The Michael Jackson film Michael grossed $217.3 million worldwide in its opening weekend, according to boxofficemojo.com. That already places it at No. 3 on Billboard’s list of music biopics with the highest worldwide grosses, behind Bohemian Rhapsody ($910.8 million) and Elvis ($288.7 million).
Michael grossed $97 million over the weekend in the U.S. and Canada alone. That’s the highest opening-weekend domestic gross ever for a music biopic, eclipsing the mark set by Straight Outta Compton in 2015 ($60 million).
Jackson has been making history for decades, both during his lifetime and since he died in 2009. He landed three No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and two top five albums on the Billboard 200 (all with the Jackson 5) before he turned 12. By the time he turned 13, the J5 had notched another No. 1 Hot 100 hit (“I’ll Be There”) and another top five album.
Jackson won 13 Grammys, received two Primetime Emmy nods and has two inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He performed live on the Oscars when he was just 14 and, at 29, gave one of the most riveting performances in Grammy Awards history.
Jackson led a turbulent life, with lows as deep as these historic highs. The Michael biopic, which ends in 1988, when he was the biggest pop star on the planet, doesn’t take any of those lows or lingering controversies into account. The movie celebrates his commercial triumphs. So does this list.
Here are 20 previous times Jackson proved he’s the King of Pop.
