YouTube’s Billion Views Club welcomes Michael Jackson’s ‘They Don’t Care About Us’

In a salute to his global popularity, long after his demise, Michael Jackson‘s “They Don’t Care About Us” music video has surpassed one billion views on YouTube.

The ever-relatable rebellious song was first released in 1996 as a single from the King of Pop’s ninth studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.

In the song Michael Jackson aggressively chants: "All I want to say is that they don't really care about us, Don't worry what people say, we know the truth, All I want to say is that they don't really care about us, Enough is enough of this garbage, All I want to say is that they don't really care about us."

The protest anthem was shot in in Brazil, and features Jackson parading through the streets with a throng of Brazilian kids and teenagers with drums around him.

The music video is the late pop legend’s second to join the Billion club on YouTube, after the smash hit “Billie Jean” from the Thriller period.

Michael Jackson's album Thriller, released in 1982, featured music videos such as "Beat It," "Billie Jean," and "Thriller," which are credited with breaking racial barriers and transforming the music video medium into an art form and marketing device. 

Thriller remains the pop icon’s most successful album of all time, and Bad was the first album to register five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.