i agree that OTW was a cross-over success in the late 70s.

and i've read that for a time it was the biggest selling R&B album ever.

which means that it had outsold R&B albums like Songs in the Key of Life and Gratitude. but by how much?

http://voices.yahoo.com/best-rb-albums-all-time-certified-sales-8905976.html?cat=33

OTW = 8x platinum per RIAA.

SITKOL = 10x platinum. yes, double album and all of that but the official sales figure is north of 10 million, while OTW's official number is between 8 and 10 million. for the purpose of this discussion, SITKOL has sold 10 million, b/c i'm sure the articles saying OTW is/was the best selling R&B album of all time for a time don't place an asterisk on SITKOL's sales.

ANYWAY, what i'm trying to say here i think is that MJ hadn't done anything w/the OTW sales that had never been done. that album being the best selling R&B album ever for a brief period didn't make MJ a legend.