"
Smooth Criminal" is the seventh single from American recording artist
Michael Jackson's 1987
Bad album. The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Jackson's lyrics about a woman named Annie, who has been violently attacked in her apartment by a "smooth" assailant. First broadcast on television as a video in early October, it was released as a single on October 21, 1988, and peaked at number seven on the
Billboard Hot 100. It was re-released on April 10, 2006, as a part of the box set. The re-released
Visionary single charted at number 19 in the UK. The piece is one of Jackson's
signature songs, and has appeared on numerous greatest hits albums, including
Number Ones,
The Essential Michael Jackson,
Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection,
King of Pop,
This Is It, and
Immortal.