"Bad Boys" is a 1987 song by the Jamaican reggae band Inner Circle, which obtained "high" popularity in the United States after its re-release in 1993, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It is well known as the opening theme to the U.S. TV show Cops.
The song was originally released in 1987 on the album One Way and obtained minor airplay and poor sales. However, in 1992, it was also included on the Bad to the Bone album, and the song was released as a single in 1993, after the unexpected success of their previous international hit single "Sweat (A La La La La Long)". "Bad Boys" reached number 52 in the United Kingdom and number 8 in the United States; in the latter territory, it was certified gold and sold 600,000 copies. The song was also released as B-side on Inner Circle's 1992 single "Sweat (A La La La La Long)". The song was also released as a single in mid-1991 in Norway; it peaked at number one for three weeks.
This song makes references to "Sheriff John Brown", who was the sheriff killed in Bob Marley's song "I Shot the Sheriff".
"Bad Boys" was selected as the theme song to Cops because a field producer for the show happened to be a fan of Inner Circle.
The song, which was very popular during the 1990s, was also used in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence action/comedy film Bad Boys and the sequel Bad Boys II (some of the lyrics are sung by Smith and Lawrence in both films).
An instrumental version of the song plays in the "In Drag Net" bonus level in Gex: Enter the Gecko.
An instrumental version of the song was played in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle when an Oklahoma State Trooper arrested Karen Sympathy.
This song is sampled in WWE superstar Rey Mysterio's entrance song "Booyaka 619" by P.O.D.
In the episode, "Diamonds Are for Roger" of the Nickelodeon sitcom, Kenan & Kel, Kel believes that Kenan's father, Roger is in fact the "Diamond Bandit", after looking at a police sketch of the aforementioned criminal on a television screen. This causes Kel to sing a parody of "Bad Boys" called "Bad Dad".
Wrigley's uses their version of the song for their advertising of Extra chewing gum, changing the line "What you gonna do" to "What you gonna chew".
In the Full House episode "Wrong-Way Tanner", Becky and the boys were singing and dancing to the song using Danny's kitchen supplies, and then Jesse joins in.
In the 2004 comedy movie, New York Minute, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the character of Max Lomax (Eugene Levy) sings a parody of the song called, "Bad Girl", with the lyrics, "Bad girl, bad girl. What you gonna do? What you gonna do when I come for you?".
On the July 28th edition of WWE Raw, Chris Jericho had the audience start singing the song to mock Stephanie McMahon for her recent storyline arrest.
This song is parodied in The Simpsons season four episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" as "Bad Cops," and serves as a theme song for Chief Wiggum, Eddie and Lou throughout the episode.
The song is featured in the 2015 film Terminator Genisys.
In the Lizzie McGuire Season 1 finale episode "Gordo's Bar Mitzvah", the song can be heard when the neighbors complain about Matt's behavior.
