"Loverboy" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on July 16, 2001 by Virgin Records America as the lead single from Glitter (2001). Written and produced by Carey, Larry Blackmon, Thomas Jenkins and Clark Kent, "Loverboy" is built around a sample from "Candy" by Cameo, who are also featured on the track. Lyrically, the song finds Carey fantasizing about her loverboy, a man that will fulfill her physical and sexual desires. The recording was accompanied by an official remix, titled "Loverboy (Remix)", featuring guest artists Ludacris, Da Brat, Shawnna and Twenty II.

The track was subject to controversy, following reports that Jennifer Lopez and Tommy Mottola (Carey's ex-husband) stole the idea of sampling the singer's original planned sample, Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Firecracker", over a month after Carey had signed for it. Since Carey's Glitter was to be released over a month after Lopez's album, she changed the song's melody to sample from "Candy" instead. Controversy ensued following its release; Carey was hospitalized for severe mental and physical exhaustion, following poorly received television appearances involving the song and album.

After the song's release in the United States, "Loverboy" stalled on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached a peak of number two on the Hot 100 but failed to top the chart due to weak radio airplay. The single jumped 60-2 on The Billboard Hot 100 the week after it was released as a commercial single, with sales driven by a Virgin promotion offering the CD for a bargain-priced 49 cents. Though finishing as the best-selling song of 2001 in the United States, "Loverboy" became Carey's first lead single to not reach number one. Internationally, the song failed to garner strong charting, reaching the top-ten in Australia and Canada, and the top-twenty in Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom.

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