Whitney Houston (album)
Encyclopedia
Whitney Houston is the debut album
of American R&B
and pop
singer Whitney Houston
, released March 14, 1985 on Arista Records
. The album initially had a slow commercial response but began getting more popular since the summer of 1985. Eventually it topped the Billboard 200
chart for fourteen weeks in 1986 and generated three number-one singles—"Saving All My Love for You
", "How Will I Know
" and "Greatest Love of All
"—on the Billboard Hot 100
chart, making it the first debut album and the first album by a female artist to achieve that feat. The album was one of those very rare cases that enjoyed global success by a new black female artist, topping the albums chart in many countries such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. The album was certified Diamond for shipments of 10 million units or more on March 16, 1999, and later 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
on July 29, 1999. It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.
At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nominations including Album of the Year
and won one of which, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female
for "Saving All My Love for You". For the 29th Grammy Awards of 1987, the album earned one nomination for Record of the Year
for "Greatest Love of All". In 2003, the album was ranked number 254 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
. In honor of its 25th anniversary, the album was re-released on January 26, 2010, in an expanded edition with five bonus tracks and a DVD.
nightclub, Clive Davis
believed the singer had the potential to crossover and be the next big superstar. He signed her in 1983 and the two began work on her debut album. Initially Davis had a hard time finding songs for her. Even after elaborate showcases in New York and Los Angeles
, many producers turned down the chance to work with her. During the time, rock bands and dance oriented acts were popular; many songwriters felt Houston's gospel voice didn't fit in the pop landscape. It took a year and a half for Jerry Griffith, then Arista's A&R chief and had recommended Whitney to Davis, and Davis to amass suitable songs for the album. Finally the songwriter-producer Kashif
offered to produce "You Give Good Love
". Jermaine Jackson
, who had emerged from the shadow of Brother Michael, produced three songs. Narada Michael Walden
came in to revise and then produce "How Will I Know
". And Michael Masser
covered the pop side of the tracks, producing four of his own compositions, including "Saving All My Love for You
" and "Greatest Love of All
". After two years of recording, the album was ready for release. It, budgeted at $200,000, finally cost almost $400,000.
complimented Houston on her excellent vocal ability, writing "neither the frequently listless arrangements nor the sometimes mediocre material of this debut LP hides the fact that Houston is a singer with enormous power and potential" on their reviews for 1985's releases. Don Shewey of Rolling Stone
described her as "one of the most exciting new voices in years" and stated that: "Because she has a technically polished voice like Patti Austin
's, [...] her interpretive approach is what sets her apart" and "Whitney Houston is obviously headed for stardom, and if nothing else, her album is an exciting preview of coming attractions." But he expressed a little disappoinment about undistinguished pop-soul tunes, commenting "many of the songs here are so featureless they could be sung by anyone. They make what could have been a stunning debut merely promising." Stephen Holden
of The New York Times
, praised the album and especially her singing style, stating "along with an appealing romantic innocence, she projects the commanding dignity and elegance of someone far more mature." Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail
commented that although some "arrangements frequently border on formulaic but such ballads as "Saving All My Love for You", "Greatest Love Of All" and "Hold Me" are some of the loveliest pop singing on vinyl since the glory days of Dionne Warwick
." Lacey added that "Houston has a silky, rich, vibrant voice that moves between steely edges, or curls sensuously around the notes."
Contemporary reviews have paid attention to the significance and the value of it in music history. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
from Allmusic defined Whitney Houston as "the foundation of diva-pop", giving the album four and a half out of five stars. Also, he stated that certainly, the ballads such as "Greatest Love of All" and "Saving All My Love for You", provided "the blueprint for decades of divas", but gave higher marks to the lighter tracks like "How Will I Know" and "Thinking About You", commenting these tracks "are what really impresses some 20-plus years on" and "turns the album into a fully rounded record, the rare debut that manages to telegraph every aspect of an artist's career in a mere ten songs." Brad Wete, on a feature article to celebrate for Vibe magazine's 15th anniversary in September 2008, wrote "never before has an African-American woman earned such crossover appeal so early in her career. [...] [Houston] had an explosive solo debut" and commented "Whitney's prodigious pop set [...] was a fresh serving of precocious talent compared to 1985's mildly flavored R&B buffet." Allison Stewart from The Washington Post
stated that the album "provided a blueprint for the pop/dance/R&B-melding careers of Mariah Carey and others, and introduced the world to "The Voice," an octave-spanning, gravity-defying melismatic marvel."
The album was named Rolling Stone
' s Best Album of 1986. Three major critics of the Los Angeles Times listed the album on their year end critics list. The album ranked #79 on Robert Hilburn's list, #2 on Paul Grein's list and #5 on Dennis Hunt's list. In November 2003, the album was ranked #254 on Rolling Stones publication of the 500 greatest albums of all time
, and ranked #46 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
's Definitive 200 List in 2007. In addition, ranked #71 on Q
magazine's "100 Women Who Rock The World" in 2002 and took the #15 spot on Yahoo! Music
's 30 Most Significant Albums In Black Music History list in 2010, with Brandy
's comments on the album; "The first Whitney Houston CD was genius. That CD introduced the world to her angelic yet powerful voice. Without Whitney half of this generation of singers wouldn't be singing."
the week of March 30, 1985, at number 166. Sales were low initially. However, with the success of the first single "You Give Good Love", the album began climbing the charts and finally reached the number one on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart (formerly "Top Black Albums") in June and the top 10 on the Billboard 200 (formerly "Top Pop Albums")in August 1985. Thanks to successive hit singles and winning at the Grammys, eventually Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 album chart in March 1986. With the album taking fifty weeks to hit the number one, it became the slowest climb to the top of the charts since Fleetwood Mac
took fifty-eight weeks to reach the top in 1976, with the band's second eponymous album.
Whitney Houston spent fourteen non-consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard 200 chart from March until late June 1986, which was short of one week for Carole King
's record of fifteen weeks for the longest running #1 album by a female artist. It was the second-longest running No.1 album among the debut albums in Billboard history, behind Men at Work
's Business as Usual, which had fifteen weeks on top in 1982-83. The album exhibited massive staying power, remaining on the Billboard 200 for 162 weeks. It also spent a record 46 weeks in the top 10, beating Carole King's record with Tapestry. But the record was later broken by some artists in 1990s—Paula Abdul
's Forever Your Girl
, Alanis Morissette
's Jagged Little Pill
and Celine Dion
's Falling into You
. Houston's debut was the best-selling album of 1986 in the United States and the #1 album of the year on 1986 Billboard year-end charts, making her the first female artist to earn that distinction. She became also the #1 pop artist of the year. The RIAA
certified it Diamond on March 16, 1999 and later 13× platinum on July 29, 1999, for shipments of 13,000,000 copies of the album in United States.
