How Eddie Van Halen Literally Shredded Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”

Eddie Van Halen’s shredding solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” remains one of the legendary guitarist’s finest. And that’s saying something considering “Eruption”, “Panama”, and a staggering list of groundbreaking songs.

But Van Halen nearly ruined Jackson’s track.

Out of Sync and Destructive Edits

According to Steve Lukather, who played the main riff, rhythm, and bass parts on “Beat It”, Quincy Jones sent the master tapes to Van Halen to record the guitar solo. However, Van Halen didn’t want to play over the section Jones had suggested. So he—or possibly his studio engineer—spliced the tape, creating a new arrangement, and then burned the epic solo we now know.

But this created a problem because the multi-track tapes were no longer in sync. And there’s no “undo” button in the analog world of recording. Jones wasn’t about to lose Jackson’s iconic vocal performance, so he instructed Lukather and the drummer Jeff Porcaro to reverse-engineer the track.

Let Michael Guide You

So they used Jackson’s existing vocal take and the click track that bled through his headphones to create a guide. From there, Porcaro—with a cartoonishly impressive sense of time—created a new groove, listening for clicks between Jackson’s singing.

Lukather then cut and reworked the guitar and bass parts. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. Jones thought the initial guitar takes were too aggressive for pop radio. And who’s going to argue with Quincy Jones? Not Lukather. He recut the guitars with a lighter touch, and “Beat It”, with the rest of Thriller, forever changed pop music.

It’s Eddie’s Fault

Meanwhile, Van Halen’s sixth album, 1984, also marked a shift in pop music, becoming the hard rock band’s most successful since their self-titled 1978 debut. The first single, “Jump”, had topped the Hot 100, but the album stalled at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

There was a persistent album at No. 1 that wouldn’t budge: Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Just beat it (beat it), beat it (beat it),
No one wants to be defeated.
Showin’ how funky, strong is your fight,
It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right.
Just beat it.

Photo by Larry Marano/Getty Images