Billie Jean
King (born November 22, 1943) is an American former World No. 1 professional
tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's
doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King won the singles title at the inaugural
WTA Tour Championships. King often represented the United States in the
Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup. She was a member of the victorious United
States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years,
King was the United States' captain in the Federation Cup.
Song
"Billie
Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson. It is the second
single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). It was written and
composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. There are
contradictory claims on the meaning of the song's lyrics. One suggests that
they are derived from a real-life experience, in which a female fan claimed
that Jackson (or one of his brothers) had fathered her twins. However, Michael
Jackson stated that "Billie Jean" was based on groupies he had
encountered. The song is well known for its distinctive bassline played by
Louis Johnson, the standard drum beat heard in the beginning, the repetition of
"Billie Jean is not my lover" towards the end of the song and Michael
Jackson's vocal hiccups. The song was mixed 91 times by audio engineer Bruce
Swedien before it was finalized, though he reportedly went with the second mix
as the final product.
Let’s
kick this thing off with an absolute killer tune, penned by Michael Jackson
himself, that would become one of the biggest-selling singles of all time, with
its accompanying MTV-smashing video. The story goes that producer Quincy Jones,
when working on the Thriller album in 1982, really dragged his feet over the
song, complaining that the intro was too long, that he didn’t like the
bass line, and that it was generally weak. He further disliked Jackson’s
proposed title, concerned that listeners would think he was being offensive
towards the bespectacled tennis player Billie Jean King on the topic of a
female fan claiming that he had fathered a child with her: ‘She’s just a girl
who claims that I am the one, but the kid is not my son’. However, Jackson gave
short shrift to Quincy’s idea that the track should be called ‘Not My Lover’,
while at the same time trying to get a producing credit on the track,
consequently creating a rift in their working relationship. And history
suggests that Jackson was of course right, seeing that ‘Not My Lover’ was a
naff title, potentially robbing the song of much of its emotional impact. The
tune therefore became famous as ‘Billy Jean’. Not sure what Billie Jean King
did in fact make of it all though!
Billie Jean is one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs
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