Eddie Van Halen was drafted to add the song's distinctive overdriven guitar solo. Following the successful chart performances of the Thriller singles "The Girl Is Mine" and "Billie Jean", "Beat It" was released on February 14, 1983 as the album's third single. The song was promoted with a short film that featured Jackson bringing two gangs together through the power of dance.

A commercial success, "Beat It" was awarded two Grammy Awards and two American Music Awards and was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame. "Beat It" (along with the song's music video) propelled Thriller into becoming the best-selling album of all time. The single was certified platinum in 1989. Rolling Stone magazine placed "Beat It" in the 337th spot on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time^[2] and on the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.^[3]

In the decades since its release, "Beat It" has been covered, parodied, and sampled by numerous artists including Fergie, Weird Al Yankovic, and Fall Out Boy. The song was also featured in the National Highway Safety Commission's anti-drunk driving campaign.

"Beat It" was written by Michael Jackson for his Thriller album. Co-producer Quincy Jones had wanted to include a rock 'n' roll song, though Jackson reportedly had never previously shown an interest in the genre.^[4][5] Jackson later said of "Beat It", "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 kids to really enjoy it—the school kids as well as the college kids."^[6] Upon hearing the first recorded vocals, Jones stated that it was exactly what he was looking for.^[4] Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen, lead guitarist of hard rock band Van Halen, was then requested to add a guitar solo.^[5][7]

When initially contacted by Jones, Van Halen thought he was receiving a prank call. Having established that the call was genuine, Van Halen recorded his guitar solo free of any charge. "I did it as a favor", the musician later said. "I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band, our manager and everyone else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing - I don't do something unless I want to do it."^[8] Van Halen recorded his contribution following Jones and Jackson arriving at the guitarist's house with a "skeleton version" of the song. Fellow guitarist Steve Lukather recalled, "Initially, we rocked it out as Eddie had played a good solo—but Quincy thought it was too tough. So I had to reduce the distorted guitar sound and that is what was released."^[8] The song was among the last four completed for Thriller; the others were "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" and "The Lady in My Life".^[8]

On the record, right before Van Halen's guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that sounds like somebody knocking at a door. It is reported that the knock was a person walking into Van Halen's recording studio. Another story has claimed that the sound was simply the musician knocking on his own guitar.^[9] The lyrics of "Beat It" are about defeat and courage, and have been described as a "sad commentary on human nature".^[10] The line "don't be a macho man" is said to express Jackson's dislike of violence, whilst also referencing the childhood abuse he faced at the hands of his father Joseph.^[11] The song is played in the key of Eb minor at a moderately fast tempo of 132 beats per minute.^[12] In the song, Jackson's vocal range is B3 to D5.

"Beat It" was released on February 14, 1983, following the successful chart performances of "The Girl Is Mine" and "Billie Jean". Frank Dileo, the vice president of Epic Records, convinced Jackson to release "Beat It" whilst "Billie Jean" was heading towards number one. Dileo, who would later become the singer's manager, predicted that both singles would remain in the Top 10 at the same time.^[8] "Billie Jean" remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, before being toppled by "Come On Eileen". The Dexys Midnight Runners' song stayed at number one for a single week, before Jackson reclaimed the position with "Beat It".^[8][14]

"Billie Jean" and "Beat It" occupied Top 5 positions at the same time, a feat matched by very few artists. The single remained at the top of the Hot 100 for a total of three weeks.^[8] The song also charted at number one on the US R&B singles chart and number 14 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in the US.^[15] "Beat It" also claimed the top spot in Spain and The Netherlands, reached number three in the UK, the Top 20 in Austria, Norway, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, numbers 31 in Denmark and number 47 in France.^[15][16]

In a Rolling Stone review, Christopher Connelly describes "Beat It" as the best song on Thriller, adding that it "ain't no disco AOR track". He notes of the "nifty dance song", "Jackson's voice soars all over the melody, Eddie Van Halen checks in with a blistering guitar solo, you could build a convention center on the backbeat".^[17] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that the song is both "tough" and "scared".^[18] Robert Christgau claimed that the song, in which Eddie Van Halen "wends his night in the service of antimacho", is the "triumph and the thriller". Slant Magazine observed that the song was an "uncharacteristic dalliance with the rock idiom".^[19] Stylus expressed amazement that Van Halen performed a rock guitar solo on a R&B record.^[20] The track also won praise from Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, who stated that the song was "rambunctious".^[5]

"Beat It" has been recognized with several awards. At the 1984 Grammy Awards the song earned Jackson two of a record eight awards; Record of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance. The track won the Billboard Music Award for favorite dance/disco 12" LP in 1983.^[15][21] The single was certified gold, a few months after its release, for shipments of at least one million units. In 1989, the standard format single was re-certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, based on the revised sales level of one million units for platinum singles.^[22] The total number of digital sales in the US, as of March 2009, stands at 668,000.^[23]

The short film for "Beat It", directed by Bob Giraldi and choreographed by Michael Peters, helped establish Jackson as an international pop icon.^[24][25] The film was Jackson's first treatment of black youth and the streets. Both "Beat It" and Thriller are notable for their "mass choreography" of synchronized dancers, a Jackson trademark.^[26] The video included around 80 genuine gang members—to add authenticity to the production—and 18 professional dancers.^[27] Inspired by the Broadway musical West Side Story, the video cost Jackson $150,000 to create after CBS refused to finance it.^[21][27] The video's featured choreography opened up many job opportunities for dancers in the US.^[28]

The music video opens with the news of a fight circulating at a diner. This scene repeats itself at a pool hall, where gang members arrive via foot, forklift, and out of sewers. The camera cuts to a scene of Jackson lying on a bed, contemplating the senseless violence. The singer leaves the room upon hearing the commotion caused by the rival gangs. Donning a red leather jacket, Jackson dances his way through the diner and pool hall, towards the fight. Arriving at the scene,where a knife fight is taking place between the two gang leaders, the singer breaks up the fight and launches into a dance routine. The video ends with the gang members joining him in the dance, agreeing that violence is not the solution to their problems.^[25]

The video received recognition through numerous awards. The American Music Awards named the short film their Favorite Pop/Rock Video and their Favorite Soul Video. The Black Gold Awards honored Jackson with the Best Video Performance award. The Billboard Video Awards recognised the video with 7 awards; Best Overall Video Clip, Best Performance by a Male Artist, Best Use of Video to Enhance a Song, Best Use of Video to Enhance an Artist's Image, Best Choreography, Best Overall Video and Best Dance/Disco 12". The short film was ranked by Rolling Stone as the number one video, in both their critic's and reader's poll. The video was later inducted into the Music Video Producer's Hall of Fame.^[21]

On July 4, 1984, Jackson performed "Beat It" live with his brothers during The Jacksons' Victory Tour. The brothers were joined on stage by Eddie Van Halen, who played the guitar in his solo spot.^[21] The song became a signature song of Jackson; the singer performed it on all of his world tours; Bad, Dangerous and HIStory.^[21][29] The October 1, 1992 Dangerous Tour performance of "Beat It" was included on the DVD of the singer's Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection box set. The DVD was later repackaged as Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour.^[21][29] Jackson also performed the song on the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special, a concert celebrating the musician's thirtieth year as a solo performer. The performance featured Slash as the song's guest guitarist.^[29]

A highlight of Jackson's solo concert tour performances of the song is that would he would begin the song on a cherrypicker, (in a similar fashion as he did with Earth Song during the HIStory Tour.) "Beat It" is a song, along with Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', that Jackson had performed in all of his concert tours: Victory Tour, Bad World Tour, Dangerous World Tour, and the HIStory World Tour. The song also would've been performed on This Is It but the concert series was cancelled due to Jackson's sudden death.

Michael Jackson's "Beat It" has been cited as one of the most successful, recognized, awarded and celebrated songs in the history of pop music; both the song and video had a large impact on pop culture.^[4] The song is said to be a "pioneer" in black rock music, and is considered one of the cornerstones of the Thriller album.^[4] Eddie Van Halen has been praised for adding "the greatest guitar solo", aiding "Beat It" into becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time.^[4]

Shortly after its release, "Beat It" was included in the National Highway Safety Commission's anti-drunk driving campaign, "Drinking and Driving Can Kill a Friendship". The song was also included on the accompanying album. Jackson collected an award from President Ronald Reagan at the White House, in recognition for his support of the campaign.^[21] Reagan stated that Jackson was "proof of what a person can accomplish through a lifestyle free of alcohol or drug abuse. People young and old respect that. And if Americans follow his example, then we can face up to the problem of drinking and driving, and we can, in Michael's words, 'Beat It'."^[83]

Frequently listed in greatest song polling lists, "Beat It" was ranked as the world's fourth favorite song in a 2005 poll conducted by Sony Ericsson.^[29] Over 700,000 people in 60 different countries cast their votes.^[29] Voters from the UK placed "Billie Jean" at number one, ahead of "Thriller", with a further five of the top ten being solo recordings by Jackson.^[29] Rolling Stone magazine placed "Beat It" in the 337th spot on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time^[2] and on the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.^[3] The song was featured in the films Back to the Future II, Zoolander and Undercover Brother.^[29] When re-released, as part of the Visionary campaign in 2006, "Beat It" charted at number 15 in the UK.^[29]