The album was successful worldwide. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number two on the albums chart, spending 119 weeks on the chart. It was certified 6× platinum for shipments of 1,800,000 units of the album by the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI), becoming the fifth best-selling album of 1986. In Canada, the album reached the top spot on the albums chart and remained there for seventeen weeks to become the longest stay at the summit by a female artist. On March 31, 1987, it was certified 10× platinum for sales of over one million copies, making it the best-selling album of 1986, and later Diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
(CRIA). Whitney Houston was also the 1986's top selling album in Australia, staying at number one of the Kent Music Report
albums chart for eleven weeks, the longest stay by a female artist at the time. It became the first time an African American artist had a number 1 album in Australia. In Japan, the album was ranked number two on list of the 1986's best-selling album by a foreign artist, with a total of 450,000 units combined sales of LP
, CD
and Compact Cassette
, only behind Madonna
's True Blue. Besides, the album reached the number one on the albums chart in Norway for ten weeks and Sweden for six weeks, the number two in Germany, Switzerland, and the number three in Austria and New Zealand. Worldwide, Whitney Houston has sold over 25 million copies, becoming one of the best selling albums in the 1980s. According to the Nielsen SoundScan
began tracking sales data in 1991, as of 2009, the album sold over 1,038,000 copies in the United States.
for "You Give Good Love" and Best Rhythm & Blues Song for "You Give Good Love"—and won Houston's first Grammy, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. In addition, the album earned one nomination for Record of the Year for "Greatest Love of All" in 1987.
, then the president of Arista Records
, sent a letter of complaint to Michael Greene, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
(NARAS), and had been told that "Whitney was banished from the circle of newcomers because she had appeared as a duet guest vocalist on one song on Jermaine Jackson's album, and one on the comeback album by Teddy Pendergrass, both in the preceding year (1984)." He claimed that "Whitney was simply an unknown vocalist making a 'cameo' appearance on just one of eight or nine songs contained in a major artist's album. She was not even a member of a continuing artistic duo. [...] Whitney was merely a featured vocalist, not the artist, and certainly not the focal point of the song." But Green replied to him, writing "The rule that disqualified Whitney is perfectly clear. It reads: An artist is not eligible in the best new artist category if the artist had label credit or album credit, even if not as a featured artist, in a previous awards' year." Davis, on his commentary in Billbard magazine the issue of January 18, 1986, pointed out the misapplication of the literal meaning or the board of trustees' rules, stating that "[perfectly clear] is often a matter of opinion. [Through my review], it became obvious that this NARAS rule had been interpreted very liberally in the past." According to his review of each past winner and nominee, some artists such as Cyndi Lauper
, Luther Vandross
, the Power Station
, Carly Simon
and Crosby, Stills & Nash, had already received credits on other albums or been previously very well known as a member of other acts prior to their Grammy nominations. He added that "it is a conspicuous injustice that Whitney will not be getting her shot. When someone comes along and makes an impact such as Whitney has, it'll come as a big surprise to quite a few people that, according to the rules of NARAS, sometimes new isn't New." Despite Davis' coherent and well-founded refutation, the NARAS stuck by its decision to disallow Whitney Houston from competing for best new artst in the balloting. Green, in a statement, said that "The determination of eligibility or ineligibility in the best new artist category is not made capriciously or taken lightly. [...] If differences of opinion arise as to the extent of identity a solo artist may have had while with a previously release group, we take a vote and abide by the majority." Green noted firmly that "Houston's two duet recordings were entered in the 1984 Grammy Awards process for consideration for nomination. That alone was sufficient to make her ineligible this year for best new artist according to academy criteria. Aside from that, her performance on these recordings made a substantial contribution to their success and merit [with the Pendergrass duet achieving impressive chart positions on both the black and adult contemporary charts]." Finally, the NARAS nominated a-ha
, Freddie Jackson
, Katrina and the Waves
, Julian Lennon
and Sade
for Best New Artist. The award went to Sade.
But after 1986, whenever the controversy involving Grammy Award for Best New Artist arose, Houston's ineligibility for that category was often mentioned. Those were the cases with the past winners such as 1988's Jody Watley
and 1999's Lauryn Hill
, established their "public identities" through their work with Shalamar
and the Fugees respectively. When Shelby Lynne
received the trophy in 2001, more than a decade after charting several singles on the country charts, so did it. Richard Marx
, ruled ineligible for nomination as Best New Artist in 1988, stuck it to the NARAS about their inconsistency, on the feature article about him of Orange Coast magazine, stating as follows: "[...] But so did Whitney Houston for the same reason. And frankly, I don't have a lot of respect for N.A.R.A.S., the Grammy people's ruling system, because it's so inconsistent. They deemed me and Whitney Houston ineligible, and yet they nominated Jody Watley, who made records with Shalamar." In 2000, Geoff Mayfield of Billboard magazine, on his column, criticized the NARAS for their vague application of criteria, commenting that "the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences need again to rewrite its definition of [new artists]." (The official guidelines read, "for a new artist who releases, during the eligibility year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.") He added that "the category has already had its twists and turns. In 1986 Whitney Houston was not considered because, prior to the release of 1985's Whitney Houston album, she had appeared on a Teddy Pendergrass single in 1984. But in '88 Jody Watley, who had been a lead vocalist in Shalamar which first charted in 1977, won the best new artist Grammy."
" as the first single. The soulful ballad would top the R&B chart and surprise the label by crossing over and reaching number three on the pop chart while the singer was playing at nightclubs in the United States. The jazzy-pop "Saving All My Love for You
" was released next and really put her on the map. The single was an even bigger success hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It would reach number one in the United Kingdom and was successful around the world. With her first number one, Houston began appearing on high profile talk shows and became the opening act for Jeffrey Osborne
and Luther Vandross
. "Thinking About You" was released as the single only to R&B-oriented radio stations. It peaked at number 10 on the Hot Black Singles chart and at number 24 on the Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart.
In the late 1985, "How Will I Know
" was released as the third single officially. With its colorful and energetic video, the song brought the singer to the teens and MTV
, which black artists have traditionally found tough to crack. It became another number one single for Houston, topping the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and Hot Black Singles chart respectively. The final single, "Greatest Love of All
", would become the biggest hit off the album with a three week stay atop the Hot 100. As a result, it became the first debut album - and the first album by a female artist - ever to generate three number one singles. With "Greatest Love of All" and Houston's debut album both at #1 on the singles and albums chart, respectively, she became the first female artist to have the number one pop single and album simultaneously since Kim Carnes
in 1982 with "Bette Davis Eyes
" and Mistaken Identity
. "All at Once" was released only to Adult Contemporary and Urban AC stations as a radio airplay-only single later in 1986. It received heavy airplay and can still be heard on AC stations. However the single received an official release in Japan and many European countries.
