Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the best-selling music album of all time.

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is widely regarded as one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, his music achievements broke racial barriers in America and made him a dominant figure worldwide. Through his songs, stages, and fashion, he proliferated visual performance for artists in popular music, inventing such street dance moves as the moonwalk, the robot, and the anti-gravity lean. Jackson is often deemed the greatest entertainer of all time based on his acclaim and records.

Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 29, 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who previously worked with Jackson on his album Off the Wall (1979). With the ongoing backlash against disco music at the time, he moved in a new musical direction, resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, synth-pop, and R&B sounds, and darker themes; Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". Paul McCartney appears as the first credited featured artist on a Jackson album. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a budget of $750,000.

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape, or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records (78s) collected in a bound book resembling a photo album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl long-playing (LP) records played at 33+1⁄3 rpm.

November 29 is the 333rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 32 days remain until the end of the year.