"Black Cat" is the sixth single from American R&B-pop singer Janet Jackson's fourth studio album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814(1989).

Unlike the R&B- and pop-infused songs that Jackson had been releasing before, this song was strictly a rock and roll production solely written by Jackson and co-produced with one of the song's guitarists, Jellybean Johnson. The song became Jackson's fourth chart-topper on the Hot 100.

Jackson has performed the song on all of her tours, including the Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour, janet. Tour, The Velvet Rope Tour, All for You Tour, and Rock Witchu Tour.

For the album version of "Black Cat", most of the guitar lines were played by Dave Barry, including the intro, main riff, and a memorable thematic solo. Barry consequently became Janet Jackson's longtime touring guitarist. John McClain, executive for A&M Records, provided the slide-guitar part, while Jellybean Johnson played the funky guitar part that punctuates the album version of the song. Although credited on the album, Jesse Johnson provided a guitar solo that was not used for the album version, but is featured in each of the remixes.

Several "Black Cat" remixes include Nuno Bettencourt on rhythm guitar.

The B-side on some of the releases features "The 1814 Megamix". Remixed by Alan Coulthard, it includes snippets of Jackson's previous hit singles "Alright", "Escapade", "Rhythm Nation", and "Miss You Much". The megamix does not appear on any other release from Jackson.

Directed by Wayne Isham, the video for "Black Cat" was a concert video from her Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour. The video appears on the video releases The Rhythm Nation Compilationand Design of a Decade 1986/1996. On April 27, 2007, the video was released on the iTunes Store.