'Beat It' was the 3rd single from the 'Thriller; album and was released February 3rd 1983. Eddie Van Halen plays the guitar in the track and the single was written by Michael and co-produced by Michael and Quincy Jones. It received 'Record Of The Year' and 'Best Male Rock Vocal Performance' at The Grammy Awards, as well as 2 AMAs. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 in the UK and top 10 in around 10 other countries.
'Smooth Criminal' was released from the 'Bad' album on October 24th 1988 and it also serves as Michael's 1988 movie 'Moonwalker's theme song. It is written by Michael and co-produced by Michael and Quincy Jones. The single has sold over 7.5 million copies and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 in the UK and top 10 in around 9 other countries.
'Billie Jean' is the second single from the 'Thriller' album, and was released January 2nd 1982. It was written by Michael and co-produced by Michael and Quincy Jones and it almost didn't make the album because of Quincy disliking the song. It was one of the best selling songs of 1983 and one of the best selling singles worldwide and it certified platinum. It won 2 Grammy Awards and 1 American Music Award. The accompanying music video was the first music video by a black artist to be played on MTV in heavy rotation. The iconic debut of the 'Moonwalk' was to this song during the Motown 25 special. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, in the UK and in around 9 other countries. The song is considered one of the most revolutionary songs in pop music history that aided the album 'Thriller' to become the biggest selling album of all time.