How Eddie Van Halen Ended Up On Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’
At the height of their careers in the early 1980s, two legends from opposite ends of the music industry came together to create one of the most iconic songs of the decade. That duo was Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen, and the song became Beat It.
MJ, who would be releasing his sixth studio album in October of 1982, Thriller, was reportedly encouraged by record producer Quincy Jones to include a rock track on it. Jones thought the song should be similar to the style of My Sharona by The Knack.
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Tito Jackson, MJ’s older brother, originally contributed the guitar part for Beat It, but Jones decided to go in a different direction and reached out to Van Halen’s lead guitarist.
When Jones called up Van Halen, the guitarist reportedly thought he was getting prank called. Once he realized the call was genuine, he agreed.
In Van Halen, the group had a rule that they wouldn’t make music outside of the band, but Eddie made an exception for Beat It. The legendary guitarist reportedly lent his talents to the track for free, something his bandmates and manager weren’t thrilled about:
“I did it as a favor,” Van Halen said in Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography. “I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band, our manager and everyone else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing—I don’t do something unless I want to do it.”
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Van Halen would reportedly rent a Marshall amplifier, and record two takes for Beat It with his iconic Frankenstrat guitar and an Echoplex. Beyond the guitar solo itself, Van Halen had a major impact on how the song was arranged.
Initially, they reportedly wanted Eddie to solo over the chorus, but he suggested soloing over the verse would work better, leading to Jones having the basic tracks rerecorded to fit around MJ’s vocals and Van Halen’s guitar.
Beyond Van Halen’s iconic guitar work on the song, Toto‘s Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro and Steve Porcaro also contributed to Beat It‘s composition. Lukather contributed guitar and bass tracks, while Jeff and Steve contributed drum and synthesizer parts respectively.
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Beat It was released as Thriller‘s third single on Feb. 21, 1983, peaking at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and staying there for three weeks.
The song went on to land MJ two Grammys at the 1984 Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, the first Black man to receive the latter honor. Thriller would take home eight Grammys in total.
Following MJ’s death in 2009, Van Halen reportedly recalled his time spent working on Beat It as “one of [the] fondest memories in my career.”
