10 Greatest Rock Music Guitar Solos Of The 1980s
3. Beat It - Michael Jackson
Of all the amazing work Eddie Van Halen did in the 1980s, arguably his greatest solo featured on somebody else's record.
Producer Quincy Jones had convinced Michael Jackson to include a rock song on his upcoming album, Thriller, so the King of Pop needed to find someone to play on the track. The story goes that Jones phoned up Eddie, only for the Van Halen guitarist to dismiss it as a prank call.
Thank God he eventually came round.
The song that Van Halen was drafted in for was Beat It, one of the many hit singles from this juggernaut of pop music. His solo was a typical EVH affair; plenty of tapping and bending notes to within an inch of their life, only this one had a much more melodic quality to it than some of his other work.
Eddie really did go all out for this one, creating one of the most memorable parts of one of the great hits from 1983. And to top this whole story off, Van Halen recorded the solo for free, as a favour to Jackson and Jones.
What a guy.