Michael Jackson rules the music charts

Jackson's greatest hits album 'Number Ones', has topped the UK charts while six of the late pop legend's songs have re-entered the top 40 in the singles chart.

The album containing his chart-topping hits, which was first released in 2003, rocketed from the 121st position to the top spot after the superstar's death on Thursday, BBC online reported.


This is the first time in six years that Jackson has had a number one album. Four of his other hit albums also made reappearance in the top 20.

Jackson's 'Thriller', the biggest-selling album of all time, raced from 179 to number seven, 'King of Pop' reached 14, 'Off The Wall' got to 17 and 'The Essential Michael Jackson' came in at number 20.

In the singles chart, 43 out of the top 200 singles feature the singer, with Jackson hits accounting for all but one of the new entries in the top 40.

Overall, Jackson accounted for over 300,000 record sales across singles and albums in just two days this week.

Gennaro Castaldo, of music retailer HMV said that the estimated demand for Jackson albums was now 80 times greater than the day before he died.

"Once we had the announcement of his death people came into our stores and we had large crowds. Fortunately we had a lot of stock because we had been preparing for the O2 concerts, but sadly we didn't expect to sell them for this reason," said Castaldo.

Jackson's albums have dominated sales at music retailers and download sites across the world since his death.