“Ben” is a pop ballad written by Walter Scharf (music) and Don Black (lyrics) for the 1972 film Ben, a sequel to Willard (1971), where it plays over the closing credits. Black and Scharf first wrote the song for Donny Osmond, who was on tour and unavailable, so they offered it to Michael Jackson. Jackson recorded it for Motown in November 1971. The single, produced by The Corporation with “You Can Cry on My Shoulder” on the B-side, was released on July 12, 1972. It was Jackson's first solo number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent one week at the top, and Billboard ranked it 20th for 1972 and called it a “beauty”. The single also topped the ARIA Charts for eight weeks, reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart and number 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The song won a Golden Globe for Best Song and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1973, losing to “The Morning After”. Set in the key of F, it has been reissued on several compilations. Donny Osmond later recorded his own version for The Soundtrack of My Life (2014).