Note:
| width="35" align="center" | 1986 || Whitney Houston (herself) || The Music Award ||
|-
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="6"|1986
|| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist ||
|-
| Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Favorite Soul/R&B Album ||
|-
| "You Give Good Love
" || Favorite Soul/R&B Single ||
|-
|Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Soul/R&B Video Artist ||
|-
|"Saving All My Love for You
" || Favorite Soul/R&B Video ||
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="7"|1987
|| Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Favorite Pop/Rock Album ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist ||
|-
| Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Favorite Soul/R&B Album ||
|-
| Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Soul/R&B Female Video Artist ||
|-
| "Greatest Love of All
" || Favorite Soul/R&B Video Single ||
|-
s, based on Billboard
magazine's year-end charts, was not held before 1990. Nominated categories were those of which were ranked in Top 5 on the year-end charts. This is based on general numbers of nomination at the Billboard Music Awards.
|-
|width="35" align="center" rowspan="10"| 1985 ||rowspan="5"|Whitney Houston (herself)|| Top Black Artist of the Year ||
|-
| New Pop Artist ||
|-
| New Black Artist ||
|-
| Top Pop Album Artist - Female ||
|-
| Top Pop Singles Artist - Female ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Black Album ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Black Album Artist ||
|-
| Top Black Singles Artist ||
|-
| "You Give Good Love" || Top Black Single ||
|-
| "Saving All My Love for You" || Top Black Single ||
|-
|width="35" align="center" rowspan="11"|1986 || rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Pop Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Top Black Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Pop Album[A] ||
|-
| rowspan="3"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Pop Album Artist ||
|-
|Top Pop Album Artist - Female ||
|-
|Top Pop Singles Artist - Female ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Black Album[A] ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Black Album Artist ||
|-
| Top Adult Contemporary Artist ||
|-
| The #1 Video Hits || Top Music Videocassette ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Pop Compact Disc ||
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1987 || Whitney Houston (herself) || Best International Solo Artist ||
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1986 || Whitney Houston || Top Pop Album of the Year ||
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1986
||The 28th Annual Grammy Awards || Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
||
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="4"|1986 || Whitney Houston || Album of the Year ||
|-
| "Saving All My Love for You" || Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female
||
|-
| rowspan="2"|"You Give Good Love" || |Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female ||
|-
| Best Rhythm & Blues Song ||
|-
| align="center"|1987 || "Greatest Love of All" || Record of the Year ||
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="2"|1986
|| rowspan="2"|"How Will I Know
" || Best Female Video ||
|-
| Best New Artist in a Video
||
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1985 || Whitney Houston (herself) || |Outstanding New Artist
|
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1986 || Whitney Houston (herself) || Outstanding Female Recording Artist
||
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="2"|1986 || rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston ||Best-selling Album by a New Artist ||
|-
|Best-selling Black Music Album by a Female Artist ||
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1987 || Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Female Musical Performer (tied with Madonna
) ||
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1986 || Whitney Houston || Best Album of the Year ||
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="2"|1987 || Whitney Houston || Album of the Year, Female ||
|-
| "Greatest Love of All" || Single of the Year, Female ||
|-
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
of American R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, released March 14, 1985 on Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
. The album initially had a slow commercial response but began getting more popular since the summer of 1985. Eventually it topped the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart for fourteen weeks in 1986 and generated three number-one singles—"Saving All My Love for You
Saving All My Love for You
"Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin with arrangement by Gene Page. It was originally a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978 on their album Marilyn & Billy...
", "How Will I Know
How Will I Know
"How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,...
" and "Greatest Love of All
Greatest Love of All
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
"—on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, making it the first debut album and the first album by a female artist to achieve that feat. The album was one of those very rare cases that enjoyed global success by a new black female artist, topping the albums chart in many countries such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. The album was certified Diamond for shipments of 10 million units or more on March 16, 1999, and later 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
on July 29, 1999. It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.
At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nominations including Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
and won one of which, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
for "Saving All My Love for You". For the 29th Grammy Awards of 1987, the album earned one nomination for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
for "Greatest Love of All". In 2003, the album was ranked number 254 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. In honor of its 25th anniversary, the album was re-released on January 26, 2010, in an expanded edition with five bonus tracks and a DVD.
Background
After seeing Houston perform in a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
nightclub, Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
believed the singer had the potential to crossover and be the next big superstar. He signed her in 1983 and the two began work on her debut album. Initially Davis had a hard time finding songs for her. Even after elaborate showcases in New York and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, many producers turned down the chance to work with her. During the time, rock bands and dance oriented acts were popular; many songwriters felt Houston's gospel voice didn't fit in the pop landscape. It took a year and a half for Jerry Griffith, then Arista's A&R chief and had recommended Whitney to Davis, and Davis to amass suitable songs for the album. Finally the songwriter-producer Kashif
Kashif (musician)
Kashif Saleem is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer.-Career:Kashif became well-known from playing keyboards in the renowned funk band B.T. Express. He played synthesizer bass using the miniMoog while touring with the group...
offered to produce "You Give Good Love
You Give Good Love
"You Give Good Love" is a song by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, entitled Whitney Houston in the United States in February 1985 by Arista Records, and the second single from the album in the United Kingdom. The song was...
". Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, bassist, composer, a member of The Jackson 5, older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and occasional film director...
, who had emerged from the shadow of Brother Michael, produced three songs. Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
came in to revise and then produce "How Will I Know
How Will I Know
"How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,...
". And Michael Masser
Michael Masser
Michael Masser , a former stockbroker, is a composer and producer of popular music. He attended the University of Illinois College of Law, but left to pursue his interest in music...
covered the pop side of the tracks, producing four of his own compositions, including "Saving All My Love for You
Saving All My Love for You
"Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin with arrangement by Gene Page. It was originally a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978 on their album Marilyn & Billy...
" and "Greatest Love of All
Greatest Love of All
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
". After two years of recording, the album was ready for release. It, budgeted at $200,000, finally cost almost $400,000.
Critical response
In addition to its popularity, the album was praised by critics and the music industry. Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
complimented Houston on her excellent vocal ability, writing "neither the frequently listless arrangements nor the sometimes mediocre material of this debut LP hides the fact that Houston is a singer with enormous power and potential" on their reviews for 1985's releases. Don Shewey of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described her as "one of the most exciting new voices in years" and stated that: "Because she has a technically polished voice like Patti Austin
Patti Austin
-Life and career:Austin was born in Harlem, New York. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was only five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents....
's, [...] her interpretive approach is what sets her apart" and "Whitney Houston is obviously headed for stardom, and if nothing else, her album is an exciting preview of coming attractions." But he expressed a little disappoinment about undistinguished pop-soul tunes, commenting "many of the songs here are so featureless they could be sung by anyone. They make what could have been a stunning debut merely promising." Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, praised the album and especially her singing style, stating "along with an appealing romantic innocence, she projects the commanding dignity and elegance of someone far more mature." Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
commented that although some "arrangements frequently border on formulaic but such ballads as "Saving All My Love for You", "Greatest Love Of All" and "Hold Me" are some of the loveliest pop singing on vinyl since the glory days of Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
." Lacey added that "Houston has a silky, rich, vibrant voice that moves between steely edges, or curls sensuously around the notes."
