While the lovebirds were celebrating Valentine’s day, we can’t forget Feb. 14 also marked another significant piece of history: the 42 year anniversary of “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. The song is track five on the iconic “Thriller” album, and with the record selling over 10 million copies worldwide, it’s safe to say this is an all time fan favorite.
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To celebrate the anniversary, The Root took a deeper dive into the song’s history, and you’ll be surprised about what we found. Here’s seven things you probably don’t know about the record.
During the ‘80s, the “anti-disco” movement took over mainstream music. The story goes Quincy Jones, aware of the movement, wanted to switch it up for the “Thriller” album. He reportedly told MJ to include a rock song similar to the style of the classic song, “My Sharona,” according to Smooth Radio.
“Beat It” was one of standout songs on the project, and to this day, it goes down in history as one of the first songs perfectly merge hard rock and funk pop for mainstream consumption.
With a name like “Beat It,” you might think MJ is trying to start up some mess, but in fact, he wrote the song to take a stance against violence. The song itself is Jackson telling a young boy who just joined a gang to stay away from the violence— or simply put “beat it,” according to American Songwriter.
Jermaine Jackson has previously suggested the track was inspired by the family’s own encounter with gang activity. “From our front window, we witnessed, about three bad rumbles between rival gangs,” Jermaine said. Jackson wrote the entire song and none other than the Quincy Jones co-produced the track.
New York choreographer Michael Douglas Peters played a significant role in MJ’s “Thriller” era and more specifically with “Beat It.” Peters was actually a dancer in the music video and is credited with choreographing much of the iconic “Beat It” dance moves.
Outside of his work with Jackson, Peters won a Tony Award in 1982 for his choreography in “Dreamgirls,” and in 1993, he won a Primetime Emmy for his work on “The Jacksons: An American Dream.” The following year in August 1994, Peters died of AIDS. Still, his legacy lives on forever.
One big no no in the rock music world is playing for another band, but legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen made an exception for “Beat It.” Halen’s guitar solo on the track is one of the most memorable moments of the song, and he apparently contributed the solo for free!
Jackson spent $150,000 on the “Beat It” music video, but what’s even more interesting is those gang members you see in the video aren’t actors... they were real members of rivals Crips and Blood gangs in Los Angeles.
The director of the video, Bob Giraldi, said things between the two groups got hectic, so they had to speed up the schedule and shoot all the gang scenes on day one.
According to the Recording Academy, Jackson is the only Black man to ever win a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. In 1984, the pop star cleaned up nicely with Thriller taking home eight Grammys in total.
With a catalog like Jackson’s, it’s easy to see why “Beat It” goes down as one of his all time favorite records. According to MMJ Community, there’s only a few songs Jackson said he’s extremely proud of, and “Beat It” made the list!
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