Michael Jackson's 'Bad' released 30 years ago

— -- Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was the biggest-selling album in music history, but the King of Pop managed to follow it up in grand style.

Thirty years ago today -- on August 31, 1987 -- his album "Bad" was released.

"Bad" was Jackson's first album in which he had a hand in writing nearly all of the songs -- nine of the 11 tracks, to be exact -- and he was listed as a co-producer for the entire project. It also was the first album that Jackson toured behind as a solo artist, cementing his status as a global superstar.

Quincy Jones, who co-produced "Bad," says he encouraged the performer to take a bigger role in writing material for the record.

"All the turmoil [in his life] was starting to mount up, so I said I thought it was time for him to do a very honest album writing all the songs," Jones told Rolling Stone magazine.

The record spent an impressive six consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 chart and became the first album in history to spin off five singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It took more than 20 years for another artist to match that record, when Katy Perry did it with her album "Teenage Dream."

The five "Bad" No. 1s were the title track, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Dirty Diana" and one of Jackson's best-loved and most-enduring songs, "Man in the Mirror."

"Bad" is estimated to have sold about 35 million copies worldwide; earlier this year it was certified diamond for sales of 10 million in the U.S. alone. It was nominated for six Grammys and won two.

In 2009, Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication, according to the Los Angeles coroner. He was 50 years old.