Michael Jackson's 1987–1990: Bad and controversies

1987–1990: Bad and controversies

In 1987, Jackson released Bad; his third album for the Epic record label, and final album with producer Quincy Jones. He initially wanted to make the album 30 tracks long, but Jones cut this down to 10. According to Jones, Jackson wanted the title track to be a duet with Prince who later declined the duet. Jones said the reason given by Prince was that he thought the song would be a hit whether he was in it or not.

In comparison to Thriller, Bad had lower sales but it was still a huge commercial success. It spawned seven hit singles, of which five went to number-one, those being: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana". The album went onto sell 29 million copies worldwide; the RIAA eventually certified Bad at 8x Platinum. In September 1987, he embarked upon his first solo world tour, the Bad World Tour. The tour lasted sixteen months, in which Jackson performed at 123 concerts, to over 4.4 million fans worldwide. Jackson insisted on a personal bus, plane and helicopter to be available to him all at the same time.

Jackson hired film director Martin Scorsese to direct the video for the album's title track. When the 18-minute music video debuted on TV, it sparked a great deal of controversy as it became apparent that Jackson's appearance had changed dramatically. Although Jackson's skin color was a medium-brown color for the entire duration of his youth, his skin had been becoming paler gradually since 1982, and had become a light brown color. This change became so noticeable that it gained widespread media coverage with some tabloid's claiming that it was due to Jackson bleaching his skin.

Another significant reason for the change in appearance was the use of plastic surgery. Despite a number of surgeons' claims that Jackson had undergone multiple nasal surgeries as well as a forehead lift, thinned lips and cheekbone surgery, Jackson wrote in his 1988 autobiography Moon Walk that he only had two rhinoplastic surgeries and the surgical creation of a cleft in his chin, while attributing puberty and diet to the noticeable change in the structure of his face.

The success Jackson achieved during this period in his career led to him to be dubbed the "King of Pop", a nickname which he continues to be referred to by fans. There are various conflicting reports as to the origin of the nickname. According to Jackson, it was conceived by actress and long-term friend Elizabeth Taylor when she presented Jackson with an "Artist of the Decade" award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul". Additionally, this period saw Jackson enjoy "a level of superstardom previously known only to Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra".