Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” crossed 1 billion views on YouTube this month, marking the late King of Pop’s first entry into the Billion Views Club.
“Billie Jean” is the third music video from the 1980s to reach this milestone, following Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and a-ha’s “Take on Me.” The music video for his 1983 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit — which won two Grammys and was nominated for song of the year in 1984 — has averaged more than 600,000 daily global views across 2021 so far.
The Steve Barron-directed video was one of three produced in support of Jackson’s magnum opus Thriller, which remains the best-selling album of all time in terms of global sales. The video for the album’s title track is nearing 765 million views on YouTube.
The YouTube achievement comes just ahead of the 12th anniversary of Jackson’s death, on June 25.
Watch the “Billie Jean” music video below.
