Bad (album)

Bad
Bad
Studio album by Michael Jackson
Released	August 31, 1987
Recorded	January 1985 – July 1987
Studio	Westlake, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Pop; dance; rock; hard rock; R&B; soul; funk;
Length	43:59 (LP version); 48:40 (CD version);
Label	Epic
Producer	Quincy Jones; Michael Jackson;
Michael Jackson chronology
Singles from Bad
	"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"; Released: July 20, 1987; "Bad"; Released: September 7, 1987; "The Way You Make Me Feel"; Released: November 9, 1987; "Man in the Mirror"; Released: January 1988; "Dirty Diana"; Released: April 18, 1988; "Another Part of Me"; Released: July 11, 1988; "Smooth Criminal"; Released: November 14, 1988; "Leave Me Alone"; Released: February 13, 1989; "Liberian Girl"; Released: July 3, 1989 (UK only);

Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Written and recorded between 1985 and 1987, Bad was Jackson's third and final collaboration with the producer Quincy Jones. Jackson co-produced and composed all but two tracks, and adopted an edgier image and sound, departing from his signature groove-based style and falsetto. Bad incorporates pop, rock, funk, R&B, dance, soul, and hard rock styles, and incorporated new recording technology, including digital synthesizers. The lyrical themes include media bias, paranoia, racial profiling, romance, self-improvement, and world peace. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.

Nine singles were released, including a record-breaking five number ones: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana". Bad was promoted with the film Moonwalker (1988), which included the music videos for several Bad songs. The Bad tour, Jackson's first solo world tour, grossed $125 million (equivalent to $322 million in 2023), making it the highest-grossing solo concert tour of the 1980s. Jackson performed 123 concerts in 15 countries to an audience of 4.4 million.

Released nearly five years after Jackson's previous album, Thriller (1982), anticipation for Bad was high. In the US, Bad debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, selling more than 2.25 million copies in its first week. It reached number one in 24 other countries, including the UK, where it sold 350,000 copies in its first week and was the bestselling album of 1987. Bad was the bestselling album worldwide of 1987 and 1988. By 1991, it was the second-bestselling album of all time, behind Thriller, having sold 25 million copies worldwide. In 2021, it was certified eleven times platinum in the US.

Bad received positive reviews, particularly for Jackson's vocals and the rich, more polished production. It was nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and won Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical and Best Music Video (for "Leave Me Alone"). In 1988, Jackson received the first Billboard Spotlight Award, in recognition of the record-breaking chart success on the Billboard Hot 100. For his Bad videos and previous videos, Jackson received the MTV Video Vanguard Award. Bad is now seen as a staple of 1980s pop music and an extension of Jackson's influence on popular culture. It has been named by several publications as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2012, the album's 25th anniversary, an expanded reissue, Bad 25, and a documentary film, Bad 25, were released.

^ Smallcombe 2016, pp. 220–296.
^ Troupe, Quincy (June 25, 2014). "Michael Jackson's 1987 Cover Story: 'The Pressure to Beat It'". Spin. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
^ Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Vol. 3 & 4. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5449-7. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
^ ^a ^b Lecocq, Richard; Allard, François (2018). "Bad". Michael Jackson All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London, England: Cassell. ISBN 978-1-78840-057-2. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2020.

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[FOOTNOTESmallcombe2016220–296-1] Smallcombe 2016, pp. 220–296.

[Spin-2] Troupe, Quincy (June 25, 2014). "Michael Jackson's 1987 Cover Story: 'The Pressure to Beat It'". Spin. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2019.

[3] Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Vol. 3 & 4. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5449-7. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2019.

[All_Songs-4] Lecocq, Richard; Allard, François (2018). "Bad". Michael Jackson All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London, England: Cassell. ISBN 978-1-78840-057-2. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2020.

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