[1] In the US, "Man in the Mirror" became Jackson's number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum.

A remix was included on the soundtrack of Jackson's tribute tour Immortal, and an instrumental version was played at his memorial service.

"[8] Rolling Stone's Davitt Sigerson thought that "Man in the Mirror" stands among the half dozen best things Jackson has done: "On 'Man in the Mirror,' a song he did not write, Jackson goes a step further and offers a straightforward homily of personal commitment: 'I'm starting with the man in the mirror/I'm asking him to change his ways/And no message could have been any clearer/If you wanna make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself and then make a change.

[3] In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert said the song contained "one of the greatest key changes in music history".

It features clips of starving children in Africa, Adolf Hitler, Hitler's American "relatives", George Lincoln Rockwell's American Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan, John F. Kennedy and his body being carted away after his assassination, Robert Kennedy and his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr., the Kent State shootings, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, the start of the Iran hostage crisis, Muammar Gaddafi, Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev, John Lennon, Nelson Mandela, Pieter Botha, Lech Wałęsa, the June Struggle in South Korea, the Camp David Accords, INF Treaty, homeless people in the U.S., the rescue of Jessica McClure, kids in graduation, and other historical figures.

The first segment of Moonwalker is a live performance of "Man in the Mirror" during his Bad tour in Europe and America.

The last time this song was performed was on October 21, 2001, at the United We Stand concert that was held in Washington D. C. as a tribute to the victims of September 11 attacks.

The instrumental introduction to the song was played at the end of Jackson's memorial service, while his casket was being carried out; followed by the appearance of a spotlight shining on a microphone on an empty stage, which symbolized his absence.

After a closing prayer that incorporated themes from the song, the spotlight remained shining on the lone microphone.

"Man in the Mirror" was the 4th consecutive number-one single for Jackson's Bad in the United States.