Listen to Steve Lukather's amazing story about Eddie Van Halen's famous 'Beat It' guitar solo on this exclusive Shark Morning Show interview.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Ethan Miller, Getty Images
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Eddie Van Halen's iconic guitar solo on the Michael Jackson megahit 'Beat It', ended up being a tremendous amount of work for Steve and fellow Toto bandmate, Jeff Porcaro (1954-1992).

In order to fit Eddie's solo in properly, the two inch tape had to be cut and spliced and the entire song had to be rerecorded, on three (or four) 24 track machines. This was done with nothing but a click track to keep time. Additionally, Steve played both guitar and bass for the song as well.

Yet, nearly everybody who hears that classic riff will make the mistake of claiming that Eddie Van Halen is playing guitar throughout the entire song.

I thought that was the case when it was Number 1 for three weeks in the spring of 1983. And my nephews were guilty of it last weekend, over thirty five years later.

Ed and I always used to crack up at that.
He was a very, very dear friend of mine for forty plus years and I'm gutted by his loss.

 

- Steve Lukather on Eddie Van Halen

Toto's most recent album 'With A Little Help From My Friends' is a remarkable story in it's own right, as it was recorded last November during the darkest days of the pandemic.

Lukather, by the way, is friends and bandmates with that tune's original singer, Ringo Starr and Steve shares another funny story about what George Harrison said about the original rendition, right here on this same interview!

Just like I said earlier, I could talk to this guy for ten hours straight. Such a warm and no nonsense person for someone whose life is cooler than most people's wildest dreams.

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