Inner Circle’s ‘Bad Boys’ Certified Platinum In The U.S.

Inner Circle’s iconic song Bad Boys is now certified platinum in the United States, marking one million units sold thirty-nine years after its initial release.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) updated the song’s status on March 4, elevating it from the gold award it has held since 1993.

Produced by band founders Ian and Roger Lewis alongside Bernard “Touter” Harvey, Bad Boys features the vocals of the late Calton Coffie, who died in 2023. It first appeared on the group’s 1987 album One Way, and later on their 1992 album Bad to the Bone. After the success of Sweat (A La La La La Long) in 1993, Bad Boys was re-released as a single that year.

The song became the theme for the long-running reality series COPS and later the namesake for the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence film franchise.

COPS creator John Langley told Entertainment Weekly  in 2017: “I was a Bob Marley fan — still am — and I thought it would be very interesting to counterpoint law enforcement with reggae. It seemed to announce, this is not your regular cop show.” According to Langley, a field producer gave him the One Way album. “I heard the song and I said, ‘That’s it. That’s the song for the show.’”

Bad Boys carries a deeper meaning that is often overlooked, according to Ian Lewis. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2020, he reflected on the song’s lasting impact and its true message.

“Thirty years. How many groups in the world can say they have a song that the world knows, but what is not understood is the essence of the song,” he said.

“It was used in the context of Cops, but if they listen to the song, everybody just knows the hook. They don’t listen to the words of the song where it’s talking about a person who was coming into crime and adversarial towards their parents. The song is about growing up [as a teenager] who wants to be a man but doesn’t understand that it’s the family that you should springboard from. I think it was slightly misunderstood, but worldwide, we never got a negative connotation.”

Bad Boys reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and No. 52 on the UK Singles chart. It is currently certified Silver (200,000 units) in the UK.

Bad to the Bone, later reissued as Bad Boys (Big Beat/Atlantic) in the US, also found success, with the US version spending 49 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaking at No. 64, and the UK version spending two weeks on the UK Albums chart, peaking at No. 44.

The album was ultimately certified Platinum in the US and won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1994.

Inner Circle, formed in 1968 and led by brothers Roger and Ian Lewis, has seen several members join over the years, including reggae legend Jacob Miller as lead vocalist until he died in 1980, and long-standing member Bernard “Touter” Harvey since 1973.

The current lineup includes Lancelot Hall, Trevor “Skatta” Bonnick, and Andre Philips.