The song was recorded at Westlake Studios, Los Angeles, from April 14 to 16, 1982 and was released on October 18 of that same year as the album's first single.
By 1985, it had sold 1.3 million copies, and was eventually certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 1,000,000 units.
Both instances required Jackson to testify in court, and each lawsuit was decided in favor of the singer and his record label.
In 2008, for the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller, Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am remixed "The Girl Is Mine".
[4] Producer Quincy Jones had initially told Jackson to write a song about two men fighting over a girl.
A year earlier, the duo had recorded "Say Say Say" and "The Man," which were released after "The Girl Is Mine" on McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace (1983).
The musical structuring of "The Girl Is Mine" uses the AABA form, in which the song's title serves as the main source of needed repetition.
The public felt that Jackson and the producer, Quincy Jones, had created a song for the white pop audience.
[6][11] "The Girl Is Mine" began its first of four weeks at number one on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart beginning December 25, 1982.
[5] The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 13, 1983, for shipments of at least one million units.
[14] Rolling Stone stated that the song was a "wimpoid MOR [middle of the road] ballad" and that McCartney was "tame".
[15] Billboard called it a "breezy lighthearted love song capped by some playful superstar banter at the tag.
Both instances required Jackson to testify in court, and each lawsuit was decided in favor of the singer and his record label.
The first legal trial occurred in 1984, with Fred Sanford claiming that Jackson had cut a tape of his song, "Please Love Me Now".
The $5 million copyright suit was closed after the jury of five men and a woman reached a verdict in favor of Jackson.
Reynaud Jones and Robert Smith alleged that "The Girl Is Mine", along with "Thriller"—written by Rod Temperton—and "We Are the World", resembled their musical works.
[39] Entitled "The Girl Is Mine 2008", the remix features an original solo demo of the song by Jackson without McCartney.
[43] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote that at will.i.am's production was "dumb-thug bluster" and criticized him for trying to hide the "goofy 'doggone' hook"—"the whole point of the song".
[44] Music journalist Aidin Vaziri wrote that will.i.am "completely erases Paul McCartney's vocal track from the original duet to make room for himself spouting nonsense".
[45] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic claimed that will.i.am had turned "The Girl Is Mine" into a "hapless dance number".
[48] Pitchfork Media added to the unfavorable reviews, stating of will.i.am, "He takes Macca off 'The Girl Is Mine' but decides it can't work without someone sounding like an idiot and steps manfully in himself.