Contemporary reviews have paid attention to the significance and the value of it in music history. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
from Allmusic defined Whitney Houston as "the foundation of diva-pop", giving the album four and a half out of five stars. Also, he stated that certainly, the ballads such as "Greatest Love of All" and "Saving All My Love for You", provided "the blueprint for decades of divas", but gave higher marks to the lighter tracks like "How Will I Know" and "Thinking About You", commenting these tracks "are what really impresses some 20-plus years on" and "turns the album into a fully rounded record, the rare debut that manages to telegraph every aspect of an artist's career in a mere ten songs." Brad Wete, on a feature article to celebrate for Vibe magazine's 15th anniversary in September 2008, wrote "never before has an African-American woman earned such crossover appeal so early in her career. [...] [Houston] had an explosive solo debut" and commented "Whitney's prodigious pop set [...] was a fresh serving of precocious talent compared to 1985's mildly flavored R&B buffet." Allison Stewart from The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
stated that the album "provided a blueprint for the pop/dance/R&B-melding careers of Mariah Carey and others, and introduced the world to "The Voice," an octave-spanning, gravity-defying melismatic marvel."
The album was named Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
, and ranked #46 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
's Definitive 200 List in 2007. In addition, ranked #71 on Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine's "100 Women Who Rock The World" in 2002 and took the #15 spot on Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's 30 Most Significant Albums In Black Music History list in 2010, with Brandy
Brandy Norwood
Brandy Rayana Norwood , known professionally as Brandy, is an American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and dancer. In 2009, she introduced her rap alter-ego Bran'Nu....
's comments on the album; "The first Whitney Houston CD was genius. That CD introduced the world to her angelic yet powerful voice. Without Whitney half of this generation of singers wouldn't be singing."
Commercial performance
Released on February 14, 1985, Whitney Houston debuted on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
the week of March 30, 1985, at number 166. Sales were low initially. However, with the success of the first single "You Give Good Love", the album began climbing the charts and finally reached the number one on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart (formerly "Top Black Albums") in June and the top 10 on the Billboard 200 (formerly "Top Pop Albums")in August 1985. Thanks to successive hit singles and winning at the Grammys, eventually Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 album chart in March 1986. With the album taking fifty weeks to hit the number one, it became the slowest climb to the top of the charts since Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
took fifty-eight weeks to reach the top in 1976, with the band's second eponymous album.
Whitney Houston spent fourteen non-consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard 200 chart from March until late June 1986, which was short of one week for Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
's record of fifteen weeks for the longest running #1 album by a female artist. It was the second-longest running No.1 album among the debut albums in Billboard history, behind Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
's Business as Usual, which had fifteen weeks on top in 1982-83. The album exhibited massive staying power, remaining on the Billboard 200 for 162 weeks. It also spent a record 46 weeks in the top 10, beating Carole King's record with Tapestry. But the record was later broken by some artists in 1990s—Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
's Forever Your Girl
Forever Your Girl
Forever Your Girl is the debut album from singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 13, 1988 and took 64 weeks from its release to hit number one on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, the longest an album has been on the market before hitting number one. The album was eventually certified seven...
, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
's Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette. It was Morissette's first internationally released album, and her first studio album after the three year hiatus following her break with MCA Records. The album marked a shift from her style...
and Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
's Falling into You
Falling into You
Falling into You is an album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on March 8, 1996. It is her fourth English-language album and twenty-first overall...
. Houston's debut was the best-selling album of 1986 in the United States and the #1 album of the year on 1986 Billboard year-end charts, making her the first female artist to earn that distinction. She became also the #1 pop artist of the year. The RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
certified it Diamond on March 16, 1999 and later 13× platinum on July 29, 1999, for shipments of 13,000,000 copies of the album in United States.
The album was successful worldwide. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number two on the albums chart, spending 119 weeks on the chart. It was certified 6× platinum for shipments of 1,800,000 units of the album by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI), becoming the fifth best-selling album of 1986. In Canada, the album reached the top spot on the albums chart and remained there for seventeen weeks to become the longest stay at the summit by a female artist. On March 31, 1987, it was certified 10× platinum for sales of over one million copies, making it the best-selling album of 1986, and later Diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
(CRIA). Whitney Houston was also the 1986's top selling album in Australia, staying at number one of the Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
albums chart for eleven weeks, the longest stay by a female artist at the time. It became the first time an African American artist had a number 1 album in Australia. In Japan, the album was ranked number two on list of the 1986's best-selling album by a foreign artist, with a total of 450,000 units combined sales of LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
and Compact Cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, only behind Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's True Blue. Besides, the album reached the number one on the albums chart in Norway for ten weeks and Sweden for six weeks, the number two in Germany, Switzerland, and the number three in Austria and New Zealand. Worldwide, Whitney Houston has sold over 25 million copies, becoming one of the best selling albums in the 1980s. According to the Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
began tracking sales data in 1991, as of 2009, the album sold over 1,038,000 copies in the United States.
Grammy Awards
At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nomination—Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "Saving All My Love for You", Best Female R&B Vocal PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
for "You Give Good Love" and Best Rhythm & Blues Song for "You Give Good Love"—and won Houston's first Grammy, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. In addition, the album earned one nomination for Record of the Year for "Greatest Love of All" in 1987.
Best New Artist controversy
What caused controversy at the 28th Grammy Awards in February 1986 was the absence of Whitney Houston's name in Best New Artist category. Although Whitney Houston was her debut album released in 1985 and many people bet that she would be crowned Best New Artist, she was not nominated in that category because of her disqualification as a new artist. Upon hearing that Whitney Houston would be denied the opportunity to compete in the Best New Artist category for 1985, Clive DavisClive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
, then the president of Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, sent a letter of complaint to Michael Greene, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
(NARAS), and had been told that "Whitney was banished from the circle of newcomers because she had appeared as a duet guest vocalist on one song on Jermaine Jackson's album, and one on the comeback album by Teddy Pendergrass, both in the preceding year (1984)." He claimed that "Whitney was simply an unknown vocalist making a 'cameo' appearance on just one of eight or nine songs contained in a major artist's album. She was not even a member of a continuing artistic duo. [...] Whitney was merely a featured vocalist, not the artist, and certainly not the focal point of the song." But Green replied to him, writing "The rule that disqualified Whitney is perfectly clear. It reads: An artist is not eligible in the best new artist category if the artist had label credit or album credit, even if not as a featured artist, in a previous awards' year." Davis, on his commentary in Billbard magazine the issue of January 18, 1986, pointed out the misapplication of the literal meaning or the board of trustees' rules, stating that "[perfectly clear] is often a matter of opinion. [Through my review], it became obvious that this NARAS rule had been interpreted very liberally in the past." According to his review of each past winner and nominee, some artists such as Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
, the Power Station
Power Station (band)
Power Station was a 1980s supergroup made up of singer Robert Palmer, former Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John Taylor and Andy Taylor . Bernard Edwards, also of Chic, was involved on the studio side as recording producer. For a short time he also functioned as Power...
, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
and Crosby, Stills & Nash, had already received credits on other albums or been previously very well known as a member of other acts prior to their Grammy nominations. He added that "it is a conspicuous injustice that Whitney will not be getting her shot. When someone comes along and makes an impact such as Whitney has, it'll come as a big surprise to quite a few people that, according to the rules of NARAS, sometimes new isn't New." Despite Davis' coherent and well-founded refutation, the NARAS stuck by its decision to disallow Whitney Houston from competing for best new artst in the balloting. Green, in a statement, said that "The determination of eligibility or ineligibility in the best new artist category is not made capriciously or taken lightly. [...] If differences of opinion arise as to the extent of identity a solo artist may have had while with a previously release group, we take a vote and abide by the majority." Green noted firmly that "Houston's two duet recordings were entered in the 1984 Grammy Awards process for consideration for nomination. That alone was sufficient to make her ineligible this year for best new artist according to academy criteria. Aside from that, her performance on these recordings made a substantial contribution to their success and merit [with the Pendergrass duet achieving impressive chart positions on both the black and adult contemporary charts]." Finally, the NARAS nominated a-ha
A-ha
A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
, Freddie Jackson
Freddie Jackson
Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s...
, Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves was an English pop rock band, best known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine" and their 1997 Eurovision Song Contest victory with the song "Love Shine a Light".-Pre-history: The Waves and Mama's Cookin' :...
, Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon
John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...
and Sade
Sade (band)
Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....
for Best New Artist. The award went to Sade.
But after 1986, whenever the controversy involving Grammy Award for Best New Artist arose, Houston's ineligibility for that category was often mentioned. Those were the cases with the past winners such as 1988's Jody Watley
Jody Watley
Jody Vanessa Watley is an American, singer, songwriter, record producer, and founder of Avitone Records whose music crosses genres from Pop, R&B, Jazz, Dance and Electronic Soul....
and 1999's Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
, established their "public identities" through their work with Shalamar
Shalamar
Shalamar was an American music group, primarily of the 1970s and 1980s, that was originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator Don Cornelius. They went on to be an influential dance trio, masterminded by Soul Train producer Don Cornelius...
and the Fugees respectively. When Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne is an American singer, songwriter and actress. The success of the 1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, even though she had been active in the music industry for some time...
received the trophy in 2001, more than a decade after charting several singles on the country charts, so did it. Richard Marx
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
, ruled ineligible for nomination as Best New Artist in 1988, stuck it to the NARAS about their inconsistency, on the feature article about him of Orange Coast magazine, stating as follows: "[...] But so did Whitney Houston for the same reason. And frankly, I don't have a lot of respect for N.A.R.A.S., the Grammy people's ruling system, because it's so inconsistent. They deemed me and Whitney Houston ineligible, and yet they nominated Jody Watley, who made records with Shalamar." In 2000, Geoff Mayfield of Billboard magazine, on his column, criticized the NARAS for their vague application of criteria, commenting that "the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences need again to rewrite its definition of [new artists]." (The official guidelines read, "for a new artist who releases, during the eligibility year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.") He added that "the category has already had its twists and turns. In 1986 Whitney Houston was not considered because, prior to the release of 1985's Whitney Houston album, she had appeared on a Teddy Pendergrass single in 1984. But in '88 Jody Watley, who had been a lead vocalist in Shalamar which first charted in 1977, won the best new artist Grammy."
Singles
The label, wanting Houston to have a solid urban fanbase first, released "You Give Good LoveYou Give Good Love
"You Give Good Love" is a song by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, entitled Whitney Houston in the United States in February 1985 by Arista Records, and the second single from the album in the United Kingdom. The song was...
" as the first single. The soulful ballad would top the R&B chart and surprise the label by crossing over and reaching number three on the pop chart while the singer was playing at nightclubs in the United States. The jazzy-pop "Saving All My Love for You
Saving All My Love for You
"Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin with arrangement by Gene Page. It was originally a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978 on their album Marilyn & Billy...
" was released next and really put her on the map. The single was an even bigger success hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It would reach number one in the United Kingdom and was successful around the world. With her first number one, Houston began appearing on high profile talk shows and became the opening act for Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Osborne
Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:...
and Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
. "Thinking About You" was released as the single only to R&B-oriented radio stations. It peaked at number 10 on the Hot Black Singles chart and at number 24 on the Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart.
In the late 1985, "How Will I Know
How Will I Know
"How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,...
" was released as the third single officially. With its colorful and energetic video, the song brought the singer to the teens and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, which black artists have traditionally found tough to crack. It became another number one single for Houston, topping the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and Hot Black Singles chart respectively. The final single, "Greatest Love of All
Greatest Love of All
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
", would become the biggest hit off the album with a three week stay atop the Hot 100. As a result, it became the first debut album - and the first album by a female artist - ever to generate three number one singles. With "Greatest Love of All" and Houston's debut album both at #1 on the singles and albums chart, respectively, she became the first female artist to have the number one pop single and album simultaneously since Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner noted for her distinctive raspy vocal style. Some people have called her "The Female Rod Stewart" due to her raspy voice....
in 1982 with "Bette Davis Eyes
Bette Davis Eyes
"Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon and made popular by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes.-History:...
" and Mistaken Identity
Mistaken Identity (Kim Carnes album)
Mistaken Identity, released in 1981, is the sixth studio album by Kim Carnes.It spent four weeks as number one on Billboard magazine's Pop Albums chart, and was subsequently certified platinum...
. "All at Once" was released only to Adult Contemporary and Urban AC stations as a radio airplay-only single later in 1986. It received heavy airplay and can still be heard on AC stations. However the single received an official release in Japan and many European countries.
