"The Lady in My Life" was written and composed by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. Michael Jackson recorded it in 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It closes the album Thriller, released by Epic and CBS on 30 November 1982, and was never issued as a physical single. Personnel listed in the liner notes include Louis Johnson on bass, Jeff Porcaro on drums, Greg Phillinganes on keyboards and Michael Boddicker on E-mu Emulator. Billboard's Andrew Unterberger, writing in 2016, called it one of Michael's finest quiet-storm slow burns, Vibe called it "the ultimate love song", and American Songwriter praised its simplicity. The RIAA certified it gold in 2022 as a digital single, with 500,000 units. Stanley Jordan released an instrumental version on Magic Touch (1985), and George Benson's instrumental cover on Guitar Man (2011) reached number one on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Airplay chart for two weeks in 2012. Maxwell performed the song at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. It has been widely sampled in hip-hop and pop, often in a higher key, notably by LL Cool J on "Hey Lover", Bone Thugs-n-Harmony on "1st of tha Month" and Chris Brown on "Transparency". The song is associated with R&B, quiet storm, soul and pop.
