Michael Jackson wanted Bad to outsell Thriller

The late King of Pop Michael Jackson was 'determined' to make his album, Bad, beat the sales of Thriller, and used to pin motivational notes up around his house.

The late King of Pop Michael Jackson was 'determined' to make his album, Bad, beat the sales of Thriller, and used to pin motivational notes up around his house. The singer, who died of acute Propofol intoxication in 2009, was “very self-motivated” and urged himself to work harder on the iconic 1987 LP in a bid to outdo his previous effort, which is the best-selling album of all time.

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“I learned that he was very self-motivated. Even though it was an impossible task, Michael wanted Bad to outsell Thriller. And everywhere he’d go, he’d put up signs, write on mirrors in bathrooms; ‘100 million’,” Contactmusic quoted Director Spike Lee, who has been working on Bad 25, a documentary about the making of the album, as telling MTV News.

Since its 1982 release, Thriller has sold more than 110 million copies across the globe. Though Bad never matched its success, the record is still the fifth best-selling album of all time, shifting around 30 million copies worldwide.