Make Me Bad is a song written and recorded by the American

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

for their fourth studio album, '' Issues''. Many Korn fans interpret the lyrics as being about frontman

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...

's struggle with alcohol and drug abuse, and his decision to get sober a year before the release of ''Issues''. It was released as the album's second single in February 2000, achieving major success on U.S. and rock radio stations and in the U.K. The '' Alien''-inspired music video is one of the most expensive videos Korn has ever filmed, featuring actors

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, he has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He has ...

Tatjana Patitz Tatjana Patitz (25 May 1966 – 11 January 2023) was a German fashion model. She achieved international prominence in the 1980s and 1990s representing fashion designers on runways and in magazines such as ''Elle (magazine), Elle'', ''Harper's B ...

, and

Shannyn Sossamon Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon (born October 3, 1978) is an American actress. She has appeared in the films ''A Knight's Tale (film), A Knight's Tale'' (2001), ''40 Days and 40 Nights'' (2002), ''The Rules of Attraction (film), The R ...

. An acoustic medley of "Make Me Bad" and

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

's " In Between Days" was performed with The Cure for the ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' series in December 2006.

Music video

The video was directed by Martin Weisz and features actresses

, and actor

. Brigitte and Udo would later play villains in the 2000 film ''Doomsdayer''. It premiered worldwide in February 2000 on the short-lived

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

music show '' Farmclub'', alongside

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

's video for their single, " Break Stuff". Both groups made guest appearances to introduce their respective videos. "Make Me Bad" received heavy airplay 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 ...

and

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

at the time of its release. Toward the end of the video, the song "Dead," also from ''Issues'', is heard in the background. "Make Me Bad" spent sixty-five days on MTV's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'', becoming Korn's fourth and final "retired" video on June 8, 2000.

Sickness in Salvation Mix

A reworked version of the video, featuring

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Producer of the diamond selling Nirvana album ''Nevermind'' (1991), Vig also pro ...

's "Sickness in Salvation" remix, aired occasionally during April and May 2000. It is included as an easter egg on the band's home video '' Deuce''.

MTV Unplugged Rendition

The acoustic rendition of this song on the album ''MTV Unplugged: Korn'' is performed as part of a medley with The Cure's "In Between Days," with The Cure as special guests.

Appearances in Media

The song was used by apparel manufacturing company Puma in their advertisements during the period when Korn had a contract with the company. The Sybil Mix was also featured in the video game '' NHL Hitz 2002'' when the game was paused.

Track listing

US Radio Promo

* CD5" ESK 45584 # "Make Me Bad" (radio edit) – 3:53 # "Make Me Bad" (album version) – 3:55

Australian release

* CD5" 669191 2 # "Make Me Bad" – 3:53 # "Dirty" (Single Mix) – 3:56 # "Make Me Bad" (Single Mix) – 4:11 # "Make Me Bad" (Sickness in Salvation Mix) – 3:29 # "Make Me Bad" (Danny Saber's Remix) – 4:20 # "Make Me Bad" (Kornography Mix) – 4:43 # "Make Me Bad" (Sybil Mix) – 5:15

Chart performance

The song peaked at number seven on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

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. It also reached number nine on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart.

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control Korn songs 1999 songs 2000 singles Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Immortal Records singles Songs written by Reginald Arvizu Songs written by Jonathan Davis Songs written by James Shaffer Songs written by David Silveria Songs written by Brian Welch Music videos directed by Martin Weisz