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 Universal Records to create the Universal Motown Records and placed under the newly created umbrella division of Universal Motown Republic Group. Notable artists on Universal Motown included Drake Bell, Ryan Leslie, Melanie Fiona, Forever the Sickest Kids, and Four Year Strong. In late 2008, Motown began celebrating its fiftieth anniversary (January 12, 2009), including the release of a "The Complete No. 1's" box set containing Motown number-one hits from "Billboard"′s pop, R&B, and disco charts, reissues of classic-era Motown albums on CD, and other planned events, which were released in collaboration with Universal Music Group's catalog division Universal Music Enterprises.