Anyone who doubted the commercial power of Michael Jackson may want to think again.
Since last week's announcement of the King of Pop's London comeback concerts, over 1 million people have registered for the pre-sale alone. On the day of the pre-sale, over 1.5 million fans across the globe crashed the websites of the O2 Arena and Ticketmaster UK in a desperate attempt to snap up tickets, according to Britain's Daily Mail.
The demand for tickets led AEG, the organizers for the concerts, to extend the concert series to a total of 26 dates, with more being added by the hour. The concerts currently run through July and August, ending in early September.
Sales of Jackson's records have also seen major spikes since last week's sensational announcement. UK music website Play.com saw sale increases of over 150% for Thriller, Dangerous, Bad, and Off The Wall, which saw the largest increase of 200%.
Across the pond here in the States, Jackomania is slowly, but assuredly taking over pop culture, The biggest sign of that was last night's American Idol episode, which was dedicated to him. The Top 13 contestants performed songs from his catalog, ranging from his first ever single "Rockin' Robin" to his Grammy-winning smash "Beat It". The Idol impact has driven 10 of Michael's songs into iTunes Top 100 Pop Songs already. The Essential Michael Jackson, a compilation released in 2005, sits at #22 on iTunes Top 100 Albums.
Speaking of MJ music, AEG head Randy Phillips announced that Michael will release a new single before the July 8th concert date. "Michael has got some new music and he is looking for a new way of disseminating his material to his fans," he told The Sun.
Michael officially parted with original record label Sony BMG in 2001, after he accused the company of lackluster promotion of his album Invincible and former label head Tommy Mottola of racism.
A week into the long-rumored and oft-doubted comeback, it appears that the Gloved One truly is the King of Pop.
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