THE YEAR IS 1987!
- Jackson wrote this song, which crafted a new image for the singer, who now wore leather and chains and acted tough. The title was hip with the times as well, as teenagers were using the word “bad” to mean “seriously cool.” It was rebellious without being controversial, and it worked well for Jackson.
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This song was conceived as a duet with Prince. As Jackson’s producer Quincy Jones explained in an interview for the 2001 special edition of Bad, he liked the idea of drama between the two artists, and pictured them battling it out in the video. Jones, who helped organize the “We Are The World” project, may have been the only person alive who could arrange a meeting between the two superstars, and that’s what he did. When Prince heard the song, he told Jones that it would be a hit without him, and turned down the project. Prince isn’t big on collaborations he doesn’t control, and appearing on Jackson’s album would have been out of character for him. Also, According to a 1997 VH1 interview with Prince, the purple maestro was never onboard with the song due to its lyrical contest. He stated, “The first line in that song is, ‘your butt is mine’ so I was saying, ‘Who gonna sing that to whom? Because you sure ain’t singing it to me, and I sure ain’t singing it to you.’ So right there we got a problem.”
- Jackson had some amazing people working on the video project. Martin Scorsese directed the video, and Wesley Snipes played the rival gang leader. The long version runs 17 minutes.
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Bad was Jackson’s last album produced by Quincy Jones.
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Sheryl Crow was a backup singer on the Bad tour. She had just moved to Los Angeles and got the job when she crashed an audition. In an interview with National Public Radio, she explained that her innocent look helped get her the gig.
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