Eddie Van Halen – Secret Guests in Rock Songs

Believe it or not, Eddie Van Halen, one of the world's most famous guitarists, thought he could keep his performance on pop superstar Michael Jackson's 1983 smash 'Beat it' a secret -- even from his bandmates.

With the other members of Van Halen all out of town -- remember, this is before cell phones -- the axe hero decided to spend a half hour recording his now-famous solo for free, as a favor. “I said to myself, ‘Who is going to know that I played on this kid’s record, right? Nobody’s going to find out.’ Wrong!” he laughed in a recent interview. “Big-time wrong. It ended up being Record of the Year."

Hear 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson