Michael’s duet with Paul McCartney is one of his least loved singles, but it was a marketing stroke of genius.
(November 13, 2025). Exactly 43 years ago today, Michael Jackson moved into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Girl Is Mine,” the first single from what would become the biggest selling album of all time worldwide and the song that began a streak that would see at least one MJ single in the top 40 for the next 74 weeks (until title single “Thriller” exited the chart in April 1984).
Watch: A short clip of Michael and Paul in the studio in April 1982 recording “The Girl Is Mine.”
But “The Girl Is Mine” is also one of the songs that fans and critics have panned the most, with many calling it the worst single released from the album and one of MJ’s worst of all time (this blogger does not agree; I love the song). Not helping its case are the song’s unlikely theme (two men from completely different generations and walks of life fighting over the same girl—Brandy & Monica were much more believable 16 years later), its silly lyrics (“the doggone girl is mine”), and MJ’s totally on-brand ad-libbing (“Paul, I think I told you: I’m a lover not a fighter”) during a sappy breakdown.
Critics have referred to the song as syrupy, schmaltzy, and “disarmingly goofy.” One review referred to McCartney as a “wimpy old fart” (he was only 40 at the time) with “The Girl is Mine” coming on the heels of the ex-Beatle’s even sappier duet with Stevie Wonder (“Ebony and Ivory”) from earlier in 1982.
But “The Girl Is Mine” was also perfect for its time and was chosen as Thriller’s first single for a reason: in late 1982, it stood the best chance of securing radio play in a world where middle-of-the-road or MOR music was thriving (recall: this was the age of Christopher Cross, Kenny Rogers, and Air Supply). By October 1982, only three uptempo songs by Black acts had reached the pop top ten that year: “Get Down On It” by Kool & the Gang, “Let it Whip” by the Dazz Band, and “Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger)” by Donna Summer, with none of them climbing higher than No. 5 (“Let It Whip”). The other songs on Thriller—most of them uptempo—posed a risk of uncertainty that Michael’s label, Epic Records, simply wasn’t willing to take…yet.
“The Girl Is Mine” worked on multiple fronts. First, it was as safe a pop song as MJ could muster given the anti-disco backdrop that pervaded pop for nearly three years. Secondly, the pairing of McCartney with another R&B legend was a proven formula that had created one of the year’s biggest hits in “Ebony and Ivory,” which was on its way to a seven-week No. 1 run as Mack and Jack were recording “Mine.”
But perhaps most importantly, it’s quite possible that “The Girl is Mine” wouldn’t have worked at any other juncture in the singles sequence had the album’s two biggest hits, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” been released first. Those two songs (spurred by their iconic music videos) generated an unprecedented level of excitement that raised the bar for MJ throughout 1983. The momentum they generated—coupled with the album’s monster sales—made it tough for each subsequent single to match its predecessor’s peak.
After “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” spent seven and three weeks, respectively, at No. 1, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” reached No. 5, “Human Nature” No. 7, and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” No. 10. “Thriller” reversed the trend (No. 4) thanks mainly to its iconic music video. It’s arguable that the subsequent singles only existed because of the unprecedented momentum carried by the album’s first three hits. It’s worth noting for younger fans that this sequential rollout of commercially available singles was how albums were marketed in the pre-streaming era.
It’s also worth noting that Thriller wasn’t yet a guaranteed smash upon its release in late 1982. First, the fledgling MTV network was not playing Black artists yet (and MJ hadn’t yet recorded any of Thriller’s videos). Secondly, the album’s predecessor, Off The Wall, was more than two years removed from its peak (a lifetime in those days). And, finally, it had been nearly two years since an uptempo hit by a Black act (Kool & the Gang’s 1980 smash “Celebration”) topped the Hot 100. Epic Records needed a safe play and “The Girl Is Mine” was it.
“The Girl is Mine” essentially got Michael’s feet back into the door of a pop radio landscape that had changed dramatically for Black artists since his success with Off The Wall. Largely because of the intrigue created by the McCartney pairing, the song was able to reach No. 2 for three weeks in January 1983, as buzz around its two followup singles was still growing. But given the song’s dubious reception over the years, it’s quite possible that, had “The Girl Is Mine” been released later or not at all, MJ’s record of having seven top ten singles from the same album might not have happened.
In the end, being the “worst” single released from an album containing seven top ten hits is not the criticism some may think it is. It’s a flex that MJ pulled that feat off before anyone else and it’s one that changed how singles were marketed in North America moving forward (multiple albums were mined for six or seven singles post-Thriller and two matched MJ’s feat of having seven top tens during the 1980s: Born in the USA and Rhythm Nation 1814).
So in retrospect, while many people deride “The Girl Is Mine” as the “always skip” moment on Thriller, it is a key part of pop music history and a song that certainly served its purpose: to reintroduce Michael to the pop market that he would later own, though none of us could have predicted it at the time.
Maybe now, with Michael-mania picking up again, it’s as good a time as any to rewrite the narrative on “The Girl Is Mine,” one that reflects its status as the perfect setup single for its time, and a true stroke of genius for all parties involved.
Unpopular opinion: this blogger believes the title track is the worst single released from Thriller, but that’s an argument for a different day.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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