High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Bad is the seventh studio album by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records, nearly five years after Jackson`s previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world`s best-selling album. Bad itself sold over 30 million copies worldwide, and shipped eight million units in the United States alone, and has been cited as being one of the best-selling albums of all time. Bad was the first album to have five of its singles peak at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Similar to Jackson`s previous music material, the album`s music features elements of R B, pop and rock.