Bad (Michael Jackson album)
Michael Jackson's 1987 studio album: the first album with five Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles, 11x Platinum in the US, winner of two Grammy Awards.
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- Country
- United States
- Type
- Studio album
- Artist
- Michael Jackson
- Released
- 31 August 1987
- Producer
- Quincy Jones
- Chart record
- Five consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles — the first album ever to do so
- Grammy Awards
- 2 wins — Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical (1988); Best Music Video – Short Form for "Leave Me Alone" (1990)
- US certification
- 11x Platinum (RIAA, August 2022)
- Tour
- Bad World Tour, 1987–1989
Overview
Bad (1987) is Michael Jackson’s follow-up to Thriller (1982), the best-selling album ever made. Produced with Quincy Jones, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, produced five consecutive No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 — the first album ever to do so — won two Grammy Awards, and stands at 11× Platinum in the United States (GRAMMY.com; Parade; That Grape Juice).
For clarity: this profile covers the 1987 studio album Bad — not the title song alone (the Recording Academy lists “Bad (Album)” and “Bad (Single)” as separate entries), and not any other work that happens to be called “Bad.” It was Jackson’s third studio collaboration with Jones, and its Bad World Tour ran from 1987 to 1989 — still counted among the highest-grossing concert tours of all time (GRAMMY.com).
A chart record nobody has beaten
Bad debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on September 26, 1987, and stayed six weeks, in stores since August 31 (Parade). Its lead single, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” — a duet with Siedah Garrett — topped the Hot 100 that month (Parade). What followed was unprecedented: “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Dirty Diana” each reached No. 1, with “Dirty Diana” topping the chart on July 2, 1988 — nine months later (Parade). The Recording Academy confirms that five consecutive No. 1 singles from one album “had never been achieved” before (GRAMMY.com). By Billboard’s count, no album had managed it since the Hot 100 began in 1958 (Parade). Only one album has matched the feat since: Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, which pulled five No. 1s in 2011 (Parade). Thriller — the best-selling album ever made — sent seven singles into the top 10, but only two reached No. 1: “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” (Parade).
| # | Single | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” | Duet with Siedah Garrett; topped the Hot 100 in September 1987 (Parade) |
| 2 | “Bad” | Second in the string of five straight No. 1 pop hits; Scorsese-directed video with Wesley Snipes, a cameo organ solo from Jimmy Smith (AllMusic) |
| 3 | “The Way You Make Me Feel” | Third chart-topper of the run (Parade) |
| 4 | “Man in the Mirror” | The “socially conscious” hit of the five (Britannica) |
| 5 | “Dirty Diana” | Reached No. 1 on July 2, 1988, nine months after the album’s release (Parade) |
Two Grammys — and the Album of the Year that got away
At the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, Bad was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance–Male, Best R&B Vocal Performance–Male (for the “Bad” single), and Producer of the Year–Non Classical (Jackson with Quincy Jones) (GRAMMY.com). Jackson won none of them: Album of the Year went to U2’s The Joshua Tree; the pop, R&B vocal and producer awards went to Sting, Smokey Robinson and Narada Michael Walden (GRAMMY.com). Bad’s sole 1988 Grammy — Best Engineered Recording–Non Classical — was credited to engineers Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica (GRAMMY.com). The “Man in the Mirror” single earned a Record of the Year nomination in 1989 (GRAMMY.com). Then, in 1990, the “Leave Me Alone” video won Best Music Video–Short Form at the 32nd Grammys (GRAMMY.com). The stat, source, and implication: five Hot 100 No. 1s — the first album ever to do so (GRAMMY.com) — yet Album of the Year went to U2; Grammy voters honored the year’s defining statement while the marketplace belonged to Jackson.
