
In reissues of the album, the Pictures at an Exhibition piece was replaced by a similar improvised orchestra piece, but the original sample was used in Jackson's live performances in the HIStory Tour. Musical compositions sampled include " Beethoven Lives Upstairs" and "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition. Early in the track, one included quotes from an interview with a young Michael Jackson from 1970. The song sampled multiple musical compositions and historical audio quotes, all of which were dispersed throughout the track.

It was the thirteenth track on the studio album HIStory, but was not released as a single. "HIStory" was originally written and composed by Michael Jackson, James Harris III and Terry Lewis in 1995.
