"One Day in Your Life" is a pop and soul ballad with music by Renée Armand and lyrics by Samuel F. Brown III (Sam Brown III), who also produced the recording. Michael Jackson recorded it in December 1974, and it appeared in 1975 on the album Forever, Michael (Motown). Running 4:15, it was first issued as a UK single that year, with "Dapper Dan" on the B-side. Robert Christgau called it a romantic ballad, and Record World praised its "plush strings" cushioning Jackson's vocals. In the United States it was released as a single on 20 March 1981 from the compilation One Day in Your Life, although interest was driven by Off the Wall (1979, Epic). In the UK, a re-release on 21 April 1981 went to No. 1 for two weeks in June and July, Jackson's first solo UK No. 1. The single also topped the charts in Ireland, South Africa, the Dutch Top 40 and the Belgian Flanders chart, was the sixth best-selling single of 1981 in the UK, and earned a BPI Gold certification. Johnny Mathis covered the song on his album Feelings.
