Jackson jacket fetches thriller price

A famed black-and-red calfskin jacket that Michael Jackson wore in the classic Thriller video has sold at auction for US$1.8 million (NZ $2.2million).

Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, says the jacket was purchased on Sunday by Milton Verret, a commodities trader from Austin, Texas.

The jacket is one of two Jackson wore during the filming of the 1983 Thriller video.

Jackson wears the jacket in a scene with a troupe of zombies who rise from their graves and break into a dance routine.

Verret says the jacket will be sent on tour and used as a fundraising tool for children's charities.

-AAP