Song · U2
“Bad (Live)” by U2
From the album The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
“Bad (Live)” by U2 appears on 20 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1989 and 2026. It was first released in 1984 on the album The Unforgettable Fire. Its best result is #16 on the WYEP 913 Countdown 2016. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,121 alternative song of all time.
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"Bad" first turned up as the seventh track on U2's 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire, produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, but it has always been a song that needs a room full of people. Bono's lyric is about heroin addiction, though he has told more than one story about who inspired it, and the band has played it in concert about as often as anything in their catalog.
A live version on Wide Awake in America, the 1985 EP, became a favorite of album-oriented rock stations. That same year U2 stretched the song to 12 minutes at Live Aid, a set that proved a breakthrough for them, and fans have held it close ever since.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
Also listed as: Bad (live).
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