The first Michael Jackson Fans’ Ultimate Anthology Poll has now closed after three weeks of voting, and the results are in!
We wanted to give you the chance to vote for your favourite Michael Jackson works without the usual limitations of only being able to choose from the classics. This new yearly poll will find out what Michael’s fans have been enjoying over the past 12 months.
Here are the results!
CATEGORY ONE – SONGS
Your Top Michael Jackson Song: Billie Jean
It is interesting to note that this poll gave fans the opportunity to pick any song from Michael’s back catalogue to include within their top 10, however the majority still voted for those iconic songs that are Michael’s most famous. While it’s no surprise that Billie Jean topped the list due to its legendary status, it’s surprising that in a fan poll, so few deep cuts made the top 10. The classics are clearly classics for a reason.
Here’s the full top 10 in order of votes:
Top 10 Michael Jackson Songs
- Billie Jean
- Man In The Mirror
- Smooth Criminal
- They Don’t Care About Us
- Human Nature
- Who Is It
- Stranger In Moscow
- Earth Song
- Dirty Diana
- Beat It
And here’s your bottom 10
- Beautiful Girl
- Girlfriend
- Monkey Business
- Privacy
- Scared Of The Moon
- Sunset Driver
- Cheater
- Heartbreaker
- Todo Me Amore Eres Tu
- In The Back
Points of note from this category.
- Voters were able to choose 10 songs each – almost 11,000 votes were cast in this category.
- Will You Be There missed out on a place in the top 10 by just 3 votes.
- In The Back received the least number of votes
- Previously Unreleased inclusions on The Ultimate Collection made up 6 of the bottom 10.
- Every song on the list received votes in double figures.
- Who Is It and Stranger In Moscow both made the top 10 despite the majority of the top 10 being made up of ‘signature’ Michael Jackson songs.
- Who Is It was the only entry from Dangerous to make the top 10.
- No songs from Off The Wall, Invincible, Michael or Xscape made the top 10
CATEGORY TWO – POSTHUMOUS SONGS
Your Top Posthumous Michael Jackson Song: This Is It
While Posthumous songs often divide opinion over their right to be released, many love some of the this work that Michael didn’t release in his lifetime. With songs spanning all eras, it was unclear which way the vote would go, but it’s interesting to see the first posthumous song ‘This Is It’ winning by a large margin. Seven of the songs which make up the top 10 remain exactly within the state Michael left them, a clear sign that fans prefer Michael’s posthumous work to be left untouched.
Top 10 Posthumous Michael Jackson Songs
- This Is It
- Hold My Hand
- A Place With No Name
- Slave To The Rhythm
- Love Never Felt So Good
- Behind The Mask
- Hollywood Tonight
- Xscape
- Al Capone
- Best Of Joy
Points of note from this category.
- Six of the eight 2014-versions from Xscape made up the bottom 10.
- Aside from Al Capone, all of the BAD25 unreleased tracks didn’t chart highly.
- Do You Know Where Your Children Are 2014 received the least number of votes.
- The Cascio Tracks were not included in the poll.
CATEGORY THREE – SOLO STUDIO ALBUMS
Your Top Michael Jackson Album: Dangerous
Dangerous won the vote by a large lead on HIStory, which took second place. There is still wide regard for both Dangerous who celebrates it’s 30th Anniversary this year and HIStory which turned 25 last year, yet despite being fan favourites they lack sufficient acknowledgement from the Estate.
Points of note from this category.
- MICHAEL was voted for 5 times as a ‘favourite album’, but came in at the bottom of the list.
- Thriller – The World’s biggest selling album came in 4th position behind Dangerous, Bad and HIStory.
- Blood On The Dance Floor album was not included owing to its mix of remix and new songs
- Ben and Xscape received equal amount of votes
- From Michael’s Epic solo studio albums, Off The Wall received the least amount of votes.
CATEGORY FOUR – SOLO TOURS
Your Top Michael Jackson Solo Tour: Bad Tour
One topic of continual debate among fans is which of Michael’s solo tours is the best. While this could be judged on technicalities, it’s ultimately down to personal taste. And taste dictated Bad World Tour as the clear winner.
CATEGORY FIVE – SOLO GREATEST HITS ALBUM
Your Top Michael Jackson Greatest Hits Album: The Ultimate Collection
Even though The unreleased songs from the Ultimate Collection made up most of the bottom section of ‘Favourite Songs’, the package itself was overwhelmingly voted into first place, with just under double the votes of the number two choice, which was Number Ones. With a career as expansive as Michael’s, it makes sense that a boxset filled with songs would be favoured by fans versus a shorter commercial release aimed at the general public.
Points of note from this category.
