"Cheater" is a song written by Michael Jackson and Greg Phillinganes[2] and was originally slated to appear on Jackson's seventh studio album, Bad (1987), but it was removed from the track listing for unknown reasons.

"Cheater" was written and produced by Michael Jackson, and co-written by Greg Phillinganes.

[3][4] As promotion of the limited edition box set from The Ultimate Collection, Epic Records distributed a sampler of the compilation featuring twelve tracks.

[7] A music video was also shown on some channels; it features clips from the Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour DVD, which was included in the same album the song appears in.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the song as "good stuff" and "so funky, loose, and alive that it's hard not to wish that Jackson didn't fuss over his albums and just record like this all the time.