Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” Album

In this album, Michael Jackson wanted to take full control and be his own artist. Dangerous happened to be Michael’s first album not produced by Quincy Jones.

Released on November 26, 1991 by Epic Records, the album contained fourteen tracks, and was centered on themes such as the following:

• racism
• romance
• poverty
• children’s welfare
• self-improvement
• improving the world at large

The singer worked on it off and on for almost three years, but the actual recording spanned between 1989 and 1990. Jackson recorded most of the songs at Record One studios, where he booked the facility for at least $4,000 per day. He worked with producers Bruce Swedien, Bryan Loren and Bill Bottrell.

Michael is said to have recorded about 60 to 70 songs for this album alone, but released the rest later.

The singer donated the proceeds from his Dangerous World Tour to charity, particularly the Heal the World Foundation. The tour grossed a revenue of more than $100 million, making it one of the 1990s highest-grossing world tours.

The now famous dance routine for the titular track debuted during a performance at the 1993 American Music Awards.

The album was so anticipated that three armed robbers stole at least 30,000 copies when the first consignment reached a Los Angeles warehouse.

Accomplishments of “Dangerous”

Regarded as the best-selling album of 1992, it debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 Top Albums charts and in ten other counties. Four singles, namely In the Closet, Will You Be There, Black and White and Remember the Time, made it to the Billboard Hot 100 top ten charts, with Black and White peaking at number one. The album has sold at least 32 million copies across the world and received an 8x Platinum certification by the RIAA in 2018.

During the 1993 Grammy Awards, Dangerous earned four nominations, but won the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical while the singer was honored with the Grammy Legend Award. He received three American Awards including the International Artist Award during the 1993 American Music Awards, and later received Billboard Music Awards for Best Worldwide Single and Best Worldwide Album.