Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009. More than 15 years later, his catalog still generates more than five billion streams a year across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music combined. He routinely ranks in the top 30 most-streamed artists in the world — alongside acts who released their first records after Michael had already retired from touring.
Three things explain that durability.
First, the production decisions Michael and Quincy Jones made at Westlake Studios between 1979 and 1987 still sound contemporary. They built records around live drums and live bass with synthesizer textures layered on top, rather than the other way around. The result is that Billie Jean, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough and Rock With You sit comfortably in a 2026 playlist next to Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, and Doja Cat — all artists who have openly cited those records as direct influences.
Second, the catalog has unusual breadth. A fan can move from the disco joy of Off the Wall to the social-conscience pop of Man in the Mirror to the futuristic R&B of Butterflies without ever leaving one artist's discography. Few pop catalogs from the 1980s and 1990s cover that much stylistic ground while still feeling like one coherent point of view.
Third, the visual record is uniquely complete. From the Motown 25 moonwalk to the Thriller short film to the Black or White morphing sequence to the Munich Earth Song bridge collapse, Michael's career generated more iconic moving-image moments than perhaps any pop performer in history. Each of those moments still circulates on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, introducing the music to listeners who weren't born when Michael was alive.
He was not a perfect figure. Real allegations were made against him during his lifetime and continue to be debated. But the music — the recordings he made at Westlake with Quincy and at the Hit Factory with Rodney Jerkins — has aged with a kind of grace that very little 1980s pop has matched. It still works. That is why we built this quiz.