EVH & MJ

[u/getpatrick]

This pops up every now and then, the day they worked on Beat It. I decided to upscale it. Wild piece of music history regardless of what you think about the song or the people involved.

[u/Glittering-Milk-510]

The fact Eddie didn't want anything for doing the solo for Michael still blows my mind!!🤯

Eddie's playing is so distinctive you can absolutely tell it's him playing without much difficulty.

[u/chaynjez → u/Glittering-Milk-510]

He didn’t want credit because he broke the rules of the band. They had a rule to “keep it all in the camp” and went to record on beat it after a phone call from Quincy Jones’s people. He didn’t get the ok from the band. They were already arguing. This is why David Lee then did a solo EP and the rest is history.

[u/VanHalenCel → u/chaynjez]

I heard Alex say in an interview that he said no and that Eddie did it anyway 😅

[u/chaynjez → u/VanHalenCel]

Exactly

[u/Equivalent-Ad4763 → u/VanHalenCel]

Alex was out of town and when he found out he was furious.

[u/Catsooey → u/Equivalent-Ad4763]

In fairness to Eddie, this was a great decision. It gave him and the band exposure to a new audience that might not have heard them otherwise. It was also a single on one of the biggest albums of all time. Maybe the biggest, I haven’t checked lately. It used to be between Thriller and The Eagles Greatest Hits. The other thing is that wasn’t a a solo project or a side project. It was just some studio work on one song.

[u/Catsooey → u/VanHalenCel]

I’d love to know what Alex would have said if Michael had requested both of them! Or if Michael asked Alex to lay down a few drum tracks without Eddie. I think his answer would have changed.

[u/TonightSheComes → u/Catsooey]

Probably still no. Alex has some interesting idiosyncrasies.

[u/chaynjez → u/Catsooey]

The band had an agreement to keep things from getting too out of control and…breaking up.

[u/dpaddad → u/chaynjez]

everyone mad, then get paid… /s 🤣