Michael Jackson passed away on June 25, 2009 and, as might have been expected, has had tremendous album sales since. In the immediate aftermath of his death, Jackson’s album and digital sales skyrocketed, but that strong sales trend has continued for the past five years.
In fact, the past five years have been some of the strongest in sales for Jackson since Nielsen SoundScan’s inception in 1991.ย According to the company’s data, Michael Jackson has sold 13.228 million albums since his death. In the five years prior to his death (2004-2008), he sold a combined total of 3.934 million, less than 30% of his sales since his death.