The Bad era — and why the 2026 biopic ends there
Bad defined a cultural era, not just an album cycle. Britannica notes the album produced five chart-topping hits, including the title song and “Man in the Mirror,” while “Leave Me Alone” answered the pile-up of tabloid rumors about Jackson’s lifestyle accumulated since Thriller — rumors casting him as a Neverland Ranch eccentric recluse, citing his hyperbaric chamber, pet chimpanzee Bubbles and amusement park (Britannica). The Bad World Tour ran from 1987 to 1989 and remains one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time (GRAMMY.com). Twenty-five years on, Spike Lee’s Bad 25 documentary (2012) revealed that Jackson had written 60 demos for the record, 11 of which made it — with Sheryl Crow his background singer on the tour (Associated Press). The album was re-released on September 18, 2012 with additional tracks, a DVD and bonus material (Associated Press). That is why the 2026 biopic Michael, per Britannica, ends its narrative in the late 1980s — at the height of the Bad era (Britannica).
| Thriller (1982) | Bad (1987) | |
|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s | 2 (“Billie Jean,” “Beat It”) (Parade) | 5 — first album ever (GRAMMY.com) |
| Weeks at No. 1, Billboard 200 | — | 6 (Parade) |
| Grammy Awards | 8, including Album of the Year (Parade) | 2: engineering (1988) and video (1990) (GRAMMY.com; GRAMMY.com) |
| RIAA US certification | 34× Platinum (That Grape Juice) | 11× Platinum (That Grape Juice) |
| Producer | Quincy Jones (Parade) | Quincy Jones (GRAMMY.com) |
Frequently asked questions
How many No. 1 singles did Bad produce? Five consecutive No. 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.” It was the first album ever to do so, and only Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream (2011) has matched it. Thriller, by contrast, produced just two No. 1s.
How many Grammy Awards did Bad win? Two. At the 1988 Grammys it won Best Engineered Recording–Non Classical, credited to engineers Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica. At the 1990 Grammys, the “Leave Me Alone” video won Best Music Video–Short Form. Jackson was nominated for Album of the Year in 1988 but lost to U2’s The Joshua Tree.
How many copies of Bad were sold? The RIAA certifies Bad at 11× Platinum in the United States — over 11 million US units — updated in August 2022. Worldwide totals are widely claimed at around 35 million, but this profile could not verify that figure from a tier1 or tier2 source, so it is not asserted here.
What is the “Bad era”? The 1987–1989 period around the album and the Bad World Tour, still one of the highest-grossing concert tours ever. Britannica notes that “Leave Me Alone” answered the era’s tabloid rumors about Jackson’s lifestyle. The 2026 biopic Michael ends its story here, at the height of the Bad era, in 1988.
What this profile does not claim
- It does not assert a worldwide sales total for Bad; the widely circulated ~35 million figure appeared only in tertiary sources in this pass and is not stated here.
- It does not claim Bad was the best-selling album worldwide of 1987 or 1988; that appeared only in tertiary snippets.
- It does not name a record label, recording studios, or session dates; no fully-read tier1 or tier2 source in this pass stated them.
- The 1988 engineering Grammy is credited to the album’s engineers (Swedien and Gatica), not to Jackson; it is not presented as his personal win.
- It does not treat the “Bad” title song and the album as one thing; the Recording Academy’s own records list “Bad (Album)” and “Bad (Single)” as separate entries.
What we could not verify
- The raw global-sales figures (35 million claimed) rest on tertiary sources only; the underlying certification data outside the RIAA was not fetched and read independently, so no worldwide total is asserted.
- The release history of the “Leave Me Alone” single (reported as a non-US single) appeared only in tertiary sources and is not asserted here.
- The 2012 Bad 25 documentary’s exact television air date was not fixed from a fully-read source in this pass; only the September 18, 2012 reissue date is stated.
Timeline
- 1987-08-31
- Bad is released, in stores from August 31, 1987.
- 1987-09-26
- The album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stays there for six weeks.
- 1988
- At the 30th Grammy Awards, Bad is nominated for Album of the Year and three other categories; its one win is Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical, credited to engineers Bruce Swedien and Humberto Gatica.
- 1988-07-02
- "Dirty Diana" reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, completing a record five consecutive No. 1 singles from one album.
- 1990
- The "Leave Me Alone" video wins Best Music Video – Short Form at the 32nd Grammy Awards.
- 2012-09-18
- The Bad 25 25th-anniversary reissue is released with additional tracks, a DVD and bonus material, alongside Spike Lee's Bad 25 documentary.
- 2026
- The biopic Michael (2026) ends its narrative in the late 1980s — at the height of the Bad era.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- A worldwide sales total is widely claimed (around 35 million copies) but appeared only in tertiary sources in this pass; this profile states only the RIAA's 11x Platinum US certification and does not assert a global figure.
