Bad (Michael Jackson song) Bad (Michael Jackson song) "Bad" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on September 7, 1987 as the second single from Jackson's third major-label and seventh studio album of the same name. The song was written and composed by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones and Jackson. Jackson stated that the song was influenced by a real-life story he had read about, of a young man who tried to escape poverty by attending private school but ended up being killed when he returned home. "Bad" received positive reviews, with some critics noting
Thriller (Michael Jackson album) and that Jackson may be hiding his true emotions behind "layers of impenetrable, gauzy veils". Rockwell nonetheless deemed "Thriller" "a wonderful pop record, the latest statement by one of the great singers in popular music today" and that there are "hits here, too, lots of them". Rockwell believed it helped breach "the destructive barriers that spring up regularly between white and black music", especially as "white publications and radio stations that normally avoid "black music" seem willing to pretend he isn't black after all". In "The Village Voice", Robert Christgau said "this is virtually a hits-plus-filler job, but at such