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Bad
Michael Jackson
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- Album
- Bad (Remastered)
- Released
- 1987
- Genres
- Length
- 4:07
- Tempo
- 114 BPM
- Label
- Epic/Legacy
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About this song
Bad is the second single and title track from Michael Jackson's seventh solo album. Its video showcased a more aggressive, edgier style of dance and singing, and it was originally meant to feature Prince before the part went to Wesley Snipes, then relatively unknown. The video was written by Richard Price and directed by Martin Scorsese, who were working together on The Color of Money at the time, and it draws on West Side Story.
What it's about
The video was inspired by the story of Edmund Perry, a recent Phillips Exeter Academy graduate who was killed in 1985 by a plainclothes policeman in Manhattan.
Fun facts
- Sampled in 21 other songs, like “Bad Freestyle by Young King DZA”.
- Covered 14 times, including “Bad / 2 Bad by Myles Frost”.
- Written by Michael Jackson.
- Produced by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones.
- Recorded at Westlake Recording Studios.