Black or White
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| Single by Michael Jackson | ||||||||||||||
| from the album Dangerous | ||||||||||||||
| B-side | "Smooth Criminal" | |||||||||||||
| Released | November 11, 1991 | |||||||||||||
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| Recorded | June 25, 1990 – October 29, 1991 | |||||||||||||
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| Length | 4:16 (album version) 3:19 (single edit) |
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| Label | Epic | |||||||||||||
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"Black or White" is a single by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. The song was released by Epic Records on November 11, 1991 as the first single from Jackson's eighth studio album, Dangerous. It was written, composed and produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell.
"Black or White" was written, composed and produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell, and was picked as the first single from the album Dangerous. An alternate version was first heard by Sony executives on a plane trip to Neverland, as the third track of the promotional CD acetate. It began to be promoted on radio stations the first week of November 1991 in New York and Los Angeles. "Black or White" was officially released one week later, on November 5, 1991.
The song has elements of dance, rap and hard rock music such as Bill Bottrell's guitars and Jackson's vocal style. This song is played in the key of E major, with Jackson's vocal spanning from E3 to B4, and its tempo is measured at 115 BPM.
The song's main riff is often incorrectly attributed to Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. His guitar playing is actually heard in the skit that precedes the album version of the song. Slash also played the main riff in live performances of this song.
To prepare the audience for the special occasion of the televised premiere of the "Black or White" video, Epic records released the song (without the accompanying images) to radio stations just two days in advance. In a period of twenty-four hours, "Black or White", described by the record company as "a rock 'n' roll dance song about racial harmony", had been added to the playlists of 96 percent of 237 of the United States of America's top forty radio stations the first day of release.
"Black or White" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 35. A week later it shot up to number three and in its third week, December 7, 1991, it ascended to number one, making it the fastest chart topper since The Beatles' "Get Back" also won the Hot 100 in just three weeks in 1969. It closed the year at number one, and remained at the top of the singles chart into 1992 for a total of seven weeks, making Michael Jackson the first artist to have number one popular hits in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In the UK, the single became the first single by an American to go into the singles chart at number one since 1960, when "It's Now or Never" by Elvis Presley did in the same manner. Around the world, "Black or White" hit number one in 20 countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Turkey, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Eurochart Hot 100, number two in Germany and Austria and number three in the Netherlands. The single was certified platinum in the US, selling over one million copies and became the second best selling single of the year.
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