Michael Jackson is back on the Hot 100 again this week with “Thriller.” The tune has turned out to be a seasonal smash, finding its way back to the list each year as Halloween returns. This time around, the cut reappears at No. 21, an impressive placement for a tune that’s actually 40 years old.
While No. 21 is a healthy relaunching point for “Thriller,” the song could have performed much, much better. In fact, if it wasn’t for perhaps the biggest star on the planet releasing her new album recently, Jackson might have returned to the top 10 on the Hot 100 for the first time in years.
This week, Taylor Swift dominates the Hot 100, the weekly ranking of the most-consumed songs in the U.S., with tracks from her latest album 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The blockbuster set arrives atop the Billboard 200 chart with more than 1.6 million equivalent units shifted, with hundreds of millions of streams helping send all the tunes featured on it straight to the upper reaches of the Hot 100.
Swift debuts 11 brand new songs ahead of “Thriller,” and another track, the previously-released “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version),” returns and hits a new high of No. 19. If she had released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) either weeks before or perhaps a frame later, chances are she wouldn’t occupy that much space, which would allow other hits to perform better.
If those 11 debuts by Swift weren’t on the Hot 100 this week, “Thriller” may have been able to advance as many spaces, perhaps returning at No. 10. There’s even a chance it might have risen higher, depending on a number of factors. Of course, there’s no telling what else might have been released or how other albums and songs may have performed if Swift wasn’t in the way, but chances are Jackson’s hit would have climbed higher.
“Thriller” has been returning to the Hot 100 each fall for several years now, and it typically does very well for a decades-old cut. As it continues to hold a special place in the hearts of millions, and as more and more people stream it every Halloween, it could reappear higher next time around…assuming Swift doesn’t release yet another fall album.
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