Will You Be There

THE STORY BEHIND ' Will You Be There '

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This is the spiritual epic of the Dangerous album. At over seven minutes long, it is the longest track in Michael Jackson’s solo discography. The story below details its creation at the "Giving Tree," the massive legal battles it sparked in Italy, and how it became the anthem for a killer whale named Willy.

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Much like "Heal the World," "Will You Be There" was not born in a recording studio, but in nature. Michael Jackson wrote the song while sitting in his favorite spot at Neverland Ranch: the "Giving Tree."

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The song was conceived as a prayer. Michael wanted to create a track that blurred the lines between pop, gospel, and classical music. It was one of the few songs where Michael took sole credit for almost every aspect of the composition, including the vocal and rhythm arrangements. He wanted it to sound huge like a cathedral but also incredibly intimate. This duality is why the song transitions from a massive orchestral choir to a lonely spoken-word poem at the end.

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The song opens with 67 seconds of pure classical music. This is a choral performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Ode to Joy). However, Michael didn’t hire an orchestra to record this intro; he sampled an existing recording by the Cleveland Orchestra.

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This led to a significant legal headache. The Cleveland Orchestra sued Michael Jackson for copyright infringement, claiming they were not properly credited or compensated for the use of their specific performance. The lawsuit was eventually settled, and subsequent pressings of the Dangerous album included full credits to the Cleveland Orchestra on the back cover. It was a rare oversight for Michael’s usually meticulous production team.

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The Beethoven lawsuit was minor compared to the legal war that erupted in Italy. An Italian songwriter named Al Bano sued Michael Jackson, claiming that "Will You Be There" was a plagiarism of his song "I Cigni di Balaka" ("The Swans of Balaka").

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The case was serious. In 1994, an Italian court actually ruled against Michael and ordered the Dangerous album to be pulled from shelves in Italy. Michael was forced to travel to Rome to testify in person. In a famous courtroom moment, Michael appeared before the judges and explained his songwriting process to prove his innocence.

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Eventually, musicologists determined that both Michael’s song and Al Bano’s song were strikingly similar to an older, non-copyrighted traditional Indian melody (or possibly a 1939 song by The Ink Spots called "Bless You for Being an Angel"). The court ruled that both artists had likely been inspired by the same source material, and the ruling against Michael was overturned.

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While the song was released on Dangerous in 1991, it found a massive second life in 1993 as the theme song for the movie "Free Willy."

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The film’s director, Simon Wincer, was looking for a song that captured the bond between the boy (Jesse) and the whale (Willy). "Will You Be There" fit perfectly. The song won the MTV Movie Award for Best Song from a Movie in 1994. Because of this connection, millions of children in the 90s grew up associating Michael Jackson not with moonwalking, but with the image of a killer whale jumping over a stone wall.

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To achieve the massive vocal sound in the chorus, Michael brought back the Andraé Crouch Singers, the same gospel choir that performed on "Man in the Mirror."

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The vocal arrangement is incredibly complex. It starts with Michael singing in his lower register (almost a baritone) and slowly builds into a full gospel explosion. The final key changes are relentless, lifting the energy higher and higher until the music suddenly cuts out, leaving only the choir and Michael’s ad-libs. It serves as the emotional climax of the album.

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The song ends with one of the most vulnerable moments in Michael’s career: a spoken-word poem. As the music fades, Michael speaks directly to the listener (or to God), his voice breaking with emotion: "In my darkest hour / In my deepest despair / Will you still care? / Will you be there?"

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Many fans interpret this outro as Michael predicting his own future struggles. He speaks of "trials and tribulations," "violence," and "turbulence." Given the scandals that would erupt just two years after the album's release, these lyrics are often viewed as a haunting premonition of the isolation he would feel later in life.

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"Will You Be There" was a staple of the Dangerous World Tour. The performance was pure theater. At the end of the song, a dancer dressed as a giant Angel would descend from the ceiling with massive white wings. Michael would fall to his knees, weeping, and the Angel would wrap her wings around him, shielding him from the world.

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This imagery of Michael seeking protection from a higher power was a powerful statement on his own fragility. At the MTV 10th Anniversary Special, where he first performed the song live, the "Angel" caused a sensation, solidifying Michael’s image as a "martyr" figure in pop culture.

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Released as a single on June 28, 1993, the song reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It sold over 1 million copies in the US alone. "Will You Be There" is often cited as the most "religious" song Michael ever wrote, even though it never mentions a specific religion. It is a hymn for the lonely. Whether he is singing to a whale, a woman, or God, the message remains the same: unconditional love is the only thing that matters.