On March 5, 2009, Michael Jackson announced in a press conference at the O2 Arena that he was to stage 10 concert performances in a series titled "This Is It", suggesting that they would be the last concerts of his career. Due to extremely high demand, an extra 40 performances were added to the tour, totaling to 50 tour dates. Jackson suffered cardiac arrest and died in Los Angeles, California on June 25, 2009, just two weeks before the concert series was scheduled to begin.

On August 11, a judge approved a $60 million deal that would allow Sony to release This Is It, a concert film composed of footage and backstage material from Michael Jackson's final concert rehearsals. On September 23, 2009, Sony Music Entertainment announced that it would release the single "This Is It", followed by a two-disc album featuring original album masters of classic hits on the first disc, and previously unreleased versions on the second disc. However, the single release was cancelled, and although it was previously listed on Amazon and other online stores, they have since removed the song from their websites.