This is only the Slash part of the article:
One of the tribute's guest stars, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who'll be playing guitar on "Beat It," said that the Jacksons are no joke onstage. He's seen a sneak peek of their routines.
"I had my first rehearsal last night and there's this whole cavalcade of high profile entertainers that are [performing]," Slash said Wednesday. "I got to see the Jackson 5 perform for the first time in 17 years.
"There's a whole medley of old songs that I haven't heard since I was a kid," Slash continued. "It's gonna be an amazing show. They're doing the moves together, Jermaine's playing bass, the whole nine yards. It's great."
Slash said that Michael's solo sets are equally as on-point.
"The thing about Michael - all the media blitz aside and inquiring minds wanting to know about his personal life and this and that and the other - is when it comes to working, he is a consummate professional," the guitarist said. "He is one of the natural big-time talents I've ever worked with.
"When we go in to do rehearsals, we go in and we snap through things, and he's got such a natural feel about his moves, his singing, it all just comes spontaneously. It's amazing to see."
During the shindig, the audience can expect to hear some changes to "Beat It." Slash vows that his guitar riffs won't sound anything like the riffs made famous by Eddie Van Halen on the original recording of the song.
"I just did it my own way," Slash said. "I told [Michael] going into it, 'I'm not gonna learn the Eddie Van Halen solo, because that's Eddie's and I'll leave it alone.' I went in and just improvised yesterday and I'm gonna be playing later on today, and I'll just make up my own solos as I go. It's all about improv with me."
--- |