"Number Ones" is a greatest hits album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 18, 2003, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first standalone compilation with Epic Records after the release of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I in 1995 and its re-release as Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I in 2001. The album features singles that reached number one on various international charts, including Jackson's last original single released during his lifetime, "One More Chance," which came out four days after the album.
The album was commercially successful worldwide, debuting at number one in the United Kingdom and later returning to the top spot in the UK after Jackson's death in 2009. It became the number one selling album in the United States for six non-consecutive weeks and topped the US Top Pop Catalog Albums chart for 27 weeks that year. However, Number Ones was initially excluded from the Billboard 200 due to it being categorized as a "catalog" title, which led to Jackson not securing a seventh solo number one album on the main chart. This rule was changed in 2009 due to the posthumous success of Jackson and The Beatles' re-releases. The album was a huge success in the digital realm as well, with Jackson becoming the first artist to sell over one million music downloads in one week. Number Ones was the third best-selling album of 2009 in the U.S. according to Nielsen Soundscan and the ninth best-selling globally, with over 10 million copies sold worldwide by 2021. The album was certified 5× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and won two American Music Awards in 2009, including Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Album.
Number Ones differs from Greatest Hits: HIStory, Volume I in that it includes 15 singles (14 of which were Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hits), with tracks from Jackson's Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous albums, as well as the title track from Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix and "You Rock My World" from Invincible. The album also features "Break of Dawn," a song from Invincible that Jackson planned to release as a single, and "One More Chance," which was written by R. Kelly and became Jackson’s final hit single during his lifetime. The U.S. edition of the album also included a live 1981 performance of "Ben" from The Jacksons Live!, which had been Jackson’s first solo number one single in the U.S.
The album's cover art features four different poses of Jackson: one from the "Bad" music video, one from a photo session for the Off the Wall album cover, one of him performing "Billie Jean" while suspended on his toes, and a final cover showing him holding his signature fedora during a "Black or White" performance.
Number Ones debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200, selling 121,000 copies in the U.S. during its first week. Before Jackson's death, the album had sold 1.8 million copies in the U.S. After his passing on June 25, 2009, the album's sales skyrocketed, selling 108,000 copies during the week ending July 1, 2009, and continuing its rise, selling 350,000 copies in the following week. It was the top-selling album of 2009 for three consecutive weeks, selling over 2.3 million copies by year-end. Though excluded from the main Billboard 200, it topped the Comprehensive Chart for six weeks and the Catalog Chart for a significant portion of 2009. As of 2016, Number Ones has sold over 5.3 million copies in the U.S. and remains Jackson's best-selling hits package of the Nielsen era. It has also charted at number one in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, and Canada, and achieved Platinum certifications in New Zealand.
