Unsung: 25 Michael Jackson “non-hit” songs that I rave over and other people don’t…

(June 24, 2022).  It’s hard to believe, but this weekend marks the thirteenth anniversary of Michael Jackson’s passing on June 25, 2009.

Although the King of Pop’s musical legacy lives on and we will forever have his enormous catalogue of mega hit songs and groundbreaking music videos to remind us of just how immensely talented this supernova was, his unexpected departure in 2009 came before any of us true fans were prepared to say our final goodbyes.  

The old quote “the star that burns twice as bright burns half as long” was obviously true in his case.  Michael Jackson reached astronomical career heights during his lifetime that few have before or since.  His is a legacy that will likely never be matched in our lifetimes (and no, Chris Brown and Drake are not on Michael’s level!).

But much of that legacy has been rooted in the familiar MJ hits, the big ones that we all know and love…the ones that scaled the upper reaches of the charts for more than half a century from the time he and his brothers made their chart debut in 1969 to his unprecedented solo success and right up to the present day (the Thriller album is approaching its 40th anniversary this December and is still on the current Billboard 200 chart at No. 93 and its title single has returned to the upper half of the Hot 100 the past several Halloweens, while his greatest hits collection makes regular recurrent chart appearances).

In a bit of a departure from the norm, this blog article gives a remembrance to The Gloved One by listing 25 of his “non-hits,” sung either solo or with his brothers, that made a huge musical impact on yours truly… songs that are, in some cases, as good as (or even better than) the chart toppers.  These songs might have been hits had they been released commercially as singles or promoted heavily (in post-millennium cases where single releases weren’t a prerequisite to being a chart hit).

Oh, and as a disclaimer, non-singles like “I Can’t Help It” or “The Lady In My Life” are excluded because, even thought they weren’t singles, they’re largely regarded as classics by the larger community (especially MJ fans).

So scroll through the below list and enjoy.  And remember, feel free to vote the individual songs and leave a comment below or in any of the social media feeds where this article is posted.

Here are my 25 unsung MJ songs, listed alphabetically by title:

View List on List.ly

DJRob

DJRob (he/him/his) is a freelance music blogger from somewhere on the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, pop and rock genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff!  You can follow him on Twitter at @djrobblog.

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