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"Bad to the Bone" is a song by American
blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
band
George Thorogood and the Destroyers George Lawrence Thorogood (born February 24, 1950) is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Delaware. His "high-energy boogie-blues" sound became a staple of 1980s rock radio, with hits like his original songs " Bad to th ...
, released in 1982 on the album of the same name by
EMI America Records EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s, EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which late ...
. The song adapts the hook and lyrics of
Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
' 1955 song "
Mannish Boy "Mannish Boy" (or "Manish Boy" as it was first labeled) is a blues standard written by Muddy Waters, Mel London, and Bo Diddley (with Waters and Diddley being credited under their birth names). First recorded in 1955 by Waters, it serves as an " ...
". While "Bad to the Bone" was not widely popular upon its initial release, its music video made recurrent appearances on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, created a year before. Licensing for films, television, and commercials has since made the song more popular. Author Jim Beviglia opined that despite the song not landing on the Hot 100 chart, it "outstrips all other 80s songs in terms of the way it has essentially become cultural shorthand".


Music video

The video intercuts a live performance by Thorogood and his band with his playing a lengthy game of pool with
Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
. Pool player
Willie Mosconi William Joseph Mosconi (; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For mo ...
is summoned from another room by a spectator (played by Michael Fusco), and he wagers a large sum of money on Diddley. As Thorogood appears to be winning, a group of children outside celebrate while Diddley gets a dirty look from Mosconi. Thorogood smokes a
cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...
throughout the pool-playing sequence. The video ends with Thorogood making the 8 ball drop into a pocket by flicking a large quantity of cigar ash on the floor, apparently triggering the drop of the ball in the pocket.


Personnel

*George Thorogood – guitar, vocals *Billy Blough – bass *Jeff Simon – drums *Hank Carter – saxophone * Ian Stewart – piano


In popular culture


Film and television

The song has been used in
filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
and
television production A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
s, often as a tongue-in-cheek comedic device when a "bad guy" needs to be introduced or identified. An example of this is in the opening of the movie ''
Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...
'', where the song is played as the red and white 1958
Plymouth Fury The Plymouth Fury is a model of automobile that was produced by Plymouth from 1955 until 1989. It was introduced for the 1956 model year as a sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, becoming a separate series one level above the contemporary Belved ...
rolls down the production line and injures an inspector, and again in the ending shot when a piece of Christine's grille moves. The song was used in the bar scene in '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' where the Terminator first is shown in his full leather outfit. It can also be heard in the card game scene from the remake of '' The Parent Trap''. The song was used in the 1988 drama film ''
Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
'' in the scenes where radio talk show host Barry Champlain's radio show, used as the opening and closing theme of his radio show. It was also used in the 2010 computer-animated superhero movie, ''
Megamind ''Megamind'' is a 2010 American computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film stars ...
''. It was the title theme to '' Problem Child'' and its sequel, and ''
Major Payne ''Major Payne'' is a 1995 American military comedy film directed by Nick Castle and starring Damon Wayans, who wrote with Dean Lorey and Gary Rosen. The film co-stars Karyn Parsons, Steven Martini and Michael Ironside. It is a loose remake of th ...
''. It is also included in the ''South Park'' episode "
You're Not Yelping "You're Not Yelping" is the fourth episode of the nineteenth season and the 261st overall episode of the animated television series '' South Park'', written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on ...
" while Cartman walks down a hallway. It is also played during ''
Shaun the Sheep Movie ''Shaun the Sheep Movie'' is a 2015 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film based on the 2007 British television series ''Shaun the Sheep'', created by Nick Park, in turn a spin-off of the ''Wallace and Gromit'' film, ''A Close Shave'' (1995) ...
'' after Shaun is caught by Animal Containment. The song was played in the episode of '' Who's the Boss?'', "The Two Tonys", when Tony Micelli was playing pool against another guy named Tony Petardi (husband of Darlene, Tony Micelli's ex-girlfriend) and tries to beat him. The song was used many times in '' Married... with Children'', when
Al Bundy Al Bundy is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television series '' Married... with Children''. Played by Ed O'Neill, Bundy is a misanthropic, working-class father of two who is portrayed as a somewhat tragicomedic fig ...
does something fun, usually followed by the line "Let's Rock." For example, in " Hot off the Grill", " A Man's Castle", " Heels on Wheels" episodes. The song was referenced in the episode of ''
Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers ...
'', "Crash Course", by
Steve Urkel Steven Quincy Urkel is a fictional character on the American ABC/ CBS sitcom ''Family Matters'', portrayed by Jaleel White. Originally slated to be a one-time-only character on the show, he broke out to be its most popular character and gradual ...
when
Eddie Winslow ''Family Matters'' is an American sitcom revolving around the Winslow family, a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago. The series ran for nine seasons (eight of which were broadcast on ABC, one on CBS) and is a spin-off of '' P ...
crashed the family station wagon in the living room without a driver's license. Urkel stated that he is bad to the bone and that bad is his middle name. The song was referenced and background music was playing in the episode of '' Step By Step'', "Something Wild" when Mark Foster dressed up for their Halloween party as a rebel to impress the prettiest girl in his school he invited to the part. The song was played in the episode of ''
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...
'', "I Bowl Buster", when
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...
and
Carlton Banks Carlton Banks is a fictional Character (arts), character portrayed by Alfonso Ribeiro on the NBC television sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from September 1990 to May 1996, the preppy and politically conservative cousin, main foil, and even ...
go bowling to celebrate Carlton's acceptance to
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
and is played through the times Carlton struggles to bowl and causes multiple mishaps and injuries for him and Will.
Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...
covered the song for the episode "Alvin's Oldest Fan" from their TV series. It was also featured in the episode "Endless Summer" of the series ''
Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...
''. Almost the entire record can be heard at the beginning of the episode "Nobody Lives Forever" on the TV series ''
Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...
''. An episode of Disney's TV show '' 101 Dalmatians: The Series'' has an episode named after the song.
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
performed the song in Season 7, Episode 7 of ''
The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. His performance led judge
Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
to walk off set.


