The Essential Michael Jackson by Jackson. A re-titled release in the UK was planned on July 6, 2009 as "The Hits", but was cancelled upon Jackson's death. As of 2018, the album was certified 4× platinum in the US. 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
Motown Chartbusters comprised mainly hit singles by various Motown artists, the albums also included other recordings that had not been hits in Britain and many significant single hits were excluded from the series. Later albums in the series failed to include any of the top ten singles achieved by Stevie Wonder, or any of his releases. Minor hits were sometimes included in place of bigger hits, most notably for the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson. Because of Motown's policy of re-issuing tracks on single on a regular basis, there are some anomalies in the inclusion of tracks. Jimmy Ruffin's 'What Becomes of