Michael Jackson's 1979 Album “Off the Wall” Getting Re-Release & Spike Lee Documentary

Estate of Michael Jackson/Sony Music Legacy RecordingsSeveral years before Thriller made him the biggest music star on the planet, Michael Jackson had already established himself as a force to be reckoned with when in 1979, he released Off the Wall, his first official solo album as an adult. Now that disc is being re-released, along with a documentary directed by Spike Lee that features numerous big names talking about its impact.

February 26, Off the Wall is coming out as a CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray: the package includes the original album, along with the Spike Lee documentary, called Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall. It’ll world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, and then debut on Showtime February 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Off the Wall, which Rolling Stone once said “invented modern pop as we know it,” features the hits “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Rock with You,” “She’s Out of My Life” and the title track. The album made MJ, who was 20 when Off the Wall was released, the first solo artist to have four top-10 singles from the same album. To date, it’s sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

The documentary includes archival footage of Michael, as well as interviews with The Weeknd, Pharrell Williams, Mark Ronson, John Legend, Questlove of the Roots, director Lee Daniels, Kobe Bryant, ballerina Misty Copeland, Michael’s mother and father Katherine and Joe Jackson, his brothers Marlon and Jackie, and L.A. Reid, among others.