Madonna and Michael Jackson Reunite in Billboard 200 Top 10 After Nearly 25 Years

As Madonna’s latest studio album, CONFESSIONS II, launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated July 18, the Queen of Pop once again joins the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, in the chart’s top 10. Jackson’s former 1983-84 chart-topper Thriller slips from No. 7 to No. 8 on the newest ranking. Surprisingly, this marks only the second occasion the two music legends have appeared in the top 10 simultaneously, with the previous instance occurring nearly 25 years ago. (All charts dated July 18 will update on Billboard’s website on Tuesday, July 14.)

Madonna and Jackson previously occupied the top 10 together on the Billboard 200 dated Dec. 1, 2001. During that week, Jackson’s No. 1 album Invincible dropped from No. 3 to No. 4 in its third week on the chart, while Madonna’s compilation GHV2: Greatest Hits Volume 2 entered at No. 7. One week later, both releases exited the top 10, although they continued to remain together within the top 15.

The two superstars came extremely close to sharing the top 10 during the 1980s—when they collectively spent 57 weeks at No. 1—but narrowly missed doing so by just one week. On the Sept. 19, 1987-dated chart, the Madonna-led Who’s That Girl soundtrack completed its third and final week inside the top 10 at No. 7. The following week, Who’s That Girl slipped to No. 11 as Michael Jackson’s Bad debuted at No. 1. On the Oct. 3-dated chart, Who’s That Girl remained at No. 11 while Bad continued to hold the top position.

Although Who’s That Girl and Bad never appeared together inside the top 10, both albums remained in the top 15 for four consecutive weeks, spanning the Sept. 26 through Oct. 17, 1987 charts.

Madonna and Jackson experienced another near meeting on the Jan. 23, 1988-dated Billboard 200, when both artists were again found within the top 15. Madonna’s remix collection You Can Dance climbed from No. 17 to its peak of No. 14, while Bad stayed at No. 4.

Given the remarkable chart success enjoyed by both Madonna and Jackson, it may seem surprising that they have shared the top 10 so rarely, particularly during the 1980s when they combined for 57 weeks at No. 1—16 weeks for Madonna and 41 weeks for Jackson. Madonna first reached the top 10 on the Oct. 6, 1984-dated chart with her self-titled debut album. By that stage, Jackson’s blockbuster Thriller had already left the top 10 after remaining there continuously from January 1983 through June 1984.

Following Thriller, Jackson earned four additional top 10 albums before his death in 2009. After his passing, he added another four top 10 entries. Madonna, meanwhile, maintained a far more active release schedule, with her self-titled debut becoming the first of 24 top 10 albums, culminating with CONFESSIONS II.

Another reason the pair rarely appeared together in the top 10 is that their major album releases were generally separated by significant periods. Looking back over their careers, there were only four occasions when Madonna and Jackson released albums that reached the top 10 within six months of one another. Those instances occurred in 1987 with Who’s That Girl and Bad, in 1995 with Madonna’s ballads compilation Something To Remember and Jackson’s half-studio, half-greatest-hits album HIStory, in 2001 with GHV2 and Invincible, and in 2009 with Madonna’s greatest-hits collection Celebration and the posthumous Michael Jackson This Is It film soundtrack.