Michael Jackson’s Thriller -era guitarist says Beat It was “too metal” before producer Quincy Jones stepped in.

Eddie Van Halen almost hung up on producer Quincy Jones when he called to ask the guitarist to perform on Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album.

Quincy Jones, who passed away Sunday, helped produce Michael Jackson’s albums “Off The Wall,” “Thriller,” and “Bad.”

Music producer Wack 100 revealed in a new interview that Michael Jackson beat the breaks off late-rapper Tupac Shakur in defense of Quincy Jones’s daughter Kidada Jones. Wack shared the story to highlight that Tupac’s tough persona in his music and on-screen roles didn’t match his real-life behavior.

In a recent interview, guitarist Steve Lukather revealed that the Quincy Jones-produced song was almost a heavy metal record.