"Smooth Criminal" is a song by the American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, released on November 14, 1988 as the seventh single from his seventh studio album, ''

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

'' (1987). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

. The lyrics describe a woman who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth criminal". The music video for "Smooth Criminal", which premiered internationally on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

on October 13, 1988, is the centerpiece of the 1988 film ''

Moonwalker ''Moonwalker'' is a 1988 American experimental film, experimental anthology film, anthology musical film starring Michael Jackson. Rather than featuring one continuous narrative, the film expresses the influence of fandom and innocence through ...

''. The 1930s setting and Jackson's white suit and

fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...

pay tribute to the

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

musical comedy film ''

The Band Wagon ''The Band Wagon'' is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. The plot follows an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will revive his career, but the play ...

''. In the video, Jackson and the dancers perform an apparently physically impossible "anti-gravity lean". "Smooth Criminal" reached number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the sixth top-10 single from ''Bad''. It reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot Black Singles chart. It was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Spain. Retrospective reviews have praised "Smooth Criminal" as a standout track on ''Bad'' and one of Jackson's best songs. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote that it was "his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess, and a turning point in his shift toward darker, harder-edged material". It has appeared on numerous greatest hits albums and was performed on all of Jackson's solo tours. "Smooth Criminal" was re-released in 2006 as a single as a part of Jackson's '' Visionary: The Video Singles'' boxset. In 2001, a version by

Alien Ant Farm Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released six studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's " Smooth Criminal" topped the ''Billboard ...

became an international hit.

Composition

"Smooth Criminal" evolved from an earlier song written by Jackson, "Al Capone" (named after real life gangster

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

), released on the 2012 reissue ''

Bad 25 ''Bad 25'' is the 25th anniversary edition reissue of American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson's seventh studio album '' Bad'' (1987). This is the second album by Jackson re-released on its 25th anniversary, the first being '' Thriller 25'' (2 ...

''. It is in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

, and Jackson's vocal spans from G₃ to C₆. The lyrics describe a narrator who finds a bloodstained carpet and an unconscious body. The chorus refrain, "Annie, are you OK?", was inspired by Resusci Anne, a dummy used in

cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during Cardiac arrest, cardiac or Respiratory arrest, respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function ...

training. Trainees learn to say "Annie, are you OK?" while practicing resuscitation on the dummy. The original mix of the song includes the sound of Jackson's fast-thumping heart and heavy breathing, which travel from left to right thanks to Hugo Zuccarelli's Holophonics system.

Chart performance

"Smooth Criminal" peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the sixth top 10 single from ''Bad''. It is certified 2× platinum by the

, and 2x platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

. The song reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Spain and the top 10 in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the UK.

Music video

Jackson asked Vincent Paterson to conceive a concept for the short film. Paterson listened to the unfinished song and came up with the concept of a 1930s gangster club. Paterson, who was a lead dancer in the music videos for "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produced by Quincy Jones, and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to ...

" and " Thriller", co-choreographed the "Smooth Criminal" video with Jackson and

Jeffrey Daniel Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter, and choreographer, and a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. In Nigeria, he is best known as a judge on the first three seasons of '' Nigerian ...

of the soul music group Shalamar. The video and Jackson's white suit and

pay tribute to the

musical comedy film ''

'', particularly the "Girl Hunt Ballet" (itself inspired by the novels of Mickey Spillane) scene. The video, directed by Colin Chilvers, was shot between mid-February and April 1987 at

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

, and in the

backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and Amusement park, theme park located in Universal City, California, near Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketin ...

and premiered internationally on

on the night of October 13, 1988. In the video, Jackson and the other dancers perform a lean that appears physically impossible. The dancers lean forward 45 degrees with their backs straight and feet flat on the floor, and hold the pose before returning upright. The lean moves the body's

center of mass In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weight function, weighted relative position (vector), position of the d ...

further than it can support. The illusion was achieved using cables and a harness. In October 1993, Jackson's team patented a method of performing the lean in concert using specially designed shoes that hook into pegs that rise from the stage. Even with the shoes, the move requires good athletic core strength. The video won Best Music Video at the 1989 Brit Awards and the Critic's Choice awarded Jackson the "Best Video" award and the People's Choice Awards for "Favorite Music Video" for that same year. In 2019, American television personality

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the celebrity sex tape ...

bought Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" fedora, which still had his makeup on it, for her daughter North West. The style of clothing as well as mannerisms Jackson portrayed were reused in the numerous adaptations of the video game ''

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker ''Michael Jackson's Moonwalker'' is the name of several video games based on the 1988 Michael Jackson film ''Moonwalker''. Sega developed two beat 'em ups, released in 1990; one released in Arcade video game, arcades and another released for the ...

''. The song serves as the background music for the "Club 30s" stage, the nightclub seen in the music video, that appears in the game. The video is the centerpiece of the 1988 film ''

''. On October 23, 2024, the video achieved 1 billion views on YouTube, making it the fifth of Jackson's video to reach this milestone after "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 3, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produ ...

", " They Don't Care About Us", "

" and " Thriller."

