John 5 Performs Cover Of ‘Beat It’

California Rock News has uploaded video footage of former Marilyn Manson and current Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 (real name:John William Lowery) and his band JOHN 5 & THE CREATURES performing a cover version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ on November 8th at Discovery in Ventura, California.

Asked about his decision to record a version of ‘Beat I’ for his 2012 solo album ‘God Told Me To,’John 5 told Guitar World; “I decided to do it, partly because it’s such a massive, massive song. You can go pretty much anywhere in the world and people know ‘Beat It.’ When I was growing up, you heard it everywhere. I remember being a kid and going to school dances and stuff, and they always played it. And I thought the riff was amazing, the song was amazing, and Eddie’s Van Halen solo was amazing.”

Speaking about the fact that he actually recreates Eddie’s solo almost note for note on his version, John 5 said; “I put a lot of thought into that. My feeling was, that solo is a piece of music in and of itself. And it’s iconic; I didn’t want to mess with it. So I go off at the end a little bit and do my own thing, but otherwise I play it pretty close. And it was fun trying to pull that off.”

Watch JOHN 5 & THE CREATURES perform their cover of ‘Beat It’ here:

Source: Blabbermouth.Net & MJWN