Michael Jackson’s Thriller is an American 13-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983. It was directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Jackson. It was MTV’s first world premiere video.
Voted as the most influential pop music video of all time, Thriller proved to have a profound effect on popular culture. It was named “a watershed moment for the music industry” for its unprecedented merging of filmmaking and music. Guinness World Records listed it in 2006 as the “most successful music video”, selling over nine million copies.
In 2009, the Thriller video was inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Thriller was the first music video to ever receive this honor, for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. The track was also listed at number one on “The Top 10 Halloween Songs” by Billboard.
