Billboard #1 Hits: #532: ‘Beat It’- Michael Jackson. April 30, 1983. #1 for 3 weeks in Billboard Hot 100.

• Single: ‘Beat It’- Michael Jackson
• Record Company- Epic
• Genre: Rock, Dance-Rock
• Written by Michael Jackson
• Time: 4:18
• B-side: Get Off The Floor’
• Album- Thriller
• Grade: A+
• Peaked at #1 3 weeks in Billboard Hot 100. #3 in UK Singles Chart, #1 in Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand.

The third single off of Thriller and it followed ‘Billie Jean’ to the top of the charts. Famous for the Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. Producer Quincy Jones encouraged Michael to include a rock song on the album and wisely Michael agreed although Jackson had little interest in rock music. Jackson later said: “I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if I were to buy a rock song… That is how I approached it and I wanted the children to really enjoy it—the school children as well as the college students.”