# Dirty Diana guitar solo > Steve Stevens's guitar solo on Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson (1987) starts at about 3:17. From the album Bad. Watch from the solo, with tab and lesson links. Canonical URL: Michael Jackson, 1987, from *Bad*. Solo by *Steve Stevens*. Stevens brings Billy Idol-era fire and dramatic whammy flourishes to Jackson's darkest hit of the Bad era. Dirty Diana is the darkest, most rock-driven track on Michael Jackson's Bad, and Steve Stevens, best known for his work with Billy Idol, gives it real menace. His solo is full of dramatic flourishes: whammy dives, fast bursts and a heavy, aggressive tone. He plays with a showman's sense of theatre, matching Jackson's intense, almost desperate vocal. The track proved that pop's biggest star could embrace hard rock without it feeling like a gimmick. Listen for the whammy-bar swoops and screaming high notes near the end, and for how Stevens contrasts short, snarling phrases with bursts of speed, giving the solo a sense of danger rather than just technique. Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson is featured in our Pop (#10) list. The solo is played by Steve Stevens and the song was released in 1987. ## In our lists - [The 25 Greatest Pop Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/pop/) — #10 - [The Best Steve Stevens Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/steve-stevens-guitar-solos/) — #6 - [Top 20 Guitar Solos of 1987](https://greatestsolos.com/list/best-guitar-solos-1987/) — #19 - [Famous Guest Guitar Solos: Legends Playing on Someone Else's Record](https://greatestsolos.com/list/famous-guest-guitar-solos/) — #4 ## Sources ### Who played the guitar solo on Dirty Diana? Steve Stevens played the solo on Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana (1987). --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)