The Essential

Michael Jackson's entry in the Essential series

The Essential is the name of a series of compilation albums released by Sony Music's catalog division Legacy Recordings. Legacy compiles these releases from the vast catalogs of Sony Music's labels and they usually bear the original label or imprint associated with the discography.^[1]

The Essential series began with the release of The Essential Bob Dylan on October 31, 2000. Most of the Essential compilations have been two-disc sets, although Sony began releasing one-disc versions for selected artists at a reduced price in 2003. The Essential Bruce Springsteen andThe Essential Michael Jackson are available in both two- and three-disc form.

Recently, reissues of the albums titled "Limited Edition 3.0" have included an additional third disc, as well as eco-friendly packaging.

Titles

Albums that have been certified Platinum by the RIAA are marked with ▲. Albums certified Gold are marked with ●. The best-selling title in The Essential series is The Essential Michael Jackson which has sold 6 million copies worldwide. Other notable sellers In the USA is The Essential Billy Joel and The Essential Barbra Streisand, both with Double Platinum certifications (1,000,000 units). These albums are double platinum as previous rules certified double CD's as double platinum. The Essential series has been certified a total of 13,500,000 units to date.*

• To clarify, previous RIAA rules stated that a double album that had sold 250,000 would be certified Gold ● (as they were counted as separates), double albums that had sold 500,000 were certified platinum ▲, and albums certified 2x platinum indicated shipments of over 1,000,000 copies.^[2]

One Disc

• The Essential Roy Acuff
• The Essential Adam Ant
• The Essential Allman Brothers Band: The Epic Years
• The Essential Fred Astaire
• The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Babyface
• The Essential The Bangles
• The Essential Blue Öyster Cult
• The Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter
• The Essential Rosemary Clooney
• The Essential David Allan Coe
• The Essential Bing Crosby: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Rodney Crowell
• The Essential Charlie Daniels Band
• The Essential Joe Diffie
• The Essential Dion
• The Essential Donovan
• The Essential Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
• The Essential Electric Light Orchestra
• The Essential Daryl Braithwaite
• The Essential 54-40
• The Essential Fishbone
• The Essential Dan Fogelberg
• The Essential Vince Gill
• The Essential Merle Haggard: The Epic Years
• The Essential Jacksons
• The Essential Cyndi Lauper
• The Essential Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
• The Essential Men at Work
• The Essential Max Merritt & the Meteors
• The Essential Mi-Sex
• The Essential Molly Hatchet
• The Essential Eddie Money
• The Essential Thelonious Monk
• The Essential Shawn Mullins
• The Essential Noiseworks
• The Essential O'Jays
• The Essential Pet Shop Boys
• The Essential Poco
• The Essential Redbone
• The Essential Pete Seeger
• The Essential Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Connie Smith
• The Essential Stabbing Westward
• The Essential Peter Tosh: The Columbia Years
• The Essential Jimmie Vaughan
• The Essential Anna Vissi
• The Essential Tammy Wynette
• The Essential Toto

Two Disc

• The Essential Alabama
• The Essential Alice in Chains
• The Essential Louis Armstrong
• The Essential Gene Autry
• The Essential Harry Belafonte
• The Essential George Benson
• The Essential Tony Bennett
• The Essential Toni Braxton
• The Essential Julian Bream
• The Essential Dave Brubeck
• The Essential Byrds
• The Essential Johnny Cash ▲
• The Essential Mario Lanza
• The Essential Cheap Trick
• The Essential Chieftains
• The Essential Clash
• The Essential Leonard Cohen
• The Essential Ray Conniff
• The Essential Daddy Cool
• The Essential Miles Davis
• The Essential John Denver
• The Essential Neil Diamond ▲
• The Essential Placido Domingo
• The Essential Dragon
• The Essential George Duke
• The Essential Bob Dylan ▲
• The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire ●
• The Essential Duke Ellington
• The Essential Gloria Estefan
• The Essential Rory Gallagher
• The Essential George Gershwin
• The Essential Benny Goodman
• The Essential Daryl Hall & John Oates
• The Essential Herbie Hancock
• The Essential Heart ●
• The Essential Hollywood
• The Essential Iron Maiden
• The Essential Isley Brothers
• The Essential Mahalia Jackson
• The Essential Michael Jackson ▲2
• The Essential John Farnham
• The Essential Jars of Clay
• The Essential Jefferson Airplane
• The Essential Billy Joel ▲2
• The Essential George Jones
• The Essential Janis Joplin
• The Essential Journey ▲
• The Essential Judas Priest
• The Essential Kenny G
• The Essential Kingston Trio
• The Essential Kris Kristofferson
• The Essential Shona Laing
• The Essential Kenny Loggins
• The Essential Yo-Yo Ma
• The Essential Taj Mahal
• The Essential Barry Manilow
• The Essential Bob Marley
• The Essential Wynton Marsalis
• The Essential Johnny Mathis
• The Essential Glenn Miller
• The Essential Willie Nelson ●
• The Essential Roy Orbison
• The Essential Ozzy Osbourne ●
• The Essential Dolly Parton
• The Essential Jaco Pastorius
• The Essential Elvis Presley (January 2, 2007)
• The Essential New Kids On The Block
• The Essential Charley Pride
• The Essential Tito Puente
• The Essential Jim Reeves
• The Essential REO Speedwagon
• The Essential Marty Robbins
• The Essential Santana ●
• The Essential Earl Scruggs
• The Essential Ravi Shankar
• The Essential Artie Shaw
• The Essential Simon and Garfunkel ▲
• The Essential Sly & The Family Stone
• The Essential Barbra Streisand ▲
• The Essential Streetheart
• The Essential Luther Vandross ●
• The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble ●
• The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic
• The Essential Dionne Warwick

See also

• Gold (album series)
• 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
• 16 Biggest Hits
• Super Hits
• RCA Country Legends
• Playlist (album series)
• Legacy Recordings Essential Radio

References

External links

• Sony BMG's Essential Music Series website