After the phenomenal worldwide success of his 1982 album Thriller, Michael Jackson was riding another wave of popularity with the follow-up Bad in 1987. The latter would eventually sell half the units of its predecessor—only a mere 35 million worldwide—and it produced five straight No. 1 singles—“I Just Can’t Stop Lovin’ You,” “Bad,” The Way You Make Me Feel,” “The Man In The Mirror,” and “Dirty Diana.”
That latter song and cautionary tale, written by Jackson and co-produced with Quincy Jones, had fans at the time theorizing as to who it was about. Was it about Diana Ross, whom he had had a crush on? Or was it about Princess Diana of Wales?
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It’s Not About a Royal, Musical or Otherwise
As quoted on his official website, Jackson explained of the song, “I wrote a song called ‘Dirty Diana.’ It was not about Lady Diana. It was about certain kinds of girls that hang around concerts or clubs, you know, they call them groupies. I’ve lived with that all my life. These girls … they do everything with the band, everything you could imagine. So I wrote a song called ‘Dirty Diana.’”
As for singer Diana Ross, she reportedly started using the song as introductory music to some of her concerts after its release. That showed her sense of humor.
You’ll never make me stay
So take your weight off of me
I know your every move
So won’t you just let me be
I’ve been here times before
But I was too blind to see
That you seduce every man
This time you won’t seduce me
Jackson said he loved the song and that it was one of his favorites “because it’s a life story of a groupie—I hate to say the word ‘groupie,’ but that’s what it is. And it’s something that I’ve experienced and a lot of people who grow up on the road—like me. I don’t remember not performing.” The lyrics deal with a star wanting to stay faithful to his beloved while Diana tries to tempt and seduce him.
The King of Pop Didn’t Want to Perform Song for Lady Di
When Jackson played Wembley Stadium in London he heard the Princess of Wales was going to be in attendance for one of his five performances. He feared she might misinterpret its meaning, and he did want to risk offending her.
“I took it out of the [Wembley] show in honor of her royal highness,” the singer was quoted as saying on his site. “She took me away and she said, ‘Are you going to do Dirty Diana?‘ So, I said, ‘No, I took it out of the show because of you.‘ She said, ‘No! I want you to do it … do it … do the song.”
Crisis averted.
A Harder Side to Jackson’s Music
Like “Beat It” before, “Dirty Diana” took a harder rock approach than what Jackson was normally known for, which numerous music critics applauded. Eddie Van Halen had provided the guitar solo for the former song, and Billy Idol axeman Steve Stevens soloed on “Dirty Diana.” He lent his signature shred to the track and also appeared in the music video. While Jennifer Batten was Jackson’s touring guitarist, Stevens appeared at the Madison Square Garden tour stop in 1988. Both of them wailed away on guitar.
Beyond going No. 1 in America, Belgium, and the Eurochart Hot 100, “Dirty Diana” went Top 10 in at least 9 other countries including the UK, Canada, and Germany. While the song wasn’t played as often in concert as some of Jackson’s other No. 1s, it’s still beloved by many of his fans.
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Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images