MJ fact set

This Is It & legacy: 3 facts

The residency that never happened, and the numbers that keep growing.

• This Is It sold out in hours

  All 50 announced O2 Arena concerts for the 'This Is It' residency sold out in under five hours in March 2009 — roughly 1 million tickets — setting a record for the fastest concert sell-out in UK history.

• Posthumous streaming dominance

  More than 16 years after his death on June 25, 2009, Michael's catalog still generates over 5 billion streams per year worldwide — among the highest of any artist, living or otherwise.

• The Sony catalog deal in 2016

  In 2016, the Estate of Michael Jackson sold his remaining stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing back to Sony for $750 million — one of the largest single transactions in music-publishing history.

Facts compiled from publicly available sources including Billboard, the RIAA, Guinness World Records, the US Patent Office and reputable music publications. This is an independent fan publication and is not affiliated with the Estate of Michael Jackson. All trademarks and song titles belong to their respective owners.