The Phantom Remake: Michael Jackson and Prince’s Lost 12-Year Quest to Recreate ‘Bad’
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
In the annals of 20th-century music, few stories capture the imagination quite like the legendary rivalry—and rare potential partnership—between Michael Jackson and Prince. Known for their uncompromising artistic visions and towering egos, the two icons often stood as parallel forces rather than collaborators. Yet, recent unconfirmed reports suggest that behind the scenes, a secret 12-year project aimed to reimagine Jackson’s 1987 masterpiece Bad with Prince’s involvement—a monumental collaboration tragically lost to time.
The Legacy of Bad and the Missed Opportunity
Bad followed Michael Jackson’s unprecedented success with Thriller, cementing his status as the undisputed King of Pop. The album’s title track was not only a chart-topping hit but also immortalized by an 18-minute short film directed by Martin Scorsese. It was during this era that the earliest known opportunity for Jackson and Prince to work together arose. Scorsese and Jackson invited Prince to play the rival gang leader in the film, a role that would have symbolized their creative clash on screen.
Prince declined, reportedly due to artistic differences and dissatisfaction with certain lyrics, setting the tone for decades of “what-if” speculation. This refusal kept their careers on separate trajectories, further deepening the mystique of their rivalry.
A Secret Collaboration That Spanned a Dozen Years
Rather than ending the idea of collaboration, the rejection sparked a covert, intermittent project beginning soon after Bad’s release. Over the next twelve years—a period marked by both artists’ creative highs and personal challenges—the two reportedly sought to strip down and rebuild Bad from the ground up.
This wasn’t a simple remix or reissue. The ambitious plan involved reimagining the album’s compositions, arrangements, and lyrical themes, with both Michael Jackson and Prince sharing vocal and instrumental contributions. According to an anonymous source familiar with the project, the process was fraught with tension and logistical hurdles. The frustration culminated in a striking admission: “I almost gave up hope.”
The Mystery of the Lost Tapes
Why the project was ultimately shelved remains a matter of speculation. Some insiders suggest that the artists’ famously private natures and demanding schedules made collaboration impossible. Others believe the recordings were never considered superior to the original Bad, which itself remains a towering achievement.
Whatever the cause, the reported master recordings have vanished—whether misplaced, destroyed, or locked away—leaving fans and historians with a tantalizing musical enigma. The loss of these tapes represents not only missed music but also a lost opportunity for a historic partnership between two of pop’s greatest innovators.
A Compelling Footnote in Music History
The significance of this “phantom remake” extends beyond the music itself. It symbolized a rare moment of truce between two of the most influential artists of their generation, each willing to engage creatively on one of Jackson’s defining works.
Had the project come to fruition, it would have marked a seismic moment in music history—a true melding of Jackson’s unmatched pop sensibility and Prince’s boundary-pushing genius. Instead, it remains a compelling legend: a secret collaboration lost to time, a dream of what might have been, and a testament to the complex relationship between two icons who forever shaped the sound of modern music.
