Bad

Popularity 99 /100
Bad front cover Bad back cover
31 August 1987
Michael Jackson
Studio Album Bad Era Dance-Pop Funk Pop R&B Rock
Michael Jackson's seventh studio album and his third and final collaboration with Quincy Jones. Released in August 1987, Bad produced a record-breaking five consecutive #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and shifted over 35 million copies worldwide. The accompanying world tour grossed $125 million.
Producers
Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson
Executive Producers
Quincy Jones
Studios
Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Hayvenhurst Home Studio, Encino
Recorded
5 January 1986 to 31 July 1987
Label
Epic Records
Runtime
48:16 · 11 tracks
Awards
4 wins · 2 nominations  Read more

Tracklist

  1. 01 Bad Single 4:07
  2. 02 The Way You Make Me Feel Single 4:59
  3. 03 Speed Demon 4:01
  4. 04 Liberian Girl Single 3:54
  5. 05 Just Good Friends 4:08
  6. 06 Another Part Of Me Single 3:55
  7. 07 Man In The Mirror Single 5:20
  8. 08 I Just Can't Stop Loving You Single 4:25
  9. 09 Dirty Diana Single 4:52
  10. 10 Smooth Criminal Single 4:19
  11. 11 Leave Me Alone Single 4:39

Singles

Bad is Michael Jackson’s seventh studio album and his third and final collaboration with producer Quincy Jones. Released on 31 August 1987, it was one of the most highly anticipated albums in music history, following the unprecedented success of Thriller. Jackson wrote nine of the album’s eleven tracks himself and co-produced the entire record, demonstrating a level of creative control he had not previously exercised.

The album represented a deliberate move towards a harder, more aggressive sound, incorporating digital synthesizers, drum machines, and rock elements alongside the pop and R&B foundation. The recording process was extensive: Jackson worked with two parallel teams. The “A team” at Westlake Studios with Quincy Jones and engineer Bruce Swedien handled the polished arrangements; a “B team” at his Hayvenhurst home studio led by Bill Bottrell, Matt Forger, John Barnes and Christopher Currell experimented with synth textures and sound design. Jackson reportedly wrote around sixty songs and recorded thirty-three, originally pushing for a three-disc release before Jones persuaded him to pare it down to eleven tracks.

Bad produced a record-breaking five consecutive #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, “Bad”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana”, a feat unmatched until Katy Perry tied it in 2011. The accompanying Bad World Tour was Jackson’s first solo concert tour. Across 123 shows in 15 countries it grossed approximately $125 million and drew 4.4 million people, both records at the time. The 1988 Wembley Stadium run drew 504,000 over seven nights and earned a Guinness World Record that stood for years.

Critically, Bad solidified Jackson’s reputation as not just a singer but a songwriter and producer. Sony Music had spent over $20 million promoting the album and reportedly invested $30 million in its production: at the time, the most expensive album ever recorded. It became the best-selling record worldwide in both 1987 and 1988, has shifted over 35 million copies, and was the first CD to outsell its vinyl edition in many markets, signalling the format shift of the late 1980s. Bad was also the first album in history to produce five U.S. number-one singles and the first to be certified Diamond in multiple countries.

It earned Grammy Awards for Best Engineered Recording (Non-Classical) in 1988 and, retrospectively, Best Music Video, Short Form for the surreal Jim Blashfield-directed “Leave Me Alone” video in 1990. The album was nominated for Album of the Year and Record of the Year at the 1988 ceremony. Twenty-five years after release the album was reissued as Bad 25, a deluxe set including unreleased Bad-era recordings, a remastered original, the complete 1988 Wembley concert audio, and Spike Lee’s documentary film of the same name.

Spot something missing or wrong on this page? Suggest an edit with sources