Thanks to 'Michael' movie, the King of Pop's streaming numbers are off the wall

Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 6:00 AM

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in the upcoming film 'Michael.' (Lionsgate)

Michael Jackson's new biopic has topped the box office, and now his streaming numbers are off the wall. According to Billboard, the late King of Pop is headed for his biggest streaming week ever, thanks to the record-setting film.

As per Luminate data submitted to Billboard, MJ's solo catalog streams increased by 116% in the days after the April 24 release of Michael, while catalogs by both The Jackson 5 and their later incarnation, The Jacksons, also saw bumps: 89% and 104%, respectively.

As for individual songs, Michael's hit "Billie Jean" was the most streamed, followed by "Beat It," "Rock With You," "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Smooth Criminal. The Jackson 5's most popular track was "I Want You Back," and for The Jacksons, it was "Blame It on the Boogie."

These figures, Billboard noted, are for just three days' worth of streaming. After a full week, streams of Michael's solo work now looks to beat his previous personal bests of 50.6 million streams and 55.3 million streams. Both those milestones were achieved in the two weeks leading up to the movie's release.

Michael, which covers the late superstar's life from 1966 to 1988, stars his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role. Its first-week box office take was $97 million, the highest-ever for a biopic.