"Honey" is a song co-written and co-produced by American singer Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy, Stevie J, and Q-Tip (listed in credits as "The Ummah"), and recorded for Carey's seventh album Butterfly(1997). It uses two samples: "Hey DJ", originally performed by the World's Famous Supreme Team, and "The Body Rock" by the Treacherous Three. It was released as the first single from Butterflyin 1997 and became one of Carey's bigger hits, reaching number one in the United States. It became her twelfth chart-topper there, surpassing Madonna as the female artist with most number-one singles.

The song is best known for its music video, which presented a more sexual and less conservative image of Carey than had been previously seen. It also marked a musical transition in her career, moving her away from pop music and further towards hip hop. "Honey" was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

"Honey" was Carey's twelfth number 1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and became her third single to debut at number 1, consolidating her position as the artist with the most number-one debuts (the others being "Fantasy" and "One Sweet Day", both 1995). After its debut it spent three weeks at the top of the chart, from September 7 to September 27, 1997. It replaced "Mo Money Mo Problems" by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase, and it was replaced by Boyz II Men's "4 Seasons of Loneliness". After its sales had begun to decline, and despite the single being a #1 hit on the Rhythmic Top 40, radio airplay in general was not strong enough to keep "Honey" popular, and it began a new trend for Carey's singles that did not end until the release of "We Belong Together" (2005): the CD single would sell well, but the song would only achieve average success on the radio. Her records became increasingly less successful on charts that were weighing airplay far more heavily than sales. "Honey" remained in the U.S. top forty for eighteen weeks and was ranked 32 on the Hot 100 1997 year-end charts.

"Honey" was a substantial hit outside the U.S., going top three in the United Kingdom and Canada. Its success across most of Europe, however, did not rival that of singles such as "Hero" (1993), "Without You" (1994) and "Fantasy". It peaked inside the top ten in Sweden and Australia.

The best-known aspect of "Honey" was its music video, which forever changed Carey's public image. Carey had previously been dressed conservatively, as the "girl next door". Starting with "Honey" (directed by Paul Hunter), she was seen in revealing clothing. The video compliments the sexual innuendo from the song's lyrics.

The video premiered on MTV and BET on July 30, 1997 and was inspired by James Bond films and shot in Puerto Rico in July 1997. It starts out with Carey, clad in a conservative-looking dress and 4-inch metal stiletto heels, being held prisoner in a mansion. After escaping her captors (Eddie Griffin, Frank Sivero) via a swimming pool, (as people have thought that this may be an intentional metaphor of Carey's divorce from Tommy Mottola but she has denied the claims) she then takes off her dress in the water to reveal a bikini, inspired by Bond girl Honey Rider's famous white bikini in Dr. No(1962). Carey dresses into a wetsuit and uses a watercraft to evade her captors, who are also on watercraft. The video is intercut with sequences of Carey singing in a two-piece outfit on an island, and sequences involving her dancing with sailors. Carey's captors interrogate the sailors, but she is nowhere to be seen. The video ends with Carey frolicking around on a beach with Cuban American male model David Fumero and her dog, Jack. The video was nominated at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video.

Several remixes were commissioned for "Honey", most notably the Bad Boy remix and the Classic mix, the latter of which appears on Carey's remix compilation The Remixes(2003). The former is similar to the original version, but there is a new spoken intro from Carey in which she states, "I thought I told you, we won't stop." The string chords present in the original "Honey" are entirely excised from the Bad Boy remix, and it features rapping by The Lox and Mase. The rap from Mase entirely replaces the second chorus of the song, while the Lox's parts replaces a section of the song's bridge.

The song's main remix, "Honey" (Bad Boy remix), also has a music video, with additional sequences directed by Paul Hunter. Much of the footage of the video for this remix is from the original video, with the new sequences featuring Carey with Puff Daddy, Mase, the Lox (later known as D Block), and Puff Daddy in a long beige tunnel flowing with water ("The Honey Tunnel"). During Mase's rap, Carey is rescued by Mase (rather than joining the sailors on the boat) when he lowers a rope into the ocean from his helicopter.

Another major hip-hop mix of the song was released: "Honey" (So So Def mix), produced by Jermaine Dupri and featuring raps from him and Da Brat. Carey re-recorded some of her vocals, but most lyrical and melodic structures are kept similar to the album version. The song uses a new sample from "It's Great to Be Here" (originally performed by The Jackson 5), but it does not use "The Body Rock" from the album version and Bad Boy remix. The So So Def remix does use the sample of "Hey DJ", but in a different manner: the album version and Bad Boy remix use the piano riff from "Hey DJ", while the So So Def remix uses the line "Hey JD, won't you play that song, keep them dancing, dancing all night."

David Morales created several dance remixes of the song, the most notable being "Honey" (Classic mix), and variations of this include "Honey" (Def Club mix), "Honey" (Rascal dub), and "Honey" (Boss Anthem mix). These give songwriting credit to the writers of "The Body Rock", although this is not sampled. Morales is also credited as a songwriter for the remixes, although they are close to the original melodic and lyrical structure of the original song.

Worldwide CD single

Australian/European/U.S. CD maxi-single

UK CD maxi-single #1

UK CD maxi-single #2