4 of the Best Rock Songs by Pop Stars (Featuring Epic Guitar Riffs)

Blending music styles has become so common that partitioning songs into specific genres almost seems pointless. But the pop artists below released iconic hits by radically altering their usual sound with the addition of hard rock and heavy metal guitar riffs. For an artist like Prince, who became something like the second coming of Jimi Hendrix, blending rock guitar with pop and R&B was instinctual. But the artists below turned up the volume. And in a few cases, they hired guitar legends to help transform themselves, briefly, from pop stars into rock stars.

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“Dirty Diana” by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson had already set the benchmark for fusing rock and pop with “Beat It”. He was one of the biggest pop stars of all time. But what happens when you combine the classic rock riff of “Beat It” with the romantic intrigue and anxiety of “Billie Jean”? You end up with “Dirty Diana”, from Jackson’s 1987 album Bad. The pop metal track features shredding from Billy Idol’s guitarist, Steve Stevens, whose solo ends in a fury of laser shots.

“Don’t Hurt Yourself” by Beyoncé

Beyoncé borrowed from Michael Jackson’s playbook and employed a guitar hero, Jack White, to back this Lemonade track. The heavy blues of “Don’t Hurt Yourself” wouldn’t be out of place on one of White’s solo albums, and the distorted groove features a sinister gospel organ. Like, if the organ had been ripped from a church by some unholy demon brought back to life in the combined ghosts of Nina Simone and Son House.

“Black Cat” by Janet Jackson

Her brother may have recorded “Beat It”, but Janet Jackson’s “Black Cat” comes as close as one gets to equaling Michael’s iconic hit. To bring the rock, Janet hired German metal engineer Michael Wagner to mix the song. But she wasn’t finished. There are several versions of “Black Cat”, with a video mix featuring Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme. And another featuring the funk metal noises of Living Colour’s Vernon Reid.

“Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson

Professional hitmakers Dr. Luke and Max Martin used the garage rock revival of The Strokes as a blueprint for “Since U Been Gone”. The producers liked The Strokes’ post-punk riffs, but thought the songs were missing pop hooks. However, Kelly Clarkson wasn’t who they had in mind to sing it. Both Pink and Hilary Duff passed on the tune before Clive Davis suggested Clarkson. Also, check out the middle section, where Dr. Luke and Martin rip Nick Zinner’s riff straight from “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

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