While a highly recognisable song now, “Bad to the Bone”, by George Thorogood and the Destroyers, was never particularly successful in its original release - it never hit the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2025 it was only certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for over 200,000 sales.
The song is undoubtedly the Destroyers’ most famous work, however, due to various movies and commercials that licensed it for the air of machismo it conveys.
Its movie debut was the 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s “Christine”, but arguably its most famous movie outing was during the early part of 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”.
The movie features a sequence of Arnold Schwarzenegger walking into a biker gang bar, demandeding “I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.” of one of the bar’s patrons, and walking out of the bar having acquired said items - to “Bad to the Bone”.
When contacting the band to discuss the song licensing, Arnold called the band up and in the Terminator monotone voice, echoed that scene by demanding, “Your song. Give it to me. Now.”