"cry" was recorded by american singer michael jackson for his tenth and final studio album, "invincible" (2001). the song was written by r&b singer-songwriter r. kelly, who had previously worked with jackson on his 1995 single, "you are not alone;" jackson and kelly's collaboration on "cry" is the second of what would be three collaborations. "cry" was one of the first songs completed for the album. the track was produced by jackson and kelly. outside of the united states, the song was released in december 2001 as the second single from "invincible", under epic records. the single was released with two b-side tracks, "shout" and "streetwalker". "shout" was a previously unreleased song that was originally intended for "invincible", but was replaced at the last moment by "you are my life". "streetwalker" had previously appeared as a track on the 2001 special edition of jackson's seventh studio album, "bad". like "shout", it was replaced last minute by "another part of me".