Off the Wall Songwriting Credits by Michael Jackson

Off the Wall is the fifth solo studio album by Michael Jackson, released in August 1979 on Epic Records and produced by Quincy Jones, the first collaboration between Jackson and Jones that established the sonic framework, production philosophy, and creative partnership that would produce Thriller and Bad, and the record that completed Jackson's transformation from child star to adult pop artist. Jackson co-wrote four of the album's ten tracks, including 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' (his first solo number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 as an adult), 'Working Day and Night,' and 'Get on the Floor' (with Louis Johnson), marking a decisive and permanent shift from the Motown era in which he had written nothing. The album's production synthesizes disco, R&B, funk, and pop in a way that reflected both Jones's orchestral background and Jackson's instinct for commercially accessible melody: 'Rock with You' (written by Rod Temperton) and 'She's Out of My Life' (Tom Bahler) are among the strongest non-Jackson-written tracks in his catalog. Off the Wall became the first solo album in history to generate four top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number three on the chart and eventually selling over 20 million copies worldwide. Despite its commercial performance, the album received only one Grammy nomination, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, an outcome Jackson later cited as personal motivation for the ambition behind Thriller.