"The Girl Is Mine" is a pop and soft rock duet by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. Jackson wrote the song and co-produced it with Quincy Jones. It was the first single from Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller, recorded at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles in April 1982 and released on October 18, 1982, with "Can't Get Outta the Rain" on the B-side. The backing musicians include Toto members David Paich (piano), Jeff Porcaro (drums), Steve Lukather (guitars) and Steve Porcaro (synthesizer programming). The song follows an AABA 32-bar form, which the article compares to Jackson's "She's Out of My Life". It topped the R&B singles chart and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1983, at No. 8 in the UK, and at No. 1 in Spain and Norway. It also spent four weeks at No. 1 on Hot Adult Contemporary. Reception was mixed: Robert Christgau called the pairing "Michael's worst idea since 'Ben'", and the song is often considered the weakest track on Thriller. Two plagiarism lawsuits, filed in 1984 and 1993, were decided in favour of Jackson and his label.
