Instead, they wanted something "mysterious to match Michael's evolving persona". The production team, led by Quincy Jones, felt the song should be the title track, but that "Starlight" was not a strong album title. Temperton's first version was titled "Starlight", with the chorus lyric: "Give me some starlight / Starlight sun". He recalled: "I wanted it to build and build – a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the tune to heighten suspense." He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the bassline that runs through the song, then wrote a chord progression that built to a climax. Temperton wanted to write something theatrical to suit Jackson's love of film. "Thriller" was written by the English songwriter Rod Temperton, who had previously written " Rock With You" and " Off the Wall" for Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall. Horror actor Vincent Price provided the spoken-word sequence at the end of "Thriller". It has been named the greatest music video of all time by various publications and readers' polls. Many elements of the video have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, and it was the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry. In the video, Jackson becomes a zombie and performs a dance routine with a horde of the undead. The "Thriller" music video was directed by John Landis and premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983. It appears on several of Jackson's greatest-hits albums and has been covered by numerous artists. It charted on the Billboard Hot Digital Singles Chart at number two, and remained in the charts' top ten for three consecutive weeks. In the week of Jackson's death in 2009, it was Jackson's bestselling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the Billboard Hot Digital Tracks chart. "Thriller" is certified seven-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It reached number one in Belgium, France and Spain, and the top ten in many other countries. "Thriller" received positive reviews and became the album's seventh top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number four. It ends with a spoken-word sequence performed by the horror actor Vincent Price. The music and lyrics evoke horror films, with sound effects such as thunder, footsteps, and wind. "Thriller" is a funk song produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton, who wanted to write a theatrical song to suit Jackson's love of film.
It was released by Epic Records in Novemin the UK, and on January 23, 1984, in the US, as the seventh and final single from Jackson's sixth studio album, Thriller (1982). " Thriller" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson.