“It was Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and the engineer. Quincy said, ‘Go in there, and do what you want’”: Steve Stevens on following in Eddie Van Halen’s footsteps to record the ‘spiritual successor’ to Beat It

Steve Stevens on 9/28/89 in Chicago, Il.

In 1988, Michael Jackson once again tapped into his heavier rock side and released Dirty Diana – the so-called ‘spiritual successor’ to Beat It, which had been pieced together six years prior with the help of a now-legendary guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen.

Working once more with long-time collaborator Quincy Jones for the occasion, Jackson sought to recruit another guitar talent who could follow Van Halen’s lead and provide the appropriate guitar goodness that Dirty Diana required.