The song was recorded by the former and featured as a track on the album of the same name which accompanies the 2009 concert documentary Michael Jackson's This Is It.

On September 23, Sony Music Entertainment announced they were planning on releasing a song entitled, "This Is It" as a single.

[3][6] Sony said, in response to the reports, that it was a coincidence that his upcoming concert series was also titled "This Is It", explaining they had no evidence that he had planned to release the song.

Sony chose to release the song as an album-only track as part of a strategy to encourage fans to buy the entire album.

[9] McClain, also a co-producer of the This Is It album said, "This song only defines, once again, what the world already knows—that Michael [Jackson] is one of God's greatest gifts.

[18][20] The lyrics "toggle between grandiosity" ("This is it, here I stand / I'm the light of the world, I feel grand") and "shy, romantic yearning" ("I never heard a single word about you / Falling in love wasn't my plan").

[18] Darrly Sterdan of the Winnipeg Sun felt that Jackson's voice and the background music sounded "like a demo that's been fleshed out with overdubs and doowoppy backup vocals from his brothers.

[7] The track gained average-to-positive reviews and a nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2011 53rd Grammy Awards.

[21] Gary Trust of Billboard reported that "response among radio programmers to the song has been almost universally positive.

"[22] Among these were Jay Lustig of The Star-Ledger, who felt it was a "sweet, mid-tempo love song" that, with "orchestral strings" and "creamy backing vocals" by Jackson's brothers, gave it a "crisp beat".

[23] In contrast, Darryl Sterdan of The Winnipeg Sun gave it a 3 out of 5 rating, saying, "This may be something, but it's not 'It'... On the whole, it's a sweet little number—but it doesn't live up to its authoritative title.

"[18] Todd Martens, of the Los Angeles Times's Pop & Hiss music blog, called "This Is It" a "trifle" and while the track "certainly won't embarrass Jackson's legacy or break the hearts of fans eager to hear Jackson's voice again" it does "bring the fallen pop icon a little back down to earth.

"[24] Jessica Robertson, an AOL music editor, said, "It's a safe, mid-tempo pop ballad that features what his fans love: his trademark breathy vocals and confident delivery.

I don't think it will set the world on fire, because it's missing what fans and critics love most about his songs, which is a strong and powerful groove to carry it.

[17] Cori Murray, an entertainment director at Essence magazine, described the track as "not bad", and felt that it sounded "like something" Jackson "could have put on an album".

[24] Dan Aquilante, of the New York Post, described the song as "an optimistic, R&B ballad with an upbeat, percolating rhythm that has all the bombast and power of the New Jack Swing period of the early '90s".

[24] James Montgomery, of MTV News, felt that the song was the "perfect MJ tune" and that Jackson "was a hell of a singer".

[34] It held the top position for four consecutive weeks until Beyoncé Knowles's "Broken-Hearted Girl" superseded it on November 21.

[37] Images, shown as a slide-show, of Jackson performing as a child are mixed in with shots of play sets, baseball bats and Gary's gritty industrial skyline.

At one point in the video, one of the lyrics from the song, "I never heard a single word about you," floats up out of the concrete, fading into two more shots of fan tributes from around the world and multiple flowers and messages laid at the gates of Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

The video, several times, shows a single red balloon floating in the air and empty swings swaying in the breeze.

[37][40] George Merchan of JoBlo.com felt that the video was "clearly" a "loving patchwork of documentary footage, graphics, and original location shoots".