The guitarist who caused a stir when she switched from Michael Jackson to Jeff Beck

Jennifer Battenachieved worldwide notoriety after spending a decade in the touring band Michael Jackson. The guitarist performed with the singer between 1987 and 1997, on tours that promoted the albums Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I(1995).

But his career is not limited to just these ten years. In fact, shortly after stopping working with Jacksonthe American musician linked herself to another legend, but from rock: Jeff Beckconsidered one of the most inventive guitarists of all time. Batten he was in his group between 1999 and 2001.

Michael and Jeff They were legendary, each in their own way, in very different ways. The pop singer was a sales phenomenon, while the English guitarist was notable for his experimental approach — which, in the opinion of many, prevented him from becoming an even more famous name.

This was one of the reasons that led many people to “distrust” Jennifer after she became linked to the instrumentalist who died in 2023, at the age of 78. At least that’s what she says herself.

In an interview with Guitar Hang Podcast (via Ultimate Guitar), Batten said that many minimize his talent as a guitarist because he worked with Jackson. She revealed:

“I’m sure it was very shocking to a lot of people when I went on tour with Jeff Beck – all guitar crazy people. In fact, a lot of people just ignored me and saw me as a pop thing because I worked with Michael Jackson.”

Would it be envy, especially on the part of other guitarists? Jennifer was led to believe so.

“When I joined the band Jeff Beck, I was talking to a friend of mine, who is also a guitarist, and I said: ‘I wonder how people see me, sometimes I think about that’. And he said: ‘You’ve got to be kidding… guitarists hate you because you got the most coveted job on the planet!’.”

In the end, Batten She also made a curious reflection: for her, it’s a good thing this happened before the era of social media.

“Fortunately, most of this was before the days of social media. There was no Facebook with people saying, ‘aaargh, why is she in the band?’.”

Jennifer Batten’s advice to musicians

Still during the interview, Jennifer Batten — who also worked with Carmine Appice, Carl Anderson, Dave Rodgers and several others — gave advice for musicians who want to become professional and achieve positions like the ones she had in her career.

The guitarist says that, both with Michael Jackson as with Jeff Beck, rule number one is to do your part competently and not steal the spotlight from the main star. It seems obvious, but according to her, few aspiring music professionals achieve this — which leads to many dropouts.

“I think that’s what a lot of people don’t understand and that’s why they don’t succeed. You have to realize the situation you are in and the purpose for which you are there. There’s a star there. Jeff would never consider himself a star, but he was the focus. So, I knew I was there for a supporting role. It wasn’t about me.”

Specifically about Beck, Batten he reinforced that he tried his best to make him the center of attention.

“I would have been happy not to play any solo and just play rhythm guitar in that situation. Every now and then he would say, ‘I should really give you two or three songs to solo’. And I said: ‘no, definitely not’. I even did some solos and was totally happy with that, but I wouldn’t like the pressure from a crowd of music fans. Jeff sitting for 10 minutes while I played some songs. Maybe they liked it, but that wasn’t why I was there.”

Concluding the argument, Jennifer highlighted that its function was relatively simple in the Michael. The question is: knowing how to do the simple thing.

“It’s like the band Michael Jackson. I was there, basically, to play the solo of ‘Beat It’ and play the groove of the songs. That was it. Everyone had their place. The dancers didn’t have to be drummers.”