Uses in film

"Bad to the Bone" has been used in many films, such as: * ''
Slayground ''Slayground'' is a 1983 British crime thriller film directed by Terry Bedford. Starring Peter Coyote, Mel Smith and Billie Whitelaw, the film is adapted from ''Slayground'', the 14th Parker novel (although the main character has been renamed ...
'' (1983) * ''
Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...
'' (1983) * ''
The Color Of Money ''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film was created from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. The ...
'' (1986) * ''
Lethal Weapon ''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and co-produced by Joel Silver. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darle ...
'' (1987) * ''
Bull Durham ''Bull Durham'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy sports film. It is partly based upon the minor-league baseball experiences of writer/director Ron Shelton and depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls, a minor-league baseball team in ...
'' (1988) * ''
Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
'' (1988) * '' Problem Child'' (1990) * '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991) * ''
Problem Child 2 ''Problem Child 2'' is a 1991 American black comedy film, and a sequel to the 1990 film '' Problem Child''; a continuation of the exploits of Junior ( Michael Oliver), an adopted orphan boy who deliberately wreaks comedic havoc everywhere he goes ...
'' (1991) * ''
Flesh and Bone Flesh and Bone may refer to: * ''Flesh and Bone'' (film), a 1993 film starring Meg Ryan, Dennis Quaid and James Caan * ''Flesh and Bone'' (miniseries), a 2015 American television series on Starz * "Flesh and Bone" (Battlestar Galactica), an epis ...
'' (1993) * ''
Major Payne ''Major Payne'' is a 1995 American military comedy film directed by Nick Castle and starring Damon Wayans, who wrote with Dean Lorey and Gary Rosen. The film co-stars Karyn Parsons, Steven Martini and Michael Ironside. It is a loose remake of th ...
'' (1995) * '' The Parent Trap'' (1998) * ''
3000 Miles to Graceland ''3000 Miles to Graceland'' is a 2001 American heist black action comedy film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Demian Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein co-wrote the script with Richard Recco. The film stars Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courte ...
'' (2001) * ''
Joe Dirt ''Joe Dirt'' is a 2001 American adventure comedy film, directed by Dennie Gordon (in her feature film directorial debut), starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Adam Beach, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Eri ...
'' (2001) * ''
Firehouse Dog ''Firehouse Dog'' is a 2007 American family film produced by Regency Enterprises and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Todd Holland, it stars Josh Hutcherson, Bruce Greenwood, Dash Mihok, Steven Culp and Bill Nunn. It was released Apri ...
'' (2007) * '' Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' (2008) * ''
Beautiful Kate ''Beautiful Kate'' is a 2009 Australian drama film directed by Rachel Ward and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Rachel Griffiths, Bryan Brown, Maeve Dermody and Sophie Lowe. Ward adapted the script from a 1982 novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg; ...
'' (2009) * ''
Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western ''bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their par ...
'' (2009) * ''
Transylmania ''Transylmania'' is a 2009 American comedy horror film directed by David and Scott Hillenbrand, and co-written by Patrick Casey and Worm Miller. The film did poorly at the box office, making it one of the biggest flops of 2009. Synopsis 16th ...
'' (2009) * '' Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore'' (2010) * ''
Megamind ''Megamind'' is a 2010 American computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film stars ...
'' (2010) * ''
The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
'' (2011) * ''
It Boy ''It Boy'' (French title: ''20 ans d'écart'') is a 2013 French romantic comedy film directed by David Moreau. It stars Virginie Efira and Pierre Niney, and narrates the story of a 38-year-old woman and her relationship with a teenage boy. Ca ...
'' (2013) * ''
Shaun the Sheep Movie ''Shaun the Sheep Movie'' is a 2015 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film based on the 2007 British television series ''Shaun the Sheep'', created by Nick Park, in turn a spin-off of the ''Wallace and Gromit'' film, ''A Close Shave'' (1995) ...
'' (2015) * '' Man Up'' (2015) * '' Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-cellent Adventure'' (2015) * '' It's For Your Own Good'' (2017)


