In death, Michael Jackson is a bestseller again.
Along Hollywood Boulevard on Friday, mourners snapped up glossy posters and T-shirts bearing the singer's image from rows of sidewalk sellers. Online retailers reported that they were placing back orders for sold-out merchandise and working with suppliers to meet the staggering demand. Elsewhere, business was brisk in pretty much all things MJ.
"This is simply unprecedented," said Bill Carr, vice president of music and video at Amazon.com Inc., which sold out of Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 CDs minutes after news broke that the pop star had died Thursday. "We've seen the death of Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra and many other artists, but none of them compare to what we're witnessing today."
As of Friday afternoon, Jackson-related DVDs filled the top seven spots in Amazon's "Bestsellers in Movies & TV" list and Jackson albums accounted for all 10 of the "Bestsellers in Music" list, with the 25th-anniversary edition of "Thriller" taking the No. 1 spot, Carr said.
"In the last 24 hours, we've actually sold more Michael Jackson albums in our MP3 and CD stores than we have in the 11 years since the launch of our music business," he said.
At Barnes & Noble Inc., Chief Merchandising Officer Jaime Carey said that the company's online store and retail locations were sold out of nearly all Jackson CDs, DVDs and books. All of BN.com's 10 bestselling CDs were Jackson albums, he said.
"We're working with the record labels, the studios and the publishers to get stock in as quickly as possible to meet the overwhelming customer demand," he said.
Fans also flocked to sites such as EBay and Craigslist to buy Jackson memorabilia. An EBay spokeswoman said the number of Michael Jackson items sold Thursday was 210% higher than on the same day a week earlier.
For years, Jackson's "Thriller" has held the No. 2 spot on the Recording Industry Assn. of America's list of the bestselling albums of all time, close behind the Eagles' "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975."
It may be a matter of weeks, perhaps days, before the pop singer's landmark album reclaims the No. 1 spot as fans around the world snap up his recordings to mourn his passing and celebrate his storied career.
At Amoeba Music in Hollywood, customers arrived Friday morning disappointed to find that all Jackson CDs, vinyl records, posters and T-shirts had sold out in less than two hours Thursday.
