The Essential Michael Jackson

The Essential Michael Jackson is a greatest hits compilation album by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on July 19, 2005, by Sony Music's catalog division Legacy Recordings as part of The Essential series. The two-disc compilation features thirty-eight hit songs by Michael Jackson, from his days at Motown Records with The Jackson 5 in the late 1960s and early 1970s to his 2001 hit "You Rock My World". On August 26, 2008, The Essential Michael Jackson 3.0 was released in the United States as a limited edition containing an additional disc of seven songs performed by Jackson. A re-titled release in the United Kingdom was released on September 5, 2005, as The Hits. As of 2021, the album was certified 5× platinum in the United States for over 2.5 million copies sold. Worldwide, the compilation has sold an estimated 6 million copies.