critical reception

Ashley Lasimone, of AOL's Spinner.com, noted that it "became a signature for Jackson" and described "the groove of its bassline, paired with Michael's killer vocals and sleek moves" as having "produced a frighteningly great single." Jon Pareles of The New York Times noted that "'Billie Jean', 'Beat It', 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ' and "the movie in the song 'Thriller'", were the songs, unlike the "fluff" "P.Y.T.", that were "the hits that made Thriller a world-beater; along with Mr. Jackson's stage and video presence, listeners must have identified with his willingness to admit terror." Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times described "Thriller" as "adequately groovy" with a "funked-out beat" and lyrics "seemingly lifted from some little kid's 'scary storybook'".

Personnel

• Written and composed by Rod Temperton Musicians
• Michael Jackson: lead and background vocals
• Vincent Price: Spoken vocals
• Rod Temperton and Brian Banks: synthesizers
• Greg Phillinganes: synthesizers, Rhodes piano
• David Williams: guitar
• Jerry Hey, Gary Grant: trumpets, flugelhorns
• Larry Williams: saxophone, flute
• Bill Reichenbach: trombone
• Michael Boddicker (uncredited): synthesizers and drum machine
• Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (uncredited): drums Technical team
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
• Vocal, rhythm and synthesizer arrangement by Rod Temperton
• Horn arrangement by Jerry Hey
• Effects by Bruce Cannon and Bruce Swedien
• Synthesizer programming by Anthony Marinelli

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Bibliography

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