Before backpacks stuffed with pressure cookers and ball bearings blew limbs from people at the Boston Marathon. This is before 111 individuals were injured by a bomb made of nails and screws at the Atlanta Olympics. Before six people died in the World Trade Center bombing. This is how many of her fans prefer to remember her. Houston would go on to have a demonstrably bigger hit-you know the one-but she never again sounded so alive, so on-fire, so free. This is basically a sequel to “How Will I Know” - same producer (Narada Michael Walden), two of the same writers (George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam) - but it's even better. The smash brought Houston her second Grammy in three years for best pop vocal performance, female. That added intensity made it an all-time classic. Houston’s opening yelp signals unbridled joy, a mid-song growl shows desire. With that succinct but to-the-point direction, Houston sings with urgency and heat. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" ( Whitney 1987)Ĭlive Davis knew that this joy-bomb could be something special, but he didn’t want it to be just a jaunty toe-tapper like, say, Olivia Newton-John’s 1982 hit “Make a Move On Me.” So had one note for Houston: When you sing “dance,” you’re not really singing about dancing. 1 herself, on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart (twice), she says Houston's cover "took it and made it so much more than what it would ever have been." That the song became fans' adopted requiem to Houston when she died in 2012 is, ultimately, as "bittersweet" as Parton's tear-soaked lyrics ever were. While original songwriter Dolly Parton took the song to No.
And it just builds from there into a master class of vocal runs, with the perfect ratio of power notes to falsetto flourishes, while never losing touch of the song's heartbreaking message of eternal, unconditional love. As the musical lynchpin of the Whitney-starring Bodyguard movie and its blockