King of Pop is a compilation album by American singer and recording artist Michael Jackson, released in commemoration of his 50th birthday in 2008.

The album's launch was made public on June 20, 2008, with the official announcement of the Australian version.

[5][6][7][8][9] A few months afterward, Sony announced the release of regional editions of the King of Pop compilation, in celebration of Jackson's 50th birthday.

[10][11] The name "King of Pop" came when actress and friend Elizabeth Taylor presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award at the 1989 Soul Train Awards, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul".

The Australian version was announced by Sony BMG Australia on June 20, 2008, and was released on Jackson's birthday.

Starting on June 21, 2008, Australian fans had three weeks to vote for their 30 favourite tracks for the album; made up of Jackson's prior material.

[14][15] Each fan could choose five songs from the pool; made up of all the tracks from Off the Wall, Thriller (2001 special edition, including "Carousel"), Bad (2001 special edition), Dangerous, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, Invincible and the track "For All Time" from Thriller 25.

[14] This is the only version of the album to contain "Sunset Driver", "In The Back" and the single You Can't Win.

On July 20, the Austrian version of the double disc compilation was announced; it was released on Jackson's birthday.

The BEL RTL Edition is the only version of the album that doesn't contain the single "Black or White" at all.

Fans could vote for their 5 favorite tracks from a pool of 124, on the web site of the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

[13] This is the only version of the album to contain the single "The Girl Is Mine 2008" while "Smooth Criminal" is not present at all.

[23] Spine of slipcase incorrectly mentions the title as "King Of Pop – The Hong Kong Collection".

"King of Pop – The French Fans' Selection" – Deluxe Box Set Edition was released on the same day with a 3rd bonus disc.

Sony BMG Greece teamed up with music television channel Mad TV through which fans cast votes for their favourite songs.

Fans could vote for 10 of their favorite tracks on the web site of Sony BMG Hong Kong.

[34] Sony BMG India partnered with ibibo.com to roll out the Indian version of 'Michael Jackson – King Of Pop'.

Additionally the best moon walkers were selected by the Ibibo community along with Sony BMG and could win laptops and iPods.

Did you know that when Michael Jackson visited Mexico in 1993 for his presentation at the Azteca Stadium, he took time to go shopping at Pabellón Polanco where he was in 3 stores that were closed so he would feel more comfortable.

On July 22, it was announced that Dutch fans could vote for their favorite Jackson tracks, choosing 5 songs from a list of 100.

The songs available from Thriller 25 were different; "For All Time" had been replaced by "The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008".

Filipino fans were asked to send their Top 10 all-time favorite Michael Jackson tracks via e-mail.

Fans could vote for 20 of their favourite tracks from a pool of 120 on the special web site of Sony BMG Poland.

Sony BMG UK teamed up with GMTV and The Sun allowing fans, until August 10, to pick 18 tracks from the song pool.

The third disc was advertised as featuring "Rarities and Classic 12"s", although many of the mixes were already remastered and re-released on the 2006 boxset Visionary: The Video Singles.