“The Girl Is Mine” is a lighthearted pop love-song duet written and co-produced by Michael Jackson, with Quincy Jones as producer. Recorded by Jackson and Paul McCartney at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles in April 1982, it became the first single from Jackson’s sixth solo album, Thriller, released that October. Jackson completed the song after Quincy Jones suggested writing about two men competing for a girl; Jackson later recalled developing its melody, keyboard and string parts into a tape-recorded vocal sketch.
The arrangement uses AABA, or 32-bar, form, with the title providing the principal repeated line. Jackson and McCartney share the lead vocals, culminating in spoken playful banter at the tag. The studio band includes Rhodes piano by Greg Phillinganes, acoustic piano by David Paich, guitar by Steve Lukather and Dean Parks, bass by Louis Johnson, and drums by Jeff Porcaro. The single topped the R&B chart, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at number eight in the UK, despite generally mixed critical reception. In 2008, will.i.am remixed the song for Thriller 25, using Jackson’s original solo demo.
