44 Billie Jean

MICHAEL JACKSON 1982

Sinuous, paranoid, and omnipresent like nothing else before it: The single that made Jackson the biggest star since Elvis Presley was a denial of a paternity suit, and it spent seven weeks at Number One on the pop charts. Jackson came up with the irresistible rhythm track on his home drum machine, and he nailed the vocals in one take. “I knew the song was going to be big,” Jackson said. “I was really absorbed in writing it.” How absorbed? Jackson said he was thinking about “Billie Jean” while riding in his Rolls-Royce down the Ventura Freeway in California — and didn’t notice the car was on fire.