Sporting events

The song is used by
Dennis Anderson Dennis Montague Anderson (born October 24, 1960) is an American former professional monster truck driver. He is the creator, team owner, and former driver of "Grave Digger" on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. Anderson is from Kill Devil Hills, Nor ...
's
Grave Digger A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Description If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...
monster truck as entrance music, and plays during his portion of the freestyle round at
Monster Jam Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some additional ...
events, and as an entrance theme for closing pitcher
Takashi Saito is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher who is currently the chief pitching coach for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Saito's professional career spanned 23 years. He spent his first 13 seasons pit ...
of the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
. It was also played during every at bat of former
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
slugger
Jay Buhner Jay Campbell Buhner (born August 13, 1964), nicknamed "Bone", is an American former professional baseball right fielder. At and , he was among the most recognizable players of his day, noted for his shaved head, thick goatee, and patch of pine ...
and former
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...
and
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
slugger
Ryan Klesko Ryan Anthony Klesko (born June 12, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and corner outfielder who played for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. He attended Westminster High School in Westminster, Calif ...
. The song is also used by 2-Time World Champion Professional bull rider J. B. Mauney. The song is also used as an entrance theme song in
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
. Multiple wrestlers have used it as their theme song, such as
L. A. Park Adolfo Margarito Tapia Ibarra (November 14, 1965) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'' ( masked professional wrestler), who currently performs as L. A. Park for Major League Wrestling in the United States, where he is a former MLW World Tag ...
in Mexico,
Kevin Wacholz Kevin Patrick Wacholz (born April 17, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1992 under the ring name Nailz. He is also known for his appearances wit ...
, who used the song in the 1980s as "Mr. Magnificent" Kevin Kelly while wrestling for the
American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...
, and
Gino Hernandez Charles Eugene Wolfe Jr. (August 8, 1957 – February 2, 1986) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Gino Hernandez. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with the Dallas, Texas-based promotion World Class C ...
and Chris Adams as "The Dynamic Duo" in
World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...
in Texas. American mixed martial artist
Phil Baroni Philip George Baroni (April 16, 1976) is a retired American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and former kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor since 2000, Baroni has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, DREAM, Elit ...
used it as his entrance song at
UFC 106 ''UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 21, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Background As with UFC 103 and UFC 104, a portion of the preliminary card ai ...
. It was also used by
The Bad Crew The Bad Crew was an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Jake Kemmerer (who wrestled as Bad Crew #1, Dog, or Jake) and Paul Olsek Jr. (who wrestled as Bad Crew #2, Rose, or Paul). The Bad Crew competed in North American regional ...
. The song is used in the home matches of
HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...
(a
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
professional ice hockey team competing in the
Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...
) when HIFK acquires a penalty.


Other media

On October 7, 2008, the song was released as downloadable content for the
music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...
series ''
Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
''. It also featured in '' Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock''. The video game ''
Rock 'n Roll Racing ''Rock n' Roll Racing'' is a vehicular combat-based racing video game developed by Silicon & Synapse (now known as Blizzard Entertainment) and published by Interplay Productions for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993 and the Mega Dr ...
'' also uses it. The song has also been used as a theme song for
Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...
. Talk show host Bill Cunningham uses the song as the opening intro to his afternoon talk show on
WLW WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as The Big One. WLW operates with around the clock. Its daytime signal provides ...
in
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, and on his Sunday night radio show. The song " E.V.I.L. B.O.Y.S." from the hit
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
show ''
Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as a ...
'' sampled the base melody of the song to give it a
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
sound. Thorogood appeared in a
UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
commercial, convincing NASCAR driver
Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champi ...
to race the brown delivery truck, and rewriting the lyrics as "Brown to the Bone", in 2002.


Authorship claim

Chicago area musician James Pobiega, who goes by the stage name "Little Howlin' Wolf", has claimed that he wrote "Bad to the Bone" and that Thorogood stole it from him. The song is influenced by Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy". Thorogood initially offered the song to Waters, who rejected it outright.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad To The Bone 1982 singles 1982 songs EMI America Records singles George Thorogood songs