The Essential Michael Jackson The Essential Michael Jackson The Essential Michael Jackson is a greatest hits compilation album by American singer 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 US as a limited edition containing an additional disc of seven songs performed
Motown Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, "Diana!" with Diana Ross, and "Goin' Back to Indiana" with the Jackson 5. The company loosened its production rules, allowing some of its longtime artists the opportunity to write and produce more of their own material. This resulted in the recordings of successful and critically acclaimed albums such as Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (1971) and "Let's Get it On" (1973), and Stevie Wonder's "Music of My Mind" (1972), "Talking Book" (1972), and "Innervisions" (1973). Motown had established branch offices in both New York City and Los Angeles during the mid-1960s, and