Critical reception

Jason Elias of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that "Smooth Criminal" was "a gorgeous and exhilarating record ... tpresents Michael Jackson at his most captivating and it never fails to impress". ''

'' named it the sixth best Jackson song, writing that it was "his best blend of R&B groove and rock edginess, and a turning point in his shift toward darker, harder-edged material." In a retrospective review of ''Bad'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' wrote: " mooth Criminalis a sleek, exhilarating action sequence of a song that's unlike anything else in Jackson's catalog ... an urgent and inspired highlight. ''Bad'' is at its best when it explores the darker, more paranoid side that began to consume Jackson's life in the late '80s, and this song captures that impulse." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' wrote: "If there was one song on ''Bad'' that truly captured the sense of artistic freedom that Jackson felt after '' Thriller'', it was this track ... This is pop music as suspense drama."

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Smooth Criminal" (single mix) – 4:10 # "Smooth Criminal" (instrumental) – 4:10 * 12-inch maxi and CD-maxi # "Smooth Criminal" (extended dance mix) – 7:46 # "Smooth Criminal" (extended dance mix radio edit) – 5:20 # "Smooth Criminal" ("Annie" mix) – 5:35 # "Smooth Criminal" (dance mix – dub version) – 4:45 # "Smooth Criminal" (a cappella) – 4:12 * ''Visionary'' single CD side: # "Smooth Criminal" – 4:10 # "Smooth Criminal" (extended dance mix) – 7:45 DVD side: # "Smooth Criminal" (music video (Shortened Version)) – 4:11 * Cassette single # "Smooth Criminal" # "Smooth Criminal" (instrumental) * 3-inch CD single # "Smooth Criminal" (extended dance mix) – 7:46 # "Smooth Criminal" ("Annie" mix) – 5:35 # "Smooth Criminal" (dance mix – dub version) – 4:45 * Japanese 3-inch CD single # "Smooth Criminal" # "Smooth Criminal" (instrumental)

Personnel

Adapted from single liner notes and Michael Jackson's website. * Michael Jackson – vocals * Bill Bottrell – drum machine * Bruce Swedien – police announcement * David Williams – electric guitar * Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone * Larry Williams – saxophone * Gary Grant – trumpet *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

– trumpet and horn arrangement * Kevin Maloney – muted piano * Christopher Currell –

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

* Denny Jaeger – Synclavier * Michael Rubini – Synclavier * John Barnes – synthesizer * Michael Boddicker – synthesizer * Dr. Eric Chevlen – heartbeat recording

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Alien Ant Farm version

In May 2001, the American rock band

released a " funky metallic" cover of "Smooth Criminal" as the second single from their second studio album, ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' (2001). According to the singer, Dryden Mitchell, the band would play a few riffs of the song while warming up before gigs and audience members would request the entire song. The cover became a number-one hit on the US ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and was also a number-one hit in Australia for eight weeks. In Europe, it reached number three in the United Kingdom and charted within the top 10 in 10 other countries. Alien Ant Farm's 1999 album ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' includes a hidden track named "Slick Thief", which is an early version of "Smooth Criminal". Mitchell said he came to resent how popular the cover was, and did not want to perform it, thinking: "We're a better band than just this song." However, he accepted that fans wanted to hear it and decided he was being immature. He described it as a "fun party song" like the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

' " Fight for Your Right".

Music video and reaction from Jackson

The music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld and shot in San Fernando, California. It features the band performing in a wrestling ring, and in front of a suburban house. The video also references various Jackson music videos and elements of his personal life, including the original "Smooth Criminal" video, Jackson's Moonwalk, and his pet chimp Bubbles. Before its release, Alien Ant Farm sent the video to Jackson for his approval. At his request, they reshot some scenes to remove a child wearing a surgical mask, a reference to how Jackson wore them in public to cover cosmetic surgeries. However, Jackson decided he preferred the video with the mask. Reflecting on the video in 2022, Mitchell said, "We went through quite a bit of money and bullshit to make sure that we were appeasing Michael Jackson."

Track listings

UK CD single # "Smooth Criminal" # "Orange Appeal" # "Denigrate" # "Smooth Criminal" (CD-ROM video) UK cassette single # "Smooth Criminal" # "Denigrate" European CD single # "Smooth Criminal" (album version) # "Orange Appeal" European maxi-CD single # "Smooth Criminal" (album version) # "

Movies A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

" # "Denigrate" (non-LP version) # "Smooth Criminal" (video) Australian CD single # "Smooth Criminal" (album version) # "Orange Appeal" # "Denigrate" (non-LP version) # "Smooth Criminal" (video)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other covers

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n duo 2Cellos performed the song in a viral YouTube video. Jean Rodríguez sang lead vocals for

Tony Succar Antonio Guillermo "Tony" Succar (born 18 May 1986),Wall Street International Magazine, 11 July 2012 retrieved 1 June 2013. is a Peruvian- American percussionist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and producer. He is the son of singer Mimy Succa ...

's Latin-flavored version of "Smooth Criminal", from the album '' Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson'' (2015), including a section in Spanish. A video of their 2016 performance at the offices of

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

went viral.

References

{{Authority control 1987 songs 1988 singles 2001 singles Michael Jackson songs Alien Ant Farm songs Music videos directed by Marc Klasfeld Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Iceland Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Number-one singles in the Netherlands Number-one singles in Spain Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Songs written by Michael Jackson Song recordings produced by Michael Jackson Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Epic Records singles DreamWorks Records singles Songs about crime Songs about criminals