Classic Rock
Alex Van Halen is still unhappy that Eddie played with Michael Jackson
Alex Van Halen is currently promoting his new book called “Brothers” where he talked about him, his late brother Eddie Van Halen and of course their band. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the musician talked about many subjects, including the famous guitar solo Eddie recorded for Michael Jackson‘s “Beat It” back in 1982 for the album “Thriller”.
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Alex believed they should never record with other artists outside the band because he believed that creativity was finite and they use all the material they had for their own group. Even now, he said he doesn’t like that collaboration.
Alex Van Halen is still not happy that Eddie worked with Michael Jackson
At the time Alex told his brother not to collaborate with Michael Jackson, he believed it was better to have the Pop singer as a guest in a Van Halen track, for example. That ended up being something that motivated later on David Lee Roth to pursue a solo career.
“Why would you lend your talents to Michael Jackson? I just don’t fucking get it. And the funny part was that Ed fibbed his way out of it by saying, ‘Oh, who knows that kid anyway?’ You made the mistake! Fess up. Don’t add insult to injury by acting stupid,” Alex Van Halen said.
Curiously, two years later the album “Thriller” blocked Van Halen’s “1984” from the top of the charts. Besides Eddie Van Halen, that Michael Jackson album had many other special guests and session players. Some of them were Steve Lukather, Michael’s sisters Janet and La Toya, Paul McCartney, Steve Porcaro and Vincent Price.
The record remains as the best-selling album of all time, having sold an estimated amount of more than 70 million copies worldwide. Van Halen, for example, sold an estimated amount of more than 80 million records worldwide with their entire discography.
