It presents a harder rock sound similar to "Beat It" from Thriller (1982) and a guitar solo played by Steve Stevens.

"Dirty Diana" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, but was a commercial success worldwide in 1988, charting at No.

The song also charted within the top ten in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and New Zealand.

After "Beat It", "Dirty Diana" was the second hard rock song of his solo career with lyrics about a persistent groupie.

"[8] In his Bad review, Los Angeles Times' Richard Cromelin describes "Dirty Diana" as a hard rock song, writing, "'Dirty Diana' is trying to be this year's 'Beat It' — a hard-rock song about a tenacious groupie that's sent into orbit by a Steve Stevens guitar solo.

"[3] Jon Pareles, a writer for The New York Times, viewed "Dirty Diana" as a song about a "groupie who latches onto the narrator, mixes the sexual fears of 'Billie Jean' with the hard-rock lead guitar of 'Beat It'.

"[11] In his Bad review, Thom Duffy, music critic for the Orlando Sentinel, wrote that "Dirty Diana, a tale of a maliciously seductive fan, finds Jackson doing credible heavy-metal rock wailing," which, the critic said, was "accompanied by a solo from Steve Stevens, the guitarist from Billy Idol's band.

"[9] Jonathan Takiff of The Philadelphia Inquirer also noted elements of heavy metal in "Dirty Diana", writing, "Plus, to tap the rock crowd (in the style of the 'Thriller' crossover smash 'Beat It' with Eddie Van Halen), Michael cut a heavy metal-tinged 'Dirty Diana' featuring Billy Idol's guitar sizzler Stevie Stevens.

"[10] "Dirty Diana" is written in common time[12] and moves at a moderate tempo of 131 beats per minute.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that "Dirty Diana" and "Man in the Mirror" were "showcasing Jackson at his worst" on Bad.

[14] Music critic Robert Christgau viewed "Dirty Diana" as "misogynistic as any piece of metal suck-my-cock.

[26] In July 2009, "Dirty Diana" saw a strong chart surge, mainly due to digital download sales.

The woman who appears in the video is model Lisa Dean (1959-2009), chosen over hundreds of girls who auditioned for the role.

[33] A second seven-minute long accompanying video of a live performance (which should not be confused with the actual music video) was filmed in early 1988 in front of a live audience during Jackson's show in Madison Square Garden (Steve Stevens playing guitar).

The video starts with the screen saying "Pepsi Presents Michael Jackson Tour 1988" in front of a white background for forty seconds.

"Dirty Diana" was performed during Jackson's Bad World Tour concert series from 1987 to 1989, but only in the second leg, as the 10th song in the setlist.

The set up for the song would include an expert pole dancer who would lure Jackson onto a giant steel bed on which she performed acrobatic feats.