"You Are Not Alone", released in August 1995, is the second
single from Michael Jackson's album
HIStory. The R&B ballad was written by R. Kelly in
response to difficult times in his personal life. He then
forwarded a bare demo tape to Jackson, who liked the song and
decided to produce it with Kelly. Jackson's interest in the
song was also linked to recent events in his personal life.
The vast majority of critical reaction to "You Are Not
Alone" was positive, although it did not attain unanimous
praise. The song was the recipient of Grammy and American Music
Award nominations. The corresponding music video, which
featured Jackson and his wife was also notable for its scenes
of semi-nudity.
Commercially, the song was a significant success. It holds a
Guinness World Recordas the first song in the 37-year
history of the Hot 100 to debut at number one; it was later
certified platinum by the RIAA. The song peaked highly in all
major markets. "You Are Not Alone" was Michael Jackson's last
number one hit song in the United States during his
lifetime.
"You Are Not Alone" is an R&B ballad about love and
isolation. The song was written by R. Kelly and produced by
Kelly and Jackson. Kelly wrote the song after the loss of close
people in his life. Kelly was delighted to be able to work with
his idol, explaining "I was psyched ... I feel I could
have done his whole album. Not being selfish. I was just that
geeked about it. It was an experience out of this
world ... It's amazing to know that five years ago I was
writing songs in a basement in the ghetto and now I'm writing
for Michael Jackson ... I'd be a fool not to say it's a
dream come true." Jackson contacted Kelly to see if he had any
material available. Kelly forwarded a tape recording of the
song and Jackson then agreed to work with Kelly on the piece.
On the tape sent to Jackson, Kelly sung "You Are Not Alone"
mimicking Jackson's vocal style, explaining, "I think I am him.
I become him. I want him to feel that as well." Jackson found
the interpretation amusing. They spent the last week of
November 1994 together in the studio working on the track.
Jackson explained that he instantly liked the song, but
listened to it twice before making his final decision. Although
the song was written by Kelly, Jackson was adamant that the
production should be a collaborative effort amongst the two
musicians. The tape sent to him had no harmony or modulations,
so Jackson added a choir in the final portion and added a sense
of climax and structure to the final piece.
James Hunter of
Rolling Stonenoted that, "the excellent current single
'Scream' or the first-rate R&B ballad 'You Are Not Alone' –
manage to link the incidents of Jackson's infamous recent past
to universal concepts like injustice or isolation. When he
bases his music in the bluntness of hip-hop, Jackson sketches
funky scenarios denouncing greed, blanket unreliability and
false accusation". Jon Pareles of
The New York Timessaid that it was the only conventional
love song on the new material on
HIStory. He compared it to Mariah Carey's song "Hero"
and said it "sounds like a surefire hit".
In more recent years, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic
expressed the opinion that "You Are Not Alone" was amongst some
the best songs Jackson ever released, calling the song
seductive. The R&B critic and journalist Nelson George
described the song as lovely and supple. Writer and journalist
J. Randy Taraborrelli wrote of the song in 2004, "[it] remains
among Michael's best songs ... On listening to 'You Are
Not Alone', one wonders how many times Michael tried to tell
himself, during his most desperate and anguished times, that he
didhave support in his life, from a higher power, or
even friends and family, whether he actually believed it or
not".
Fred Shuster of the
Daily News of Los Angelesdescribed it as the best song
on the album. Conversely, while Steve Holsey of
Michigan Chroniclegave the album a positive review, he
described the song as the worst on the album, calling the Kelly
penned lyrics "trite" and below the standard set by Jackson's
own lyrical skills. "You Are Not Alone" received an American
Music Award nomination and a Grammy nomination both for "Best
Pop Vocal Performance".
The music video was directed by Wayne Isham and begins with
a large number of paparazzi taking photographs of Jackson. The
plot then centers around two locations: a temple where Jackson
appears in an affectionate semi-naked scene with his then wife
Lisa Marie Presley and a theater where Jackson performs the
song to an empty hall. Jackson also appears alone in other
locations such as deserts and mountain tops. It is the first
high profile video where Jackson's hair is cut relatively
short. The slightly extended version that appeared on
HIStory on Film, Volume IIwas notable for a scene where
Jackson appeared as a guardian angel over his wife, special
effects were used to give Jackson white feathery wings.
In one scene, Jackson originally appeared in complete
nudity, but just before the video aired a decision was made to
use special effects to remove or cover these aspects. Despite
giving the song a positive review, Taraborrelli said of the
video, "The only problem with 'You Are Not Alone' was the
bizarre video for it, in which Michael and Lisa Marie frolic
about semi-nude against an ethereal backdrop...The semi-nudity
made no sense and was a bit disconcerting; one wished they
would put their clothes back on". Afterward Presley expressed
regret about doing the video, saying she was "sucked up in the
moment. It was kind of cool being in a Michael Jackson video.
Come on!".
Commercially, "You Are Not Alone", remains one of Jackson's
best selling singles. It holds the
Guinness World Recordfor the first song ever to debut at
number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. First week sales were
120,000 copies, it was certified platinum by the RIAA for
shipments of at least one million units within the US. It broke
the record set by his previous single "Scream/Childhood", which
was the first song in the 37 year history of
Billboardto debut at number five—where it peaked. It
peaked at number one in the UK after a debut at number three in
the prior week. The song also reached number one in Wallonia,
France, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland. With the exception
of Italy, it became a top ten hit in every major market.
In 2007, a Belgium court ruled that R. Kelly had plagiarized
the 1993 song "If We Can Start All Over" when composing "You
Are Not Alone". The court transferred rights of Jackson's hit
to the twin composer brothers, Eddy and Danny Van Passel. The
judgment is only recognized in Belgium and airplay of the hit
has been banned in that nation.
Canadian & U.S.
Japan single
Austria single
Visionary single
The final twelve acts from the sixth series of TV talent
show
The X Factorin the United Kingdom released a cover
version of the song on November 15, 2009 in aid of Great Ormond
Street Hospital. The finalists premiered the song live on the
November 15 edition of the programme; the single was available
for digital download that day and a physical release followed
the day after. The release of the song follows a similar
occurrence a year earlier, when the final twelve acts from the
fifth series released a cover version of Mariah Carey's "Hero"
in aid of Help for Heroes and raised over £1 million.
The video is very similar to the video of the cover version
of the charity single of the year before. It shows various
contestants performing their part in front of a plain black
background, then shows the 12 finalists together performing the
song in front of a screen of photos. Photos and video footage
of the finalists at the Great Ormond Street Hospital are shown
throughout the video.