"She's Out of My Life" is a song written by American songwriter Tom Bahler and performed by American singer Michael Jackson. The song was released as the fourth single from Jackson's 1979 album Off the Wall released on April 19, 1980. In 2004, the song appeared in The Ultimate Collection. It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time any solo artist had ever achieved four Top 10 hits from one album. In America, it earned a million-selling Platinum certification. The demo version of the song, which features Jackson singing with a guitar, was released on the second disc of the 2009 album Michael Jackson's This Is It. The song has also been covered by a variety of artists, including Patti LaBelle, Shirley Bassey, Ginuwine, 98°, S Club 7, Barbara Mandrell, Daniel Evans, Nina, Willie Nelson, Josh Groban, Gloria Lynne, and Karel Gott. Background Unlike the album's previous singles, which are all uptempo dance-oriented funk and disco songs, "She's Out of My Life" is an emotional ballad. The song has a tempo of 66 beats per minute, making it one of Jackson's slowest songs. The song is about a painful breakup. It has been claimed that Bahler wrote the song about Karen Carpenter, whom Bahler had briefly dated. However, he has stated, "The fact is, I had already written that song by the time Karen and I became romantic. That song was written more about Rhonda Rivera... Rhonda and I had been together for two years, and it was after we broke up that I started dating Karen." Production Jones had originally intended to save the song for Frank Sinatra. However, he wanted Jackson to record material with more mature themes and "feel the full range of his voice," so he decided to bring the song to Jackson's attention. A poignant moment in the song occurs near the end when Jackson begins to break down in tears as he sings the word "life". Although he had attempted to record the song's last few moments with emotional restraint, after numerous tries he continued to end the rendition the same - by breaking down in tears. Producer Quincy Jones subsequently let Jackson's tearful recording stand: She's Out of My Life, I'd been carrying around for about three years—you can feel the pain in it, you know. And I held on to it and finally something said 'this