- Just 12 votes separated Number Ones and The Essential which came in second and third respectively.
- Greatest Hits Volume I received the least number of votes, with just 47.
CATEGORY SIX – JACKSON 5 ALBUM
Your Top Jackson 5 Album: ABC
ABC took first place by a clear mile, with Dancing Machine coming in second. Currently in the midst of it’s 50th Anniversary year (from May 2020), ABC had two major hits – The title track and ‘The Love You Save’ which both became synonymous with the Jackson 5.
Points of note from this category.
- Skywriter received the least number of votes and came in last place.
- Just 2 votes put Get It Together in front of Maybe Tomorrow
- Christmas Album came in 4th place ahead of 6 other Jackson 5 studio albums
CATEGORY SEVEN – JACKSONS ALBUM
Your Top Jacksons Album: Triumph
Often cited by fans as the Jackson’s best album, Triumph was confirmed as such, beating 6 other albums to take the top spot. Victory came in second and Destiny in third ensuring the ‘holy trinity’ of albums by the group each took a place in the top three. With extended versions to be released on spotify this year and a re-issue of the Jacksons Live! On vinyl, it will be interesting to see what the results are for the 2021 edition of the Ultimate Anthology Poll.
Points of note from this category.
- 2300 Jackson Street in which Michael features only on the title track, received more votes than Goin’ Places.
- Goin’ Places received the least amount of votes and is also the Jackson’s lowest charting Epic solo album.
CATEGORY EIGHT – SHORT FILM
Your Top Michael Jackson Short Film: Smooth Criminal
Is anybody really surprised by this result?! Smooth Criminal is arguably one of the best music short films ever made and is considered ‘peak’ Michael Jackson along with Thriller. Beat It and Leave Me Alone were two of the biggest surprises, placing at 27 & 28 out of a possible 54 places. Short films produced by the Estate faired badly overall, not surprising seeing as they do not have Michael to appear in them. However, it is one of the criticisms within both the Michael and Xscape album cycles, that the Estate’s efforts with the short films were relatively lacklustre. Who could forget the windows-movie-maker style editing of A Place With No Name?!
Top 10 Michael Jackson Short Films
- Smooth Criminal
- Thriller
- Ghosts (short version)
- Remember the Time
- Bad
- Earth Song
- Black or White
- Billie Jean
- You Rock My World
- They Don’t Care About Us (Brazil Version)
Points of note from this category.
- 7 of the top 10 short films are in Michael’s top 10 most viewed videos on YouTube
- The top 10 was mostly made up of Michael’s signature songs
- Heal The World & Man In The Mirror in which Michael doesn’t feature beat Childhood, Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, You Are Not Alone and She’s Out Of My Life in which he does.
- Just 7 votes separated Thriller in 2nd place and Ghosts in 3rd Place
- Just 2 votes separated They Don’t Care About Us Brazilian and Prison versions, respectively.
- No short films from Off The Wall made it into the top 20.
- Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory all featured 2 short films in the top 10.
Thank you to everyone who voted and helped provide some fancinating insights into the taste within the Michael Jackson Fan Community. We look forward to finding out the results of the 2021 at the end of the year.
MJVibe & MJChartData
Data and summary of results by Pez Jax
Disagree with just about everything in these lists. Lol I love most a complety different set of songs & vids than top chosen. I only shows his abundant format . Best beams KJ
Disagree with just about everything in these lists. Lol I love most a complety different set of songs & vids than top chosen. I only shows his abundant format . Best beams KJ💠🔔😁💠
I wasn’t aware of this list mainly because I usually don’t care which Michael songs are other fan’s favourites, however I came across this and the people that voted must not care about music. Let me preface I believe all of his songs have some enjoyably but the fact the the only top ten songs I agree with are Earth song and who is it, very telling. THEN the audacity to have Sunset driver in the bottom!!!!! Who the hell voted on these it must be children because there’s no way.
I didn’t know about this until the results were released. Sad to see no mention of Little Susie which is my all time favourite MJ song. Also sad to see scared of the moon being one of the least liked songs. I prefer the songs that people generally don’t know but hey we all have our own taste.
I love all songs of MJ whether it’s the top songs or least because all the songs are written by hard work he put in every single songs and the source he always gives credits for is from GOD IN HEAVEN
Such a work! Thank u! Could it be possible to have the entire chart for songs and videos please? It would be interesting 💁🏻♂️
Check out MJ Data Chart’s article every Saturday where you will find more information about MJ in the charts on a weekly basis! 🙂
Pretty much didn’t agree with the majority of this list. I’d be interested into seeing the voting age demographics. I’d hazard a pretty educated guess that many were very young..