Bad (song)
"Bad" was a
1987 hit recording by pop singer
Michael Jackson. The song has become one of his signature songs, and one of five
Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit singles from the album of the same name and "Bad" was his seventh number one single [
1]. The album, though way behind the massive success of
Thriller in terms of record sales, would nonetheless become a monumental hit for Jackson, selling over 30 million copies to date[
2].
The song was originally intended as a duet with longtime rival
Prince. Prince was approached and briefly considered taking part in the project, but eventually decided against it. Prince claims he did not want people making
gay jokes about the first line "your butt is mine", which Jackson refused to change. Years later,
Quincy Jones, in an interview included in the
Special Edition of Bad, told a different story when he said that Prince told Jackson and him that he hadn't wanted to participate because "it would be a hit without (him)". Allegedly, Prince said of the album, it was called "Bad" because "they didn't have enough room to spell 'Pathetic' ".
The
video for the song was directed by
Martin Scorsese and featured an appearance by a then-unknown
Wesley Snipes. In
2006, the single, as well as the video, was re-released as part of the
Visionary - The Video Singles package. The video version of the song has different Saxophone sections unheard in the album version.
#Album Version 4:06#7" Single Mix 4:06 - Some horn sections removed.#Dance Extended Mix Includes "False Fade" 8:22#Dance Remix Radio Edit 4:56#Dub Version 4:06#A Cappella 3:49