‘Michael’ Jackson Album Ships 3 Million Globally in First Week

A year and a half after his tragic death, Michael Jackson proves he's immortal. The King of Pop lived up to his name this week when his posthumous album 'Michael' became the No.1 selling album globally. In the U.S. the album sold 228,000 albums, and came in third on the Billboard 200, behind Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' and Susan Boyle's 'The Gift.'

Sony says they shipped three million copies of the album, which has gone on to reach platinum status, based on shipment numbers, in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Canada, Korea and the Middle East in its first week. Platinum certification varies in countries by sales and shipments.

Featuring guest spots from 50 Cent, Akon and Lenny Kravitz, the 10-track album has done well even though it was shunned by many of Michael's former collaborators. Quincy Jones, who produced many of Jackson's albums like 'Bad,' 'Thriller,' and 'Off the Wall,' said he believed Jackson would not have approved the album's released if he were still live. Will.i.am and Ne-Yo also renounced the decision of Sony and Jackson's estate to release the album.

The 2010 holiday shopping season has been raining Michael Jackson with new releases from the dead pop star being hurled at consumers across various platforms. Ubisoft released the dance video game 'Michael Jackson: The Experience,' while Sony amassed an encyclopedia of Jackson's music videos for the 3-disc DVD 'Michael Jackson's Vision.'