Michael Jackson’s Bad was the moment the King of Pop fully took the reins of his artistic destiny. Thriller might have been planned to be the biggest album of all time, but come on, when plans like this really do happen, there’s nowhere to go but down. Or you stay at the top, which is what Michael aimed to do – and succeeded. But beneath the platinum records, world tours, and gravity-defying dance moves, there are some truly wild facts that even die-hard fans might not know. Let’s moonwalk into some deep cuts about Bad that’ll make you appreciate it even more.
1. Prince Almost Took Over ‘Bad’—Until One Line Ruined It
It was supposed to be the greatest duet of the 1980s: Michael Jackson and Prince, going head-to-head on Bad. Quincy Jones pitched it. Michael was on board. Prince was this close to saying yes. But then he heard the first lyric: “Your butt is mine.” And just like that, the Purple One was out. According to Prince himself, there was no way he was going to sing that—or let MJ sing it to him. Instead, Prince offered up Wouldn’t You Love to Love Me, but Jackson passed. Imagine a world where this collab actually happened. The universe might have imploded from sheer musical genius.
2. The ‘Smooth Criminal’ Hook Came From CPR Training
If you’ve ever taken a CPR class, you’ve probably practiced on a Resusci Anne mannequin. And when instructors teach chest compressions, they say, “Annie, are you okay?”—the exact phrase that became the hook for Smooth Criminal. Michael was fascinated by the question, found it haunting, and built one of his most iconic songs around it. Suddenly, a simple CPR training phrase became an unforgettable piece of pop music history.
3. ‘Dirty Diana’ Was Not About Diana Ross (Or Princess Diana)
When Dirty Diana dropped, speculation ran wild. Was Michael calling out his longtime friend and mentor Diana Ross? Was it a secret love letter to Princess Diana? The answer: neither. Michael confirmed in multiple interviews that Dirty Diana was actually about groupies—those persistent superfans who followed rock stars (and, apparently, pop stars) everywhere. Princess Diana, however, loved the song and told MJ it was one of her favorites. The irony!
4. The Bad Tour Set a World Record That Lasted for Years
When Michael Jackson hit the road for the Bad World Tour, it wasn’t just another series of concerts—it was a phenomenon. By the time it wrapped, he had played 123 shows across 15 countries, raking in $125 million, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time at that point. And the record-breaking didn’t stop there: his seven-night residency at London’s Wembley Stadium drew over 504,000 people, a feat that remained unbeaten for over 25 years.
5. Michael Wrote 60 Songs for the Album—And Wanted to Release All of Them
Jackson didn’t just write a handful of songs and call it a day—he lived in the studio. For Bad, he wrote a staggering 60 songs and recorded 30 of them, initially planning to release a triple album. Quincy Jones, in his infinite wisdom, told Michael to scale it down to 10 tracks. The result? A no-filler, hit-packed album that still stands as one of the best-selling records of all time. But imagine what Bad could have been if MJ had won that argument. A Bad triple album? Mind-blowing.
Michael Jackson’s Bad was the moment he fully embraced his artistic control, pushed the boundaries of pop, and made himself something more than just a megastar. He was a legend.
So next time you hear Bad, just remember: Prince could have been there, a CPR dummy gave us Smooth Criminal, and the King of Pop almost dropped a 30-track opus. What a time to be alive in 1987.
