Beat It

song by Jackson

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July 16, 2026

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"Beat It" is a song by Michael Jackson, featured on his 1982 album Thriller. The song is known for its rock-infused sound, including a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen. It was one of the album's seven hit singles and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The music video for "Beat It," released in 1983, was also highly influential, depicting rival street gangs coming together in a dance scene reminiscent of West Side Story. This video, along with others from Thriller, helped break down racial barriers in music video programming and on radio.123

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Michael Jackson
Thriller
…territory with the song “Beat It,” which features a raucous solo from famed guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Moreover, “Beat It” helped break down the artificial barriers between Black and white artists on the radio and in the emerging format of music videos. (For a discussion of Thriller and its…
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…territory with the song “Beat It,” which features a raucous solo from famed guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Moreover, “Beat It” helped break down the artificial barriers between Black and white artists on the radio and in the emerging format of music videos. (For a discussion of Thriller and its…
Read More

MTV
Early 1980s: Origin and early history
…as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” from Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982) not only showcased the strengths of the music video format but proved that exposure on MTV could propel artists to superstardom.
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…as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” from Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982) not only showcased the strengths of the music video format but proved that exposure on MTV could propel artists to superstardom.
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Thriller
…seven hit singles, including “Beat It” and “Billie Jean,” both of which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Music videos for three of the album’s songs transformed the medium into an art form. After Thriller, Jackson rightfully became known as the “King of Pop.”
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…seven hit singles, including “Beat It” and “Billie Jean,” both of which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Music videos for three of the album’s songs transformed the medium into an art form. After Thriller, Jackson rightfully became known as the “King of Pop.”
Read More