Background and Development
"Butterflies" was recorded by Michael Jackson in 2001 for his tenth studio album, Invincible, which was released the same year. The song was written by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius, who is one half of the London bred neo-soul act Floetry, and was produced by Jackson and Harris. Jackson had first met Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, who is also a member of Floetry, through John McClain, who is DreamWorks's senior urban executive and Jackson's manager. Stewart said she was surprised that Jackson invited her and Ambrosius to a studio and asked for their input on the recording of the track. She recalled in an interview with LAUNCH magazine, "It was incredible because he asked, he continually asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for? He was so open".
When Ambrosius first met Jackson, it took a few minutes to calm down. She recalled to the same publication Stewart was interviewed by, "To begin with, I was kinda shook. Because you don't realize how you're going to feel until you're put in that kind of situation. I had the tears in my eyes and got kinda nervous. But as I got into it, I realized it was work, it was a job. I had to vocally conduct a legend." Harris commented on the single, "He's showing you, I'm still the Michael Jackson that did 'Billie Jean' and 'Rock With You' because 'Butterflies' really falls along those lines." The song has been said to be Jackson's favorite track from the Invincible album. Unlike the previous single released from Invincible, a music video was not released to promote the song. Sony Music Entertainment originally pitched Jackson a video concept, which would be primarily animated. However, Jackson never responded, and the video was scrapped.
Read more about this topic: Butterflies (Michael Jackson Song)
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