- The claim that Bad was the best-selling album worldwide of both 1987 and 1988 appeared only in tertiary snippets; it is not asserted here.
- No fully-read tier1 or tier2 source in this pass stated the album's record label, recording studios, or session dates; those facts are omitted rather than asserted.
- The 1988 engineering Grammy is credited to the album's engineers, not to Jackson; this profile does not present it as his personal win.
Sources
10 sources (6 tier 1, 4 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Built from ten sources read in full: six tier1 (the Recording Academy's official artist page and its official winners pages for the 30th and 32nd Grammy Awards, Encyclopaedia Britannica's Michael Jackson biography and its Bad album topic page, and an Associated Press report on the Bad 25 documentary) and four tier2 (two AllMusic reviews, a September 2026 Parade chart retrospective, and a That Grape Juice report of RIAA certification data). Wikipedia was used only as a lead index and is not cited. Where sources disagreed or were thin, the profile holds the claim back (see openItems) rather than asserting it.
- Supports: The album's 1987 release as Jackson's third studio collaboration with Quincy Jones; the five consecutive Hot 100 No. 1 singles — "a feat that had never been achieved from a single album before"; the Bad World Tour running 1987–1989 as one of the highest-grossing tours of all time; the 1988 Grammy nominations (Best Pop Vocal Performance–Male, Best R&B Vocal Performance–Male, Album of the Year, Producer of the Year) and the 1989 Record of the Year nomination for "Man in the Mirror". Open original source
- Supports: The official winners list: Album of the Year to U2's The Joshua Tree, Best Pop Vocal Performance–Male to Sting, Best R&B Vocal Performance–Male to Smokey Robinson, Producer of the Year–Non Classical to Narada Michael Walden — and Best Engineered Recording – Non Classical to Humberto Gatica and Bruce Swedien for Bad. Open original source
- Supports: The official winners list showing Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone" winning Best Music Video – Short Form. Open original source
- Supports: Bad (1987) producing five chart-topping hits including the title song and the "socially conscious" "Man in the Mirror"; "Leave Me Alone" as a response to the pile-up of tabloid rumors about Jackson's lifestyle since Thriller (hyperbaric chamber, Bubbles, Neverland Ranch); the Moonwalk autobiography and Moonwalker film in 1988; and the 2026 biopic Michael ending its narrative in the late 1980s. Open original source
- Bad | album by Jackson Tier 1Supports: Corroboration that Bad (1987) produced five chart-topping hits and that "Leave Me Alone" answered the tabloid-rumor pile-up. Open original source
- Supports: Spike Lee's Bad 25 documentary for the album's 25th anniversary; Jackson wrote 60 demos for the record and only 11 made it; the album re-released September 18, 2012 with additional tracks, a DVD and bonus material; Sheryl Crow as Jackson's background singer on the Bad tour; interviews with Kanye West, Mariah Carey and L.A. Reid. Open original source
- Supports: The retrospective critical assessment — a "sleeker, slicker Thriller"; the singles appraisal ("Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"); Stevie Wonder's appearance on "Just Good Friends"; the "Speed Demon" to "Another Part of Me" sequence. Open original source
- Bad Review by Jason Elias Tier 2Supports: The title track's vocal approach (likened to James Brown and Mavis Staples), Jerry Hey's horn chart, the Hammond B-3 cameo from Jimmy Smith, Greg Phillinganes' synth work, Wesley Snipes' appearance and Martin Scorsese's direction of the video, and its place as second in a string of five straight No. 1 pop hits. Open original source
- 1987 Michael Jackson Album, Outsold by His Own Bigger One, Holds a Record Only One Album Has Touched Tier 2Supports: The album in stores since August 31, 1987; the Billboard 200 No. 1 debut on September 26, 1987 and six weeks at the top; the five No. 1 singles in order with "Dirty Diana" topping the Hot 100 on July 2, 1988; no album had managed five since the Hot 100 began in 1958; Katy Perry's Teenage Dream as the only album to match it (2011); the Thriller comparison (seven top 10s, two No. 1s) and Quincy Jones' producer role. Open original source
- Supports: The RIAA's August 2022 certification updates: Bad at 11x Platinum in the US (with Thriller at 34x Platinum), reported with riaa.com as the stated information source. Open original source
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