Bonus Track: ‘Starlight’

This morning “Starlight” was announced as the next bonus track for “Thriller 40.”

The recording is the demo of “Thriller,” with its original lyrics. This demo has previously leaked online, but in quite bad quality. Another title for the song that was considered (but never recorded) was “Midnight Man.” After the initial recording of “Starlight,” Michael and producer Quincy Jones asked the songs composer and lyricists Rod Temperton to reimagine the song with scarier overtones, which led to the monster hit (pun intended) that we know today as “Thriller.”

“Thriller” started out with a different title and lyrics. Initially titled “Starlight", Michael and Quincy asked Rod to reimagine the song with scarier overtones. The original has never been released before. Pre-order #Thriller40 now: https://t.co/X9oMHFhqCX pic.twitter.com/w8AqJfA8SC

— Michael Jackson (@michaeljackson) October 27, 2022