The initial version of the song was written by Jackson and John Barnes in 1985 and the model recorded in 1986. The original title was Al Capone and later it would be retouched and rewritten as Smooth Criminal.
The most notable version is the one made in 2001 by the Californian group Alien Ant Farm, alternative rock style. It was released as first single of its second album ANThology, that arrived at the top 5 of the list of successes in several countries.
According to the members of the band, they played a couple of riffs of the song of Jackson while they were preparing before the concerts and the members of the hearing asked them to interpret the complete song. Due to their positive reception, they were encouraged to record their own version of Smooth Criminal and include it in their debut album. It became a success for the band reaching number one in the list of successes of modern rock of the Billboard magazine of the United States and also it was number one in Australia. He also appeared in the movie American Pie 2 from 2001. Initially, on his debut album Greatest Hits in 1999, he was included as a hidden track called Slick Thief, which is his first version of Smooth Criminal
The music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld19 and in it he ironizes some of the most famous clichés of Michael Jackson, such as the spacewalk, a chimpanzee and a child who wears a surgical mask.