Promotions and appearances
| Date | Title | Details |
|---|---|---|
| February 12–16, 1985 | ― |
|
| April 5, 1985 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night.... |
|
| April 19, 1985 | Show Van de Maand (Dutch TV Show) |
Liesbeth List Elisabeth Dorathea List, generally known as Liesbeth List is a Dutch singer, stage actress and television personality. She became popular during the 1960s and frequently collaborated with Ramses Shaffy... , who called Whitney one of the best coming singers in 1985. The song was List's hit single released in 1971. Greatest Love of All "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer... ". |
| August 28, 1985 | The Late Night with David Letterman Late Night with David Letterman Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night... |
Saving All My Love for You "Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin with arrangement by Gene Page. It was originally a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978 on their album Marilyn & Billy... ". |
| September 15, 1985 | Silver Spoons Silver Spoons Silver Spoons is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982 to May 11, 1986 and in first-run syndication from September 15, 1986 to March 4, 1987... ("Head Over Heels": Season 4, Episode 1) |
Franklyn Seales Franklyn Seales was an American film, television and stage actor.-Career:Born on the island of St. Vincent, Seales attended Juilliard before appearing in various television productions of Shakespearean plays including Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew where he played the role of Petruchio... as Dexter Stuffins who falls "head over heels" with the gorgeous and sumptuous young Houston and follows her to LA. |
| December 4, 1985 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (Guest Host: Joan Rivers Joan Rivers Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries... ) |
|
| January 27, 1986 | The 13th American Music Awards American Music Awards of 1986 The 13th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 27, 1986.-Pop/Rock Category:-Soul/R&B Category:-Country Category:... |
Diana Ross Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway... , performed "How Will I Know How Will I Know "How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,... ". At the first part of her performance, the sound system had a problem little bit but she was finished the song with the audience's enthusiastic applause for her powerful voice and refined stage manners. |
| February 25, 1986 | The 28th Grammy Awards |
You Give Good Love "You Give Good Love" is a song by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, entitled Whitney Houston in the United States in February 1985 by Arista Records, and the second single from the album in the United Kingdom. The song was... " was nominated for "Best R&B Song" award, given to songwriter. Dionne Warwick Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.... , and Julian Lennon Julian Lennon John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal... . |
| April 5, 1986 | Champs-Elysées (French TV Talk-Show) |
France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... 's greatest pop icon, the beloved Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize... on this live talk-show, which was then the most watched Saturday evening show in France. Michel Drucker Michel Drucker, CQ is a popular French journalist and TV host.Michel Drucker was born in Vire, Calvados, in Normandy. Jacques Drucker, a doctor, is Michel's younger brother, and Jean Drucker, a TV top executive, is Michel's older brother. He started a journalistic career in 1965 at the ORTF as... over to the couch where drunken Serge was waiting. Gainsbourg sat down next to Houston and immediately said in heavily-accented English, "I want to f*** you". Houston was more than a little shocked by his rather crude display of appreciation, but she stayed nonetheless and sang a duet with him before the end of the show. |
| September 5, 1986 | The 3rd MTV Video Music Awards 1986 MTV Video Music Awards The 1986 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 5, 1986, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1985, to May 1, 1986. The show was hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, and Dweezil Zappa, and it emanated primarily from both The Palladium in New... |
MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Year, and it awarded the artist's whole body of work... " and "Best New Artist in a Video MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist is one of the four original general categories that have been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984... " for "How Will I Know", and won "Best Female Video". Gibson Amphitheatre The Gibson Amphitheatre is a theatre located in Universal City, California, USA. It seats up to 6,189 for concerts, including 6,089 chairback seats... in Universal City, California Universal City, California Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios... (The 1986's show emanated primarily from both the Palladium in New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... and the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City). |
Track listing
Musicians
- Main vocalSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
– Whitney HoustonWhitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among... - Vocals – Jermaine JacksonJermaine JacksonJermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, bassist, composer, a member of The Jackson 5, older brother of American pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and occasional film director...
, Teddy PendergrassTeddy PendergrassTheodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade... - ClarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
– John Barnes - KeyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
– Robbie BuchananRobbie BuchananRobbie Buchanan is a Canadian keyboardist, songwriter, arranger, and producer.Buchanan began playing the piano at the age of 6. He acquired his first paying gig as a pianist at the age of 12 playing 6 nights a week in Dawson City, Yukon Territory. While still a teenager, Buchanan joined a band...
, Randy KerberRandy KerberRandy Kerber is a composer, orchestrator, keyboard player, born September 25, 1958 in Encino, California, who has had a prolific career in the world of cinema...
, Yvonne Lewis, Richard MarxRichard MarxRichard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"... - Mary Canty
- Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
– Nathan EastNathan EastNathan Harrell East is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego... - SynthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
– Preston Glass - DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
– Ed Greene, John "J.R." Robinson, J.T. Lewis - Background vocals – Cissy HoustonCissy HoustonEmily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
, Jermaine Jackson, Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters, Yogi Lee - GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
– Paul Jackson, Jr.Paul Jackson, Jr.Paul Jackson, Jr. is a fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. Jackson knew by the age of fifteen that he wanted to become a professional musician...
, Dann HuffDann HuffDann Huff is an American musician, session musician, singer-songwriter and producer. For his work as a producer in the Country music genre he has won several awards including the Musician of the Year award in 2001 and 2004 at the Country Music Association Awards and the Producer of the Year award...
, Tim May, Ira Siegel, David Williams - Randy "The Emperor" JacksonRandy JacksonRandall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...
- PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
– Bashiri Johnson - Joe Lala
- Arranger rhythm/strings – Gene PageGene PageEugene Edgar "Gene" Page, Jr. was an influential conductor, composer, arranger and record producer most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s....
Jr. - Greg PhillinganesGreg PhillinganesGreg Phillinganes is an active session keyboardist in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Cass Technical High School, Detroit Michigan....
- Steve Rucker
- Corrado Rustici – synth/guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
– Tom ScottTom Scott (musician)Tom Scott is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor and bandleader of the west coast jazz/jazz fusion ensemble The L.A. Express.-Biography:Scott was born in Los Angeles, California...
, Ernie WattsErnie WattsErnest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist... - Louie Shelton
- Deborah Thomas
- Premik Russell Tubbs
- Electric bass – Freddie WashingtonFreddie Washington (bassist)"Ready" Freddie Washington is an American session bassist who has played with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Aaron Neville, Lionel Richie, Anita Baker, B.B...
Production
- Producers: Jermaine Jackson, Kashif, Michael Masser, Narada Michael Walden
- Executive producer: Clive DavisClive DavisClive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
- Engineers: Michael Barbiero, Michael Mancini, Michael O'Reilly, Russell Schmitt
- Mixing: Michael Barbiero, Michael O'Reilly, Bill Schnee
- Arranger: Gene Page Jr., Kashif, Narada Michael Walden
- Art direction: Donn Davenport
- Photographer: Garry GrossGarry GrossGarry Gross was an American fashion photographer who went on to specialize in dog portraiture.-Career:...
