Alex Van Halen is Still Mad About Eddie Van Halen ‘Beat It’ Solo
Alex Van Halen deeply misses his brother Eddie Van Halen. However, he still holds a bit of a grudge against him for lending his talents to a now iconic solo featured on the classic Michael Jackson song “Beat It.”
Alex vented his decades-long frustration about “Beat It” to Rolling Stone. He told Eddie not to guest on the track and believed his brother should have saved all of his best work for Van Halen. Alex said about Eddie and “Beat It,” “Why would you lend your talents to Michael Jackson? I just don’t f—ing get it.” He then bashed his brother for feigning ignorance about Jackson and claimed Eddie said, “Oh, who knows that kid anyway?”
Believe it or not, Eddie wasn’t Jackson’s first choice to be featured on “Beat It.” Shortly after EVH died, Pete Townshend told Rolling Stone that Jackson approached him to play on the track, but he wasn’t available to do so. Instead, he recommended Eddie.
Townshend said he later spoke with Eddie about recording with Jackson and said, “He was utterly charming, happy about the connection, but told me how much he was enjoying playing keyboards … A man in his rightful place, so happy to be doing what he did.”
Perhaps the craziest fact about Eddie’s solo on “Beat It” is that he did it for free. He told CNN in 2012 that he played that blistering solo for free as a favor to producer Quincy Jones. Amazingly, he improvised that solo and recorded it in about half an hour.
“I don’t even think I’m credited on the record,” said Eddie. “It just says, ‘Guitar solo: Question Mark’ or ‘Guitar solo: Frankenstein’ (the name of his guitar).”
By doing the solo for free, EVH lost out on an obscene amount of money for half an hour of work if he received percentage points on Thriller. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Thriller has sold over 34 million copies in the United States alone.
After news of Eddie’s death broke in 2020, Jones paid tribute to him by saying, “RIP to the GREAT @eddievanhalen. Even though it took a couple calls to convince U it was actually me on the phone. U killed it on Thriller, & your classic solo on Beat It will never be matched. I’ll always smile when I think of our time working together. Eternal love & props.”
Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, responded to Jones’ tweet writing, “I loved whenever he told me the story of you calling him and him not actually believing you. One of my favorite stories he would tell. Much love.”
Jones replied, “My dear Wolf…so so sorry for your loss. Sending U & the fam lots of love.”
