The best Michael Jackson songs
The top 3 according to 148 votes from people: Smooth Criminal · Billie Jean · Thriller. (Updated Mar 21, 2025.)
The King of Pop's greatest songs, from the Jackson 5 to Invincible, as ranked by fan votes and music magazines: Billie Jean on top.
Top 20
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1
Smooth Criminal
1988. The lean and the white suit.
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2
Billie Jean
1983. That bassline; one of the best-selling singles ever.
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3
Thriller
1983. The 14-minute video that changed music television.
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4
Man in the Mirror
1988. A gospel call to change the world starting with yourself.
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5
Black or White
1991. Morphing faces and a global number one.
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6
The Way You Make Me Feel
1987. Bad's irresistible swing.
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7
Rock with You
1979. Smooth disco-funk at its best.
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8
Beat It
1983. With Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo.
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9
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
1979. The disco opener of Off the Wall.
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10
You Rock My World
2001. The last big hit from Invincible.
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11
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
1983. The six-minute opener of Thriller.
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12
I Want You Back
1969. The Jackson 5 debut hit, with a ten-year-old Michael.
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13
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
1983. Pure Quincy Jones funk.
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14
Dirty Diana
1988. The hard-rock single from Bad.
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15
Earth Song
1995. A huge environmental ballad, number one in the UK.
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16
Human Nature
1983. The gentlest song on Thriller.
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17
Bad
1987. The title track and its Scorsese-directed video.
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18
They Don't Care About Us
1996. The protest song filmed in Salvador and Rio.
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19
Remember the Time
1992. The Egyptian video with Eddie Murphy and Iman.
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20
Heal the World
1991. The children's anthem from Dangerous.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (1)
Billie Jean first is correct but Human Nature deserves to be way higher