Fox revealed the personal pantheon of “rock guitar gods” he called upon for one of the sci-fi classic’s big set pieces.

Why Michael J. Fox defied director’s demand to channel Michael Jackson during beloved Back to the Future scene

Fox revealed the personal pantheon of "rock guitar gods" he called upon for one of the sci-fi classic's big set pieces.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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December 25, 2025 10:00 a.m. ET

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Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future'. Credit:

Universal/courtesy Everett Collection

- Michael J. Fox says he went off script for one of *Back to the Future*'s most memorable scenes.

- In the famous "Johnny B. Goode" dance performance, Fox "ditched the idea of mimicking Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger" as originally planned.

- Instead of those icons ("not guitarists!"), Fox channeled his own "rock guitar gods," including Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen.

Michael J. Fox had a vision for one of *Back to the Future*'s most iconic scenes, and he wouldn't be stopped from manifesting it.

The 1985 sci-fi comedy classic depicts the exploits of a young man named Marty McFly (Fox), who is accidentally transported back in time to 1955. In between meddling in his future parents' love affair and then scrambling to get them back together so he doesn't cease to exist, a plot contrivance "forces" Marty onto the stage of a school dance, where he serenades his parents' classmates with a rocking version of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

The dance scene is one of the most enduring and beloved moments from the original *Back to the Future*. In his new memoir of the making of the film, *Future Boy*, Fox calls it "my favorite scene in the movie." Still, it took a lot of finagling to make — scores of extras, complicated choreography, and Fox's guitar rehearsals made for a complicated shoot.

"I worked harder on the 'Johnny B. Goode' scene than any other portion of the movie," he writes. But Fox had a plan to get it right — even if it meant staking out his own path, separate from the one laid down by director Robert Zemeckis.

Fox includes the "Johnny B. Goode" segment of the *Back to the Future *script in *Future Boy*, which reads in part, "Marty euphorically begins cavorting around like Little Richard. Marty whips off his sport coat and throws it in the crowd. Now, Marty tears open his shirt and does some Elvis pelvis moves! Girls scream. Marty's movements become Mick Jagger–­esque, then take on a Michael Jackson style."

Ultimately, Fox notes that the dialogue and action in the finished film became "quite different from the scripted version." His first order of business? "I ditched the idea of mimicking Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger (not guitarists!) and replaced them with tributes to my own rock guitar gods."

Fox subsequently breaks down beat for beat the movements he designed with choreographer Brad Jeffries as nods to each of his idols.

"As the song progresses, Marty holds the guitar low and falls to his knees without missing a chord (Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin); slings the guitar over the back of his head (Jimi Hendrix); and performs a Pete Townshend trifecta."

He also worked to achieve an "intense right-­hand hammering, an homage to Eddie Van Halen," and finally, "added in a bit of Slash (Guns N' Roses), with a rumbling downward slide along the E string."

Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen.

Chris Walter/WireImage; Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty; Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty

Fox's efforts paid off, resulting in the arguable highlight of the entire movie, despite having zero bearing on its plot. Fox is careful not to describe his success as despite Zemeckis, however, but because of him, writing that the auteur "allowed me the personal freedom" to paint outside the lines with his performance in the scene.

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Michael J. Fox addresses notorious 'Back to the Future' goof that fans still hound him about

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The "Johnny B. Goode" scene recently made its way back onto the front page when this summer, Gibson launched a global search for the Cherry Red Gibson ES-345 guitar that Fox plays on stage, which has gone missing.

Fox relays in *Future Boy *that the guitar has stayed top of mind for him over the past 40 years, too, but not because of its mysterious whereabouts.

"To play 'Johnny B. Goode,' Marty borrowed Marvin Berry's Gibson ES-­345, a guitar first introduced in 1958 —­ three years after the 1955 scene in the movie," Fox explains.

This "temporal inconsistency" is something that "guitar aficionados and *Back to the Future* fans have pointed out again and again."

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