Moonwalk to Millions: Michael Jackson’s Biggest Streaming Hits
With the new “Michael” film now out in cinemas, there is an incredible amount of hype and buzz surrounding the biopic as fans are eager to find out more about the life of the King of Pop.
Music News Blitz writer Dejan Johal takes a deeper dive into his music by looking at the top five most streamed Michael Jackson songs, as of April 2026.
Rock with You – over 865 million streams
There are many close honourable mentions that could’ve been in this list, such as “The Way You Make Me Feel” and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”.
However, the first song in this five is an iconic song included in his 1979 “Off the Wall” album.
“Rock with You”, released in 1979, is a romantic song that beautifully combines disco and pop to create a smooth, relaxing, feel-good song.
Jackson’s angelic-like voice delightfully merges with the smooth rhythmic melody.
The song became a massive hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Overall, “Rock with You” is a wonderful disco-rooted song that also transitions to the pop music that Jackson would use to dominate the 1980’s.
Thriller – over 866 million streams
One of the most iconic and recognisable songs in history, “Thriller” was released in 1982 and instantly became a worldwide hit and cinematic masterpiece.
The song combines pop with a horror-like atmosphere to create a song that is even still to this day associated with Halloween.
The music video also plays a huge part in this song’s legacy, as it is essentially a short horror movie, as Michael and the monsters dance in unison to his smooth voice with urgent lyrics.
This song was also part of the “Thriller” album released in 1983 which became the best-selling album of all time, and also helped Michael win eight awards at the 1984 Grammy’s.
Overall, “Thriller” became more than just a song.
It pushed pop music into more of a cinematic visual experience, and it is still the song associated the most with Halloween.
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Smooth Criminal – over 1 billion streams
From his 1987 “Bad” album, “Smooth Criminal” is a more energetic and fast-paced tune which centres around a crime/drama-like atmosphere.
The bassline of the song is quite relentless and punchy as well as the other instrumentals giving the song a tense and dramatic pace throughout.
Jackson’s lyrics and voice also match the intensity of the song, as there are quick bursts of lyrics to create a sense of urgency.
Similar to “Thriller”, the music video plays a huge part in the song’s legacy as Jackson performs a choreographed routine with his iconic white fedora and suit, and also performs the gravity-defying lean that even people now still question how he did that.
Beat It – over 1.6 billion streams
Also a part of his “Thriller” album, “Beat It” became one of Michael’s most viewed and streamed songs.
The song mixes pop with hard rock and also delivers a strong message about anti-violence.
The contrast of both rock and pop gives “Beat It” a more rebellious edge.
Lyrically, the song represents someone who is having to be forced to pick sides but chooses neither and decides to end the fighting when saying “It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right, just beat it.”
For the music video, Michael actually got two real-life rival gangs together and united them through his message and choreographed dance moves.
“Beat It” became more than a song and became a cultural worldwide message that courage doesn’t always mean standing your ground, it can also mean walking away.
Billie Jean – over 2.6 billion streams
And finally, at number one is the song that has been attached to Michael the most.
Released in 1983, Billie Jean broke all sorts of records and still to this day is one of the most streamed and viewed songs of all time.
The song was based on true-life experiences, as it tells a story of a woman who claims Jackson is the father of her child, which he denies, mirroring the false, real-life accusations that were aimed towards him at the time.
This song was elevated even more by Michael’s live performance at “Motown 25” in 1983, where he put on one of his greatest ever performances to this song and also introduced the world to the moonwalk for the first time.
Michael Jackson truly became a global superstar after this song was released and put on the “Thriller” album.
With so many iconic hit-songs, “The King of Pop” became the biggest star and musician that the world has ever seen.
And with the new “Michael” movie out now in cinemas, the fans will now get to re-live these songs as well go behind the scenes and look at Michael Jackson the human being.