- Fashion stylist: Tiagi Lambert (Gown by Giovanne De Maura, Bathing Suit by Norma Kamali)
- Makeup: Quietfire
- Coordinator: Brenda Gorsky
- Hair sylist: Jeffrey Woodly
Chart positions
| Chart(s) (1985–86) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 3 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
13 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
2 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 11 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... (CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... ) |
2 |
| Japanese Albums Chart (LP LP record The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... ) |
4 |
| Japanese Albums Chart(CT Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel... ) |
6 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
3 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
1 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
1 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
2 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| U.S. Top Black Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1986) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 17 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 17 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart | 5 |
| U.S. Pop Albums | 1 |
| Chart (1987) | Position |
| Italian Albums Chart | 43 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (1980–1989) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 5 |
Certifications
| Region | Provider | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
4× Platinum |
| Austria | IFPI | Platinum |
| Belgium | Gold | |
| Canada | CRIA Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
10× Platinum (Diamond) |
| Denmark | IFPI | Gold |
| France | SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
Gold |
| Finland | IFPI | Gold |
| Germany | BVMI Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises.... |
Platinum |
| Italy | FIMI | 3× Platinum |
| Netherlands | NVPI NVPI The NVPI is the Dutch tradeassociation of the entertainment industry... |
Platinum |
| New Zealand | RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Platinum |
| Norway | IFPI | Platinum |
| South Africa | RiSA Recording Industry of South Africa The Recording Industry of South Africa is a trade association that represents the collective interests of producers of music sound recordings, major and independent record labels in South Africa. Formerly known as the Association of the South African Music Industry it was established in the 1970s... |
Gold |
| Sweden | IFPI | Platinum |
| Switzerland | Platinum | |
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
6× Platinum |
| United States | RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
13× Platinum (Diamond) |
Singles chart positions
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
US Dance |
CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
AUS Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
BEL VRT Top 30 The VRT Top 30 or Radio 2 Top 30 is a Belgian record chart that runs on the VRT, more specifically on Radio 2. The list is the new version of the old BRT Top 30, that changed along with the media group's name in 1992.... |
FRA |
GER |
IRL Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
ITA |
NED MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
NZ |
SWE |
SWI |
||
| 1985 | "You Give Good Love You Give Good Love "You Give Good Love" is a song by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, entitled Whitney Houston in the United States in February 1985 by Arista Records, and the second single from the album in the United Kingdom. The song was... " |
3 | 1 | 4 | ― | 7 | 93 | 58 | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 44 | ― | ― |
| "All at Once All at Once (Whitney Houston song) "All at Once" is a song written by Michael Masser and Jeffrey Osborne and recorded by Whitney Houston. It was released as a single in Japan and several European countries in 1986. While it did not receive an official single release domestically , the song did receive significant radio airplay... " |
― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | 2 | ― | ― | ― | 4[A] | 5 | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
| "Thinking About You" | ― | 10 | ― | 24 | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
| "Saving All My Love for You Saving All My Love for You "Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin with arrangement by Gene Page. It was originally a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978 on their album Marilyn & Billy... " |
1 | 1 | 1 | ― | 8 | 1 | 20 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 1 | ― | 16 | 10 | 5 | ― | 5 | |
| 1986 | "How Will I Know How Will I Know "How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,... " |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 20 | ― | 26 | 3 | 23 | 12 | 2 | 19 | 2 | 11 |
| "Greatest Love of All Greatest Love of All "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer... " |
1 | 2 | 1 | ― | 1 | 8 | 1 | 25 | 26 | ― | 30 | 4 | 13 | 24 | ― | 12 | 14 | 20 | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||||||
Note:
- A^ "All at Once" was never released as a single but charted In Italy at number four in March 1987, after Houston performed the song at Sanremo Music FestivalFestival della canzone italianaThe Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...
.
Chart procession and succession
American Black Achievement Awards
|-| width="35" align="center" | 1986 || Whitney Houston (herself) || The Music Award ||
|-
American Music Awards
Houston holds the record for the most nominations from one album, thirteen nominations, six in 1986, and seven in 1987 respectively for her debut album Whitney Houston.|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="6"|1986
American Music Awards of 1986
The 13th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 27, 1986.-Pop/Rock Category:-Soul/R&B Category:-Country Category:...
|| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist ||
|-
| Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Favorite Soul/R&B Album ||
|-
| "You Give Good Love
You Give Good Love
"You Give Good Love" is a song by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released as the lead single from her self-titled debut album, entitled Whitney Houston in the United States in February 1985 by Arista Records, and the second single from the album in the United Kingdom. The song was...
" || Favorite Soul/R&B Single ||
|-
|Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Soul/R&B Video Artist ||
|-
|"Saving All My Love for You
Saving All My Love for You
"Saving All My Love for You" is a song written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin with arrangement by Gene Page. It was originally a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978 on their album Marilyn & Billy...
" || Favorite Soul/R&B Video ||
|-
| width="35" align="center" rowspan="7"|1987
American Music Awards of 1987
The 14th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 26, 1987.-Pop/Rock Category:-Soul/R&B Category:-Country Category:...
|| Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Favorite Pop/Rock Album ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist ||
|-
| Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Favorite Soul/R&B Album ||
|-
| Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Soul/R&B Female Video Artist ||
|-
| "Greatest Love of All
Greatest Love of All
"The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The song was later popularized by Whitney Houston. Creed wrote the lyrics in the midst of her struggle with breast cancer...
" || Favorite Soul/R&B Video Single ||
|-
Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music AwardBillboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
s, based on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine's year-end charts, was not held before 1990. Nominated categories were those of which were ranked in Top 5 on the year-end charts. This is based on general numbers of nomination at the Billboard Music Awards.
|-
|width="35" align="center" rowspan="10"| 1985 ||rowspan="5"|Whitney Houston (herself)|| Top Black Artist of the Year ||
|-
| New Pop Artist ||
|-
| New Black Artist ||
|-
| Top Pop Album Artist - Female ||
|-
| Top Pop Singles Artist - Female ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Black Album ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Black Album Artist ||
|-
| Top Black Singles Artist ||
|-
| "You Give Good Love" || Top Black Single ||
|-
| "Saving All My Love for You" || Top Black Single ||
|-
|width="35" align="center" rowspan="11"|1986 || rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Pop Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Top Black Artist of the Year ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Pop Album[A] ||
|-
| rowspan="3"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Pop Album Artist ||
|-
|Top Pop Album Artist - Female ||
|-
|Top Pop Singles Artist - Female ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Black Album[A] ||
|-
| rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston (herself) || Top Black Album Artist ||
|-
| Top Adult Contemporary Artist ||
|-
| The #1 Video Hits || Top Music Videocassette ||
|-
| Whitney Houston || Top Pop Compact Disc ||
|-
- A^ Whitney Houston was the first album by a female artist and the first debut album to earn those distinctions in single year.
