Michael Jackson Tops Charts in Unfortunate Circumstances

Following the singer's death last week, Michael Jackson's albums and compilations hold Billboard's top nine positions on the Top Pop Catalog chart.

According to MTV.com, Jackson's "Number Ones" greatest hits are at #1, selling over 108,000 copies. "The Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller" sold over 100,000 copies. "Off the Wall" sold 33,000 and the Jackson 5's "Ultimate Collection" sold over 18,000. Jackson's total solo albums sales went over 415,000 copies this past week.

According to Reuters, 58 percent of sales were from digital downloads. 70,000 online downloads were sold from "Essential Michael Jackson," "Number Ones," and "Thriller." Many retailers ran out of Jackson CD's, The New York Times reports. Concurrently, the only other artist to hold so many top 10 titles were AC/DC and the Beatles.

On Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, Jackson held 25 of the 75 spots. "Thriller" held this lead with 167,000 downloads. Sales are expected to continue throughout 2009 with the possibility of making Jackson the highest selling artist of all time.