{"id":2276,"date":"2026-05-29T14:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=2276"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:04:19","slug":"how-eddie-van-halen-literally-shredded-michael-jacksons-beat-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-eddie-van-halen-literally-shredded-michael-jacksons-beat-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How Eddie Van Halen Literally Shredded Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cBeat It\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Eddie Van Halen\u2019s shredding solo on Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cBeat It\u201d remains one of the legendary guitarist\u2019s finest. And that\u2019s saying something considering \u201cEruption\u201d, \u201cPanama\u201d, and a staggering list of groundbreaking songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Van Halen nearly ruined Jackson\u2019s track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Out of Sync and Destructive Edits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michael Jackson - Beat It (Official 4K Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oRdxUFDoQe0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=14YP9481DMI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According to Steve Lukather<\/a>, who played the main riff, rhythm, and bass parts on \u201cBeat It\u201d, Quincy Jones sent the master tapes to Van Halen to record the guitar solo. However, Van Halen didn\u2019t want to play over the section Jones had suggested. So he\u2014or possibly his studio engineer\u2014spliced the tape, creating a new arrangement, and then burned the epic solo we now know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this created a problem because the multi-track tapes were no longer in sync. And there\u2019s no \u201cundo\u201d button in the analog world of recording. Jones wasn\u2019t about to lose Jackson\u2019s iconic vocal performance, so he instructed Lukather and the drummer Jeff Porcaro to reverse-engineer the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Let Michael Guide You<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So they used Jackson\u2019s existing vocal take and the click track that bled through his headphones to create a guide. From there, Porcaro\u2014with a cartoonishly impressive sense of time\u2014created a new groove, listening for clicks between Jackson\u2019s singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lukather then cut and reworked the guitar and bass parts. But they weren\u2019t out of the woods yet. Jones thought the initial guitar takes were too aggressive for pop radio. And who\u2019s going to argue with Quincy Jones? Not Lukather. He recut the guitars with a lighter touch, and \u201cBeat It\u201d, with the rest of <em>Thriller<\/em>, forever changed pop music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>It\u2019s Eddie\u2019s Fault<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Van Halen\u2019s sixth album, <em>1984<\/em>, also marked a shift in pop music, becoming the hard rock band\u2019s most successful since their self-titled 1978 debut. The first single, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/van-halen\/jump\">\u201cJump\u201d<\/a>, had topped the Hot 100, but the album stalled at No. 2 on the <em>Billboard<\/em> 200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a persistent album at No. 1 that wouldn\u2019t budge: Michael Jackson\u2019s <em>Thriller<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Just beat it (beat it), beat it (beat it),<br>No one wants to be defeated.<br>Showin\u2019 how funky, strong is your fight,<br>It doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s wrong or right.<br>Just beat it<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo by Larry Marano\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eddie Van Halen\u2019s shredding solo on Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cBeat It\u201d remains one of the legendary guitarist\u2019s finest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":2279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Larry Marano\/Getty Images","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[322,304,36,18],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-2276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-eddie-van-halen","tag-michael-jackson","tag-pop-music","tag-rock-music"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Eddie Van Halen","term_id":322,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/eddie-van-halen\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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