“Will You Be There” is the eighth single from the 1991 album Dangerous, doubling as the main theme for Free Willy, appearing on the movie’s soundtrack.

The prelude to the song features featuring the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus performing the last movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Opus 125: Presto.

Commercial success

The song was among the biggest commercial hits from Dangerous, remaining within the UK ‘Top 40’ for over six weeks and the US ‘Top 10’ for six weeks, peaking at number 7. The single sold over 1,000,000 copies in the US, being certified Platinum in December of 1993. “Will You Be There” has sold 2,100,000 copies worldwide to date.

The song also won the MTV Movie Award for “Best Song in a Movie” in 1994.

Legal issues

The single was the subject of two lawsuits. The first was filed by Cleveland Orchestra for $7 million for copyright infringement of their recording and lack of credit to German composer Beethoven for the use of his symphonic prelude, which can be heard during the song’s opening. This was settled out of court with subsequent releases of Dangerous including full credits in the album booklet.

The second lawsuit was by Italian singer-songwriter Albano “Al Bano” Carrisi who claimed that “Will You Be There” claimed Jackson stole part of the musical motif of his 1987 song “I Cigni di Balaka” (“The Swans of Balaka”). In 2001 a Rome appeals court cleared Jackson of plagiarism allegations. Years earlier, in May 1999, a lower court in Rome found Jackson guilty of plagiarism. The court ordered, then suspended, a $1,900 fine, but ordered Jackson to pay court costs. Jackson’s lawyers appealed the decision.

Music video

The music video used footage of Jackson performing the song during his Dangerous World Tour and footage from Free Willy. A later mixing included footage of Jackson’s performance of the song on tour.