Michael Jackson will always be known as the “King of Pop.” However, throughout his musical career, the singer ventured generously into rock ‘n’ roll, collaborating with some of the genre’s musical elite in the process.
And 15 years after his death, on 88.9 let’s take a look at some of those legends who worked with Michael Jackson, before his untimely death on June 25, 2009.
Kenny Loggins – Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong (1979)
In retrospect, it seems strange that a song featuring Michael Jackson would not be released as a single. But that’s what happened with “Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong”; a deep cut of Kenny Loggins’ “Keep the Fire”, in which Jackson’s background vocals are clearly heard in the chorus. The album’s big hit was “This Is It,” which features background vocals from another star, five-time Grammy winner Michael McDonald.
Paul McCartney – Girlfriend (1979), The Girl is Mine (1983), Say Say Say (1983)
One of the few people whose fame possibly eclipsed Jackson’s was Paul McCartney. The former Beatle wrote “Girlfriend” for 1979’s “Off the Wall,” marking the beginning of what was once a good friendship between the superstars.
McCartney later appeared on the Thriller track “The Girl Is Mine,” while Jackson reciprocated the favor, duetting on “Say Say Say,” from the latter’s 1983 album “Pipes of Peace.” Is Mine” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983, but “Say Say Say” topped the chart. Perhaps the most surprising thing about “Say Say Say” is that it ranks as Jackson’s biggest hit on the Billboard chart.
The friendship between Jackson and McCartney would suffer irreparable damage when, a year later, Jackson beat out McCartney for ownership of the publishing rights to more than 250 Beatles songs. Jackson further incurred McCartney’s ire in 1987 when he licensed the Beatles song “Revolution” to be used in a Nike commercial. After Jackson passed away unexpectedly in June 2009, McCartney was kind and forgiving, describing his former singing partner as an “enormously talented man-man with a gentle soul.” “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael,” he said.
Dave Mason – Save Me (1980)
Best known for his 1977 hit, “We Just Disagree,” as well as his time in Traffic and as a guitarist for hire, Dave Mason dueted with Michael Jackson on 1980’s “Save Me.” The funky song, which appeared on Mason’s Old Crest on a New Wave album only peaked at No. 71 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Eddie Van Halen – Beat It (1982)
Michael Jackson’s rock collaborations didn’t stop with Paul McCartney. Van Halen’s Eddie Van Halen agreed to record a free, uncredited guitar solo on the song “Beat It” as a favor to Thriller producer Quincy Jones. Van Halen reportedly cut his 20-second solo in less than half an hour. In an interview with CNN, Van Halen marveled at the fact that he believed his bandmates wouldn’t notice his appearance on Thriller. “I said to myself, ‘Who’s going to know I played on this guy’s record, right?’ Nobody will know’. But according to the Van Halen News Desk, Van Halen says the collaboration didn’t go over well with the other members of the band.
«Some people in the band at that time didn’t like me doing things outside the group. But [ el cantante David Lee] Roth was in the Amazon or somewhere, and Mike [Anthony, bajista] I was at Disneyland and Al [Van Halen, baterista] I was in Canada or something, and I was home alone. So I thought, well, they’ll never know.” Having suggested an alternative arrangement for “Beat It”, Van Halen was unsure how Jackson would react to the changes he made to the song.
“I was finishing the second alone when Michael came in,” he recalled. «And you know that artists are a little crazy. We are all a little strange. He didn’t know how he would react to what he was doing. So I warned him before he listened. I told him, ‘Look, I changed the middle section of your song,’ Now, in my mind, either he’s going to get his bodyguard to throw me out for killing his song, or he’s going to like it. Then he heard it, turned to me and said, ‘Wow, thank you so much for having the passion to not just come in and do a solo, but to care about the song and make it better.’ As a side note, the guitar riff that underpins “Beat It” was performed by Steve Lukather of Toto.
Freddie Mercury – There Must Be More to Life Than This, State of Shock and Victory’ (1983)
Freddie Mercury spent six hours in Jackson’s home studio in 1983, providing vocals on three songs, “There Must Be More to Life than This,” “State of Shock” and “Victory.”
The songs were ultimately deemed unfit for official consumption by both parties and have frequently been pirated, although the first two were released in other forms.
Mick Jagger State of Shock (1984)
“Thriller” was still at the top of the charts in 1984 when Michael Jackson’s next association with rock royalty occurred. He had reunited with his brothers for the Jacksons’ “Victory” album and subsequently recorded the number 3 single “State of Shock” with none other than Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.
Bruce Swedien, the recording engineer for the Jacksons’ “Victory” album, recalled that Jackson instructed Jagger to warm up his voice in preparation for the session. And while it may seem ridiculous to some that Michael Jackson was giving advice to the Rolling Stones frontman, Swedien said Jagger happily complied. This certainly helped show how much respect Jagger had for Jackson. «Mick didn’t hesitate. By then, everyone knew how good Michael was,” Swedien said. “If Michael Jackson says warm up, you warm up, even if you’re Mick Jagger.”
We Are the World (1985)
In order to raise funds for famine relief in Africa, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie co-wrote “We Are the World.” The two, with production by Quincy Jones, brought together an incredible array of some of the most popular musicians of the era under the name USA for Africa. Among the rockers who contributed to the track were Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and Paul Simon. “We Are the World” was number one for a month and grossed $63 million.
Steve Stevens – Dirty Diana (1987)
When it came time to record the follow-up to “Thriller,” Quincy Jones called producer Ted Templeman to ask who he could recommend to perform a guitar solo on the song “Dirty Diana,” which would become another number one hit for Jackson. . Not wanting to repeat himself by bringing Eddie Van Halen back to the studio, Templeman recommended Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens. When Jones made the initial call to Stevens, the guitarist didn’t believe the person on the other end of the phone line.
“I was living in New York at the time and I got a phone call from Quincy Jones,” he said. «The phone rang and I thought someone was fucking with me. “I hung up the phone but then the phone rings again and he says, ‘Don’t hang up, because this is the real deal.'” The original version of “Dirty Diana” that he performed on was over seven minutes long, Stevens did not expect the song to be as dark and heavy as it was. “Michael was very musical,” he continued. «The things he asked and asked for were really great ideas. He understood what it was about and was trying to get the best out of my performance. “It was a great session.”
Slash – Give in to Me (1991)
Michael Jackson’s desire to pursue unconventional collaborations continued with 1991’s “Dangerous.” The pop star tapped Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash to play on the song “Give in to Me.” Although many mistakenly believe that the legendary guitarist played on Jackson’s single “Black or White.” Slash set the record straight in a 2010 interview, saying, “I didn’t play on [esa canción]. The sound of the guitar [en esa canción] He is very happy. It just doesn’t sound like me, anyone would know that. “It’s not the guitar sound you’d expect from me, but I kind of got pigeonholed as the guy who played that song.” Of course, that didn’t stop Slash and Jackson from finally performing “Black & White” together live.
