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Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”—listen to 60 cover versions here!

Chris Well

“No one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike…”

An epic hit from pop music king Michael Jackson, the title track from his blockbuster Thriller album was a theatrical cut to suit the artist’s love of movies. The music and lyrics evoke horror films, with sound effects such as thunder, creaking doors, footsteps, and wind. It ends with a spoken-word sequence performed by the horror actor Vincent Price. The week of Jackson’s death in 2009, “Thriller” was Jackson’s bestselling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the Billboard Hot Digital Tracks chart.

The video playlist below features Jackson’s official music video of “Thriller”—plus original cover versions from more than 60 artists putting their own spin on the song. This includes R&B versions, heavy metal covers, acoustic renditions, a cappella and more.

The list of artists includes Phillip Phillips (with the American Idol winner offering an acoustic jazz version), Jessica Ray (featuring a dramatic take with a crew of funky dancers), Lauren Babic (kicking a metal cover with guest rockers Cody Johnstone and Brett Seaton), Wayne Brady (offering a really catchy 1930s Cab Calloway-style vintage remake with help from the folks at Postmodern Jukebox), Oneus (with a dramatic pop rock take from the South Korean boy band—including a surprisingly catchy Korean rap), FunkyardX (offering a head-nodding mix of funky rhythms powered with rock’n’roll), Violet Orlandi (with a tender acoustic version), Lily Singh (whose fun “high school edition” makes the song into an instructional video), Sons of Mystro (offering an edgy violin remix) and a whole bunch more.

By the way, you can get the original version of Thriller at Amazon.

Let me know which cover versions you enjoy most below!

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Thriller by Michael Jackson + Cover Versions

The song “Thriller” by Michael Jackson was released by Epic Records in the UK on November 5, 1983, and in the US on January 23, 1984, as the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album, Thriller. “Thriller” is a funk song produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton, who had written Jackson’s earlier hits “Rock with You” and “Off the Wall” for Jackson’s 1979 album Off the Wall.

For “Thriller,” Temperton’s goal was to write something theatrical to suit Jackson’s love of movies. He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the bassline that runs through the song, then wrote a chord progression that built to a climax. He recalled: “I wanted it to build and build—a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the tune to heighten suspense.” (Revealed: The Story Behind Jacko's Thriller—M Magazine)

The dramatic “Thriller” music video was directed by John Landis, whose films include An American Werewolf in London (1981), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987), The Lost World (1998), The Blues Brothers (1980) and Trading Places (1983).

The “Thriller” video premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983. On screen, Jackson is transformed into a zombie and performs a dance routine with a crowd of the undead. Several of the video’s elements have impacted popular culture, including the zombie dance and Jackson’s red jacket. Considered by many to be one of the greatest music videos of all time, “Thriller” was the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry.

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