Michael Jackson Earned His SiriusXM Channel
Why the King of Pop deserves his own SiriusXM Channel permanently: Test-run began July 15
Artists define eras. The Michael Jackson channel on SiriusXM Channel joins channels devoted to Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and Elvis Presley (Jackson’s father-in-law).
The limited-run Michael Jackson Channel took over channel 50 July 15 through July 21. Will the test-run be extended or become permanent like some of the most popular channels?
“I was a veteran before I was a teenager,’’ Jackson famously said, adding “The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work.’’
More than a decade after his death, Jackson earns more than any other dead celebrity, $60 million in 2019, while his father-in-law Presley was second at $39 million, according to Forbes.
The top 13 earners include other artists with their own Sirius channels: Prince ($12 million), former Beatles John Lennon ($14 million), and George Harrison ($9 million) featured on the Beatles ongoing channel, Whitney Houston, and Bob Marley ($20 million).
Sinatra redefined music starting in the 1940s and had the first dedicated channel on Sirius, which he shares with his many imitators. Presley, still called the King of Rock and Roll, got his channel and fame later.
Jackson, popular throughout his life, similarly “owned’’ the 1980s but gained fame at age 6. His estate issued a new video version of his “Heal the World’’ during the pandemic.
The King of Pop had 13 Number 1 singles (10 in the 1980s).
Like Sinatra and Presley, Jackson’s work spanned decades and eras. We watched him grow up as his style, music, and appearance transformed.
He was just 9 singing the classic “I Want You Back’’ in 1969, singing his first solo two years later, gaining his first top hit with “Ben,’’ a song about a rat. The music industry quickly figured Michael could sing about anything and sell records.
When Barry Gordy’s son Kennedy called himself Rockwell, he got Michael to sing background vocals for “Somebody’s Watching Me,’’ and took the song to №15 and solid gold status in 1984. He was also front and center for the USA for Africa “Feed the World’’ chart-topping efforts in 1985.
By 1988, Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror,’’ change anthem became the campaign song for Michael Dukakis. He told us how to change the world: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways.’’
To this day, the music industry talks about the entertainment industry before and after “Thriller,’’ his record-shattering attempt to create an album “where every song was a killer.’’ By late 1983, the album sold 32 million copies.
Like his famous father-in-law, who also became a “king’’ in his youth, Jackson’s popularity and peculiar life seemed to send him into a bizarre world by his 40s. Presley, who would have turned 80 this year, only lived to be 42 while Jackson died at 50.
Singers with dedicated channels: Ranked by song sales
A select few artists have permanent SiriusXM channels. But many have been given limited runs.
The RIAA ranks the most successful artists in music history according to their total certified album units sold in the U.S. (which include streaming figures).
Here are the ones who have or have had their own SiriusXM channels. The bolded artists have had ongoing channels versus the others with limited-run channels that have come and gone:
- The Beatles, 183 million.
- Garth Brooks, 156 million.
- Elvis Presley, 146.5 million.
- Eagles, 120 million.
- Led Zepplin, 111.5 million.
- Billy Joel, 84.5 million.
- Michael Jackson, 84 million.
- The Rolling Stones, 66.5 million.
- Bruce Springsteen, 65.5 million.
- Madonna 64.5 million.
- Whitney Houston, 59 million.
- Fleetwood Mac, 54.5 million.
- U2 52 million.
- Eminem, 46.5 million.
- Queen, 35 million.
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 31.5 million
- Willie Nelson, 31.5 million.
- Pearl Jam, 31.5 million.
- Kenny Chesney, 30.5 million.
- Frank Sinatra, 27 million.
- Beastie Boys, 23 million.
- Bob Marley, 21 million.
- Prince, 20.5 million.
- Coldplay, 14.5 million.
- LL Cool J, 12.5 million.
- David Bowie, 9.5 million.
- Dolly Parton, 7 million.
- Phish, 5.5 million.
Jackson in a league of his own?
Jackson is nearly as big a superstar as any of the stars with permanent channels and gaining.
Yet he was only given a temporary summer slot while the slightly more popular Billy Joel has received temporary channel slots multiple times for many years.
Jamie Foxx once explained:
“When you look at Michael Jackson, there’s nobody who loves him in that family, nobody. If they did, they’d tell him he didn’t have to do all that in order to be famous… Somebody needs to pull him aside and tell him they love him.’’
