Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Climbs to a New No. 2 on the Hot 100, but Ella Langley Holds On for a 27th Week

Michael Jackson spent Halloween week haunting both of Billboard’s flagship charts. “Thriller” leaps from No. 20 to a new No. 2 on the Hot 100 dated Nov. 14, and the album Thriller vaults 13-2 on the Billboard 200, which puts Jackson second on both lists at once for the first time since the charts dated Jan. 18, 1992, Billboard reports. The song’s previous peak was No. 4 for two weeks in March 1984, making this a new best 42 years and nine months after it first charted.

The numbers come from a tracking week, Oct. 30–Nov. 5, that included Halloween. “Thriller” drew 17.4 million streams (up 87%), 11.3 million in radio audience (up 172%) and 4,000 downloads (up 48%), per Luminate. It also takes the top spot on Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales for the first time, Jackson’s first leader on either chart, even though its raw stream count ranks second for the week. Billboard’s weighting of paid and ad-supported streams tips it ahead. Watch the video below.

The one record it could not touch is Ella Langley’s. “Choosin’ Texas” stays No. 1 for a record-extending 27th week with 18.8 million streams (down 2%), 53 million in radio audience (down 8%) and 4,000 sold (up 5%), Billboard says. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is second on the all-time list at 22 weeks, followed by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” at 19. We covered when Langley passed Carey for the longest run, and when “Patient Zero” briefly ended it.

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The rest of the top 10 is full of movement. Tame Impala and JENNIE’s “Dracula” rises two spots to a new No. 3 in its 58th week on the chart, the longest journey to the top three by total weeks, passing Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” at 51, and JENNIE ties ROSÉ for the highest Hot 100 rank by a woman prominent in K-pop, Billboard notes. Tate McRae’s “Housewife” slips to No. 4 and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Stupid Song” returns to the top 10 at No. 10.

On the albums chart, Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love returns to No. 1 for a fourth nonconsecutive week with 57,000 units, the smallest total for a No. 1 in more than a year, per Billboard. Behind it, Thriller earned 55,000 units (up 89%), with 22,000 in sales. Vinyl made up 19,000 of them, its biggest vinyl week since Luminate began tracking in 1991, after a reissue on Oct. 30 in three new vinyl variants, including a liquid-filled one, and a cassette. It is the album’s highest rank since April 1984, when it logged its 37th and final week at No. 1. It still holds the record for the most weeks on top by a single artist, and Jackson’s highest Billboard 200 rank in more than a decade, since Xscape hit No. 2 in 2014.

The vinyl effect is the week’s theme. My Chemical Romance’s anniversary reissue took the previous chart the same way, and the Christmas hits are already filing in: Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” reenters at No. 39. Billboard will post the full Nov. 14-dated charts on Nov. 10.