Invincible by Michael Jackson

Invincible is the tenth and final studio album by American singer Michael Jackson released October 30, 2001, on Epic Records. It was Jackson's sixth studio album released through Epic, and his last released before his death in 2009. Invincible incorporates R&B, pop and soul. An extensive and laborious album to make, Jackson started the multi genre production in 1997, and did not finish until eight weeks before the album's October 2001 release. Similarly to Jackson's previous material, Invincible explores themes such as love, romance, isolation, media criticism, and social issues. Jackson performed the Invincible's lead single, "You Rock My World", at his 30th Anniversary Celebration concert show at Madison Square Garden on September 10th 2001, a month before Invincible's release, to mark his 30th year as a solo artist. The show aired on CBS in November 2001 as a two-hour television special and garnered 29.8 million viewers. Unlike with Jackson's post-Thriller studio albums, there was no world tour to promote Invincible; a tour was planned, but canceled due to conflicts between Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment. Following Sony's decision to abruptly end all promotion for the album, Jackson made allegations in July 2002 that Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and a "racist" who did not support his African-American artists but used them for his own personal gain. Invincible debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number one in ten other countries worldwide. As well as "You Rock My World", the album spawned three more singles: "Cry", "Butterflies" and the promotional single "Speechless". "You Rock My World" was the album's most successful single, peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Jackson's last top 10 hit before his death. Invincible received mixed reviews, however, it was one of the best-selling albums of 2001. Having sold approximately 6 million copies worldwide, and being certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), sales for Invincible were notably low compared to Jackson's previous releases, due in part to a diminishing pop music industry, the lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute. Invincible received one Grammy Award nomination, with "You Rock My World" being nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In 2009, Invincible was voted by readers of Billboard as the Best Album of the Decade.