Beat It

THE STORY BEHIND ' BEAT IT '

​

​This song is the rock anthem that tore down the walls between black and white radio. The story below details the legendary collaboration with Eddie Van Halen, the inclusion of real gang members in the video, and how Michael Jackson wrote a heavy metal song without knowing how to read music.

​

By 1982, the division in the music industry was clear: Black artists were played on R&B stations, and White artists were played on Rock stations. There was very little crossover. Quincy Jones wanted to destroy that boundary.

​

During the Thriller sessions, Quincy gave Michael a very specific homework assignment. He told him, "I want you to write a black version of 'My Sharona'." He was referring to the massive rock hit by The Knack, which had a driving, aggressive beat. Michael, who had grown up listening to the gentle soul of Motown, wasn't a rocker by nature. But he accepted the challenge. He told Quincy, "I want to write the type of rock song that I would go out and buy... but also something the school kids would like."

​

Michael retreated to his home studio and began humming a melody. He didn't start with a guitar; he started with his voice. He sang the main riff Da-da-da-da-DA-da-da into a tape recorder. He visualized the entire song in his head, from the drum intro to the guitar solo, before a single instrument was touched.

​

The "Knock" at the Door Michael brought the demo to the studio, and it was shockingly complete. The demo featured Michael singing every part, including the bass line and the chords.

​

One of the most famous moments in the song happens right before the guitar solo starts. If you listen closely on high-quality headphones, you can hear a knocking sound. For years, fans debated what this was. The truth? It was Michael himself. He was knocking on the body of a drum case or the studio door to signal the change in the song. In the final mix, they kept it in because it sounded menacing, like someone banging on a door to start a fight.

​

Eddie Van Halen To make the song credible to rock fans, Quincy Jones knew they needed a heavy hitter. He called Eddie Van Halen, the most famous guitarist in the world at that time.

​

When Quincy called Eddie, Eddie hung up on him. He thought it was a prank call. Quincy called back and convinced him it was real. Eddie agreed to play on the track, but he had two conditions: he would do it for free (as a favor), and he wouldn't be credited on the album cover because of band politics with Van Halen.

​

When Eddie arrived at the studio, Michael was actually out of the room. Eddie asked the engineer, "Can I change some things?" He felt the middle section of the song was too stiff for a solo. So, he and the engineer actually cut the tape and rearranged the song structure behind Michael’s back. When Michael returned, rather than being angry, he was thrilled. He told Eddie, "Wow, thank you for caring enough about my song to change it."

​

Eddie Van Halen recorded his legendary solo in just two takes. It was a blistering display of "finger-tapping," a technique he had popularized. The energy in the room was so intense during the recording that, according to urban legend (confirmed by session musicians), one of the studio monitor speakers actually caught fire and blew out just as Eddie finished his last note. The engineer exclaimed, "This must be good!"

​

Ironically, the rhythm guitar, the iconic riff that drives the whole song, was not played by Eddie. It was played by Steve Lukather of the band Toto. Lukather played all the guitar parts except the solo, and he also played the bass guitar. The drums were played by Toto’s drummer, Jeff Porcaro. So, underneath Michael’s voice, "Beat It" is essentially a Toto song featuring Eddie Van Halen.

 

The song opens with a terrifying, metallic gong sound. This wasn't a standard instrument. It was a digital sample played on the Synclavier, an incredibly expensive ($200,000) synthesizer. It was one of the first times a digital sampler was used so prominently on a pop record. It set the tone immediately: this wasn't a fun disco song; this was ominous.

 

The music video for "Beat It" is just as important as the song. Directed by Bob Giraldi, the concept was inspired by West Side Story, two rival gangs meeting for a knife fight in a warehouse.

​

However, Michael didn't want to use actors. He wanted it to feel dangerous. The production team went out to the streets of Los Angeles and hired roughly 80 real-life gang members from the Crips and the Bloods. These were sworn enemies. The production had to have security on set to ensure no actual violence broke out.

​

There was a tense moment during the shoot when the music stopped and the gangs were staring at each other. Michael, sensing the tension, cracked a joke or started dancing, and the mood lightened. By the end of the shoot, the gang members were asking Michael for autographs. The video ends with the gangs dancing together, a powerful message of unity that Michael truly believed in.

​

The choreography was created by Michael Peters (who also played the leader of the rival gang in white). It combined street fighting moves with jazz dance. The image of the gangs moving in unison became iconic. It transformed the idea of a "fight" into an art form. This video solidified Michael’s image as a "tough guy" in a red leather jacket, a stark contrast to the tuxedo-wearing singer of Off the Wall.

​

"Beat It" was released on February 14, 1983. It shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Crucially, it was played on rock radio stations across America, stations that had never played Michael Jackson before. It forced the segregation of the music industry to collapse.

​

Eddie Van Halen famously recalled hearing the song on the radio while standing in line at a record store. A kid in front of him said, "Listen to this guy trying to sound like Eddie Van Halen." Eddie tapped him on the shoulder and said, "That is me."

​

The song won two Grammys, including Record of the Year. It remains one of the most successful crossovers in history, proving that a black pop star could rock harder than the rockers.