BRIT Awards (formerly "BPI Awards")
|-| width="35" align="center"|1987 || Whitney Houston (herself) || Best International Solo Artist ||
|-
Cash Box Magazine Year-End Charts
|-| width="35" align="center"|1986 || Whitney Houston || Top Pop Album of the Year ||
|-
Emmy Awards
|-| width="35" align="center"|1986
38th Primetime Emmy Awards
-Outstanding Comedy Series:*The Golden Girls**Cheers**The Cosby Show**Family Ties**Kate & Allie-Outstanding Drama Series:*Cagney & Lacey**Hill Street Blues**Moonlighting**Murder, She Wrote**St. Elsewhere...
||The 28th Annual Grammy Awards || Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program
Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program
This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program. Awards in this category from 1974 through 1978 were presented for Outstanding Supporting Actor or Actress in A Variety Show or Special...
||
|-
Grammy Awards
|-| width="35" align="center" rowspan="4"|1986 || Whitney Houston || Album of the Year ||
|-
| "Saving All My Love for You" || Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
||
|-
| rowspan="2"|"You Give Good Love" || |Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female ||
|-
| Best Rhythm & Blues Song ||
|-
| align="center"|1987 || "Greatest Love of All" || Record of the Year ||
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
|-| width="35" align="center" rowspan="2"|1986
1986 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1986 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 5, 1986, honoring the best music videos from May 2, 1985, to May 1, 1986. The show was hosted by MTV VJs Downtown Julie Brown, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, and Dweezil Zappa, and it emanated primarily from both The Palladium in New...
|| rowspan="2"|"How Will I Know
How Will I Know
"How Will I Know" is a song recorded by American recording artist Whitney Houston for her debut album, entitled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985. It was released by Arista Records in November that year, as the album's third single. Composed by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam,...
" || Best Female Video ||
|-
| Best New Artist in a Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist
The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist is one of the four original general categories that have been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984...
||
|-
NAACP Image Awards
|-| width="35" align="center"|1985 || Whitney Houston (herself) || |Outstanding New Artist
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding New Artist:...
|
|-
| width="35" align="center"|1986 || Whitney Houston (herself) || Outstanding Female Recording Artist
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Female Artist:-Stats:*As of 2011 ceremony, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys & Whitney Houston holds the records with the most wins at three.*Most Nominations**1. Mary J. Blige- 9 nominations...
||
|-
The National Association of Recording Merchandisers(NARM) Best Seller Awards
|-| width="35" align="center" rowspan="2"|1986 || rowspan="2"|Whitney Houston ||Best-selling Album by a New Artist ||
|-
|Best-selling Black Music Album by a Female Artist ||
|-
People's Choice Awards
|-| width="35" align="center"|1987 || Whitney Houston (herself) || Favorite Female Musical Performer (tied with Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
) ||
|-
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Awards
| Year | Date | Title | Format(s) | Award Description(s) | Result(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | June 24 | Whitney Houston | Album | Gold | |
| August 26 | Whitney Houston | Album | Platinum | ||
| November 1 | Whitney Houston | Album | 2× Multi-Platinum | ||
| 1986 | February 14 | Whitney Houston | Album | 3× Multi-Platinum | |
| March 24 | Whitney Houston | Album | 4× Multi-Platinum | ||
| May 1 | Whitney Houston | Album | 5× Multi-Platinum | ||
| June 12 | Whitney Houston | Album | 6× Multi-Platinum | ||
| September 18 | Whitney Houston | Album | 7× Multi-Platinum | ||
| 1987 | February 24 | Whitney Houston | Album | 8× Multi-Platinum | |
| 1988 | October 6 | Whitney Houston | Album | 9× Multi-Platinum | |
| 1994 | January 25 | Whitney Houston | Album | 10× Multi-Platinum | |
| November 29 | Whitney Houston | Album | 11× Multi-Platinum | ||
| 1995 | April 5 | Whitney Houston | Album | 12× Multi-Platinum | |
| December 6 | "You Give Good Love" | Single | Gold | ||
| "Saving All My Love for You" | Single | Gold | |||
| "How Will I Know" | Single | Gold | |||
| "Greatest Love of All" | Single | Gold | |||
| 1999 | January 15 | Whitney Houston | Album | Diamond | |
| July 29 | Whitney Houston | Album | 13× Multi-Platinum | ||
Rolling Stone Magazine Readers/Critics Picks
|-| width="35" align="center"|1986 || Whitney Houston || Best Album of the Year ||
|-
Soul Train Music Awards
|-| width="35" align="center" rowspan="2"|1987 || Whitney Houston || Album of the Year, Female ||
|-
| "Greatest Love of All" || Single of the Year, Female ||
|-
Billboard Magazine Year-End Charts
Categories which Houston was ranked #1, were excluded. See above awards list if you want to know her #1-ranked-categories.| Year | Category | Work | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Top Pop Artists of the Year | three charted albums & singles | #21 |
| Top Black Artists of the Year | four charted albums & singles | #4 | |
| Top Pop Albums | Whitney Houston | #29 | |
| Top Pop Album Artists | Whitney Houston | #32 | |
| Top Pop Singles Artists | two charted singles | #19 | |
| Top Pop Singles | "Saving All My Love for You" | #23 | |
| "You Give Good Love" | #47 | ||
| Top Pop Album Artists - Female | Whitney Houston | #5 | |
| Top Pop Singles Artists - Female | two charted singels | #3 | |
| Top Black Singles Artists | three charted singles | #3 | |
| Top Black Singles | "You Give Good Love" | #2 | |
| "Saving All My Love for You" | #5 | ||
| Top Black Albums | Whitney Houston | #4 | |
| Top Black Album Artists | Whitney Houston | #5 | |
| Top Adult Contemporary Singles | "You Give Good Love" | #16 | |
| "Saving All My Love for You" | #27 | ||
| Top Adult Contemporary Artists | two charted singles | #7 | |
| Top Compact Disc Pop | Whitney Houston | #25 | |
| 1986 | Top Black Artists of the Year | five charted singles & albums | #2 |
| Top Pop Singles Artists | three charted singles | #7 | |
| Top Pop Singles | "How Will I Know" | #6 | |
| "Greatest Love of All" | #11 | ||
| Top Pop Singles Artists - Female | three charted singles | #3 | |
| Top Black Singles | "How Will I Know" | #29 | |
| "Greatest Love of All" | #46 | ||
| Top Black Singles Artists | four charted singles | #7 | |
| Top Dance Sales Singles/Albums | "How Will I Know" (Remix) | #41 | |
| Top Dance Club Play Singles/Albums | "How Will I Know" (Remix) | #46 | |
| Top Adult Contemporary Singles | "Greatest Love of All" | #7 | |
| "How Will I Know" | #19 | ||
| Top Adult Contemporary Artists | three charted singles | #3 | |
| Top Pop Compact Disc | Whitney Houston | #2 | |
| Top Videocassette Sales | Whitney Houston The #1 Video Hits | #40 | |
| 1987 | Top Pop Albums | Whitney Houston | #22 |
| Top Music Videocassettes | Whitney Houston The #1 Video Hits | #5 | |
See also
- List of best-selling albums worldwide
- List of best-selling albums in the United States
- List of Top 40 albums for 1980–1989 in Australia
External links
- Whitney Houston at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Whitney Houston at MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
- Accolades: Whitney Houston at Acclaimed Music
- The 25 Best-Selling Albums of All-Time: Whitney Houston at Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...