Critical and Commercial Reception
"Leave Me Alone has the angry edge that is lacking in much of the song Bad."
Richard Harrington, a writer for The Washington Post"Leave Me Alone" was generally well received by contemporary music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a writer for Allmusic, stated he felt that "Leave Me Alone" was the best track on Bad, commenting "why are all of his best songs paranoid anthems?" Steve Morse, a writer for The Boston Globe, described "Leave Me Alone" as a "send-up" of Jackson's feuds with the "paparazzi-filled tabloids." Jon Parales, of The New York Times, commented that "Leave Me Alone" had an "unmistakable message". After Jackson's death in June 2009, Rolling Stone listed "Leave Me Alone" as being one of Jackson's most monumental work, and the song's composition was generally praised.
"Leave Me Alone" performed well on various charts. It was released as a single outside of the United States and Canada. The song, similar to Bad's previous singles, proved to be a commercial success internationally. "Leave Me Alone"'s most successful territory was Spain, where the song peaked at number one; it stayed at the top position for one week. The song saw similar chart success on the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norwegian, Italian and Switzerland charts, peaking within the top ten at number two, five, six, eight and ten. "Leave Me Alone" also peaked within the top 20 in Sweden, France, and Austria, peaking at number 15, 17 and 19. The single was least successful in Australia, where the song peaked at number 37.
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