"You Are Not Alone" is the second single from Michael Jackson's album HIStory. The R&B ballad's composition has been attributed 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. However, the song has been faced with allegations of plagiarism by two Belgian songwriters. The song was later covered by R. Kelly himself as a hidden track on his tenth studio album Love Letter.

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 ofGrammy and American Music Award nominations. The corresponding music video, which featured Jackson and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley was also notable for its scenes of semi-nudity.

Commercially, the song was a significant success. It holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37-year history of the Billboard Hot 100to 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. It was also the 800th number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.

A clip of the song was remixed and released in 2011, as a song with "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", on the Immortal album. The single has sold over 11.5 million copies.

You Are Not Alone" is a 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.