Video will appear as you scroll through the story
Michael Jackson · S9 E1
The Voice
From boy soprano to grunt, hee-hee, and scream — a technical breakdown
1970, a Motown recording studio in Detroit. An eleven-year-old Michael Jackson sings 'Who's Lovin' You' with so much pain that Smokey Robinson, who wrote the song, later concedes the kid sang it better than he ever did.
Dirty Diana, Michael Jackson (1988). Official music video. One of the most physically demanding vocal performances in Michael's catalog. He shifts between whispered verses, falsetto leaps, and full-throated screams within single phrases, with Steve Stevens' guitar trying to keep up.
Dirty Diana, Michael Jackson (1988)
"Dirty Diana" was the fifth consecutive number-one single from Bad, a record no album had achieved before. Steve Stevens, best known as Billy Idol's guitarist, plays the snarling lead guitar that gives the track its hard-rock edge. Michael's vocal is astonishing in its range: he drops to a near-whisper in the verses, leaps into falsetto for the pre-chorus, then unleashes full power for the chorus, all without a single audible strain. Listen for the bridge, where his voice breaks into a controlled scream and then immediately snaps back to a smooth, gentle tone.
Sources
Bad album credits, Epic Records, 1987
Billboard Hot 100 chart history, 1988
The Instrument
Michael Jackson's voice defies easy categorization. Technically a high tenor with an extensive falsetto range, he could reach from a low growl to a piercing soprano shriek. But the technical range was not what made him unique. It was the emotional color he could pack into a single syllable: the hiccup, the grunt, the 'hee-hee,' the breath intake, the cry.
Sources
In the Studio with Michael Jackson, Bruce Swedien, 2009
MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson, Steve Knopper, 2015
TAP TO REVEAL: Could Michael Jackson really sing bass?
Westlake Recording Studios, 7265 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, California
The studio where Michael, Quincy Jones, and Bruce Swedien recorded Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. The vocal booth where Michael tracked these albums was barely larger than a closet.
The Voice in Numbers
2000 Watts, Michael Jackson (2001)
A track most casual fans have never heard, and the ones who have barely recognize the voice. Michael sings in a distorted, deep bass register that sounds nothing like the rest of his catalog. The production by Teddy Riley wraps the vocal in electronic effects that blur the line between human voice and machine. It is the most extreme demonstration of how far Michael was willing to push his voice as an instrument.
2000 Watts, Michael Jackson (2001)
The lyrics are minimal and repetitive, built more as a vehicle for the sound than the words. Michael's vocal sits in a register he almost never uses publicly, and the effect is disorienting: the voice you have known for decades sounds like someone else entirely. The production is aggressive, with hard-hitting electronic drums and a sub-bass that rattles speakers.
Which guitarist played the lead guitar on 'Dirty Diana'?
The voice was only half of it. Before any musician entered the studio, Michael Jackson had already built the entire song in his head, and he could reproduce every instrument using nothing but his mouth.
0 XP earned this session