Bad is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on August 21, 1987, after nearly five years after Jackson's fifth album, Thriller. While Thriller went on to become the world's best-selling album, Bad itself has sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide, shipped 8 million units in the United States alone. The album has been cited as the fifth best-selling album of all time with the very first to have five Hot 100 number ones.