When Michael Jackson released 'Thriller' on November 30, 1982, he changed the pop landscape forever. Combining unforgettable hits with ground-breaking videos, Jackson went from soul star to the King of Pop! On the 40th anniversary on the album's release learn some remarkable facts about the iconic LP...

‘Thriller’ remains the best-selling album of all-time having sold around 70 million copies and winning a record breaking eight Grammys. But did you know it was originally meant to be called ‘Midnight Man’? Genius songwriter Rod Temperton - who penned the title track - revealed the hit single was also originally titled something different. He spilled: “Originally, when I did my 'Thriller' demo, I called it Starlight'. Quincy (Jones) said to me, 'You managed to come up with a title for the last album, see what you can do for this album.' So I went back to the hotel, wrote two or three hundred titles, and came up with the title 'Midnight Man'. “The next morning, I woke up, and I just said this word... Something in my head just said, this is the title. You could visualize it on the top of the Billboard Charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as 'Thriller'.”

Michael told record producer Quincy Jones – who worked on his trilogy of hit solo LP's 'Off The Wall', 'Thriller' and 'Bad' - that his song 'Billie Jean' was about a girl who jumped over his fence and claimed that Jacko had fathered her twins. Quincy urged Michael to change the title to ‘Not My Lover’ in case former tennis star Billie Jean King thought the song was about her.

At the time of shooting, 14-minute video masterpiece ‘Thriller’ was the most expensive promo ever made. The video went over budget and eventually cost $900,000 to make.

Michael's pet chimpanzee Bubbles would accompany him everywhere. But during one studio session for 'Thriller', the monkey went mad and trashed the studio. Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, who worked with Michael on the ‘Thriller’ single, said: "He stopped bringing him to the studio because he tore apart the vocal booth and threw s*** against the wall at Westlake Audio. "Man, that monkey just ripped that vocal booth to shreds. I think they banned Bubbles from the studio after that.”

Following the success of ‘The Girl Is Mine’ and ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat it’ was released as the album’s third single in 1983. Quincy Jones encouraged Jackson to come out with a rock song which was written as an antidote to Jackson’s disco tracks. Inspired by The Knack’s hit ‘My Sharona’, both Quincy and Michael recruited legendary rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen from Van Halen to perform a solo on the track. Something he did for FREE!

Michael Jackson dreamt big and hoped the success of his album would emulate the success of the late Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 'The Nutcracker' is the most famous composition and has made a lasting impression as it’s frequently performed at ballets.

Michael's iconic red leather jacket, which he wore in 'Thriller' sold for a whopping $1.8million at Julien's Auctions. It was described by the buyer as "the greatest piece of rock 'n' roll memorabilia in history".

The famous fall out between Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson dates back to well over 30 years ago. The musical pair disagreed on whether Jones deserved a Grammy having produced smashed hit single 'Thriller' in 1982, as Michael believed he did all the work.

Cameroon musician Manu Dibango released ‘Soul Makossa’ in 1972, including the lyrics “mamako mamasa”. A decade later Jackson included 'Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin' on his album and the similarity between Manu’s “ma ma ko/ma ma sa/ma ko ma ko sa” and Jackson's “ma ma se/ma ma sa/ma ma ku sa” was uncanny. An out of court settlement was agreed to settle the lawsuit.

The Beatles legend collaborated with Jackson on the track 'The Girl Is Mine’, which was released as a single from the LP. A year later their released another duet 'Say Say Say', which was the lead single from McCartney's 1983 LP 'Pipes of Peace'. Despite their friendship, after McCartney advised Michael to invest his wealth into music publishing, he did by obtaining the rights to the majority of The Beatles back catalogue for $47 million. The business ended their friendship.