R. Kelly recorded “I Believe I Can Fly” for the soundtrack of the 1996 film Space Jam.
The song was written, produced, and performed by R. Kelly for the movie starring basketball legend Michael Jordan alongside the Looney Tunes characters. It appears on the soundtrack album Space Jam: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, which blended R&B, hip-hop, and pop tracks with the film’s basketball theme.
Released as a single in November 1996, “I Believe I Can Fly” became one of Kelly’s biggest commercial successes. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped the Billboard R&B chart for six non-consecutive weeks, and reached No. 1 in several countries. The recording later appeared on Kelly’s 1998 album R.
The title can cause confusion because Space Jam also had a separate theme song by Quad City DJ’s. “I Believe I Can Fly” is the inspirational ballad associated with the film, while “Space Jam” is the high-energy soundtrack track and theme. Batman Forever, The Bodyguard, and Above the Rim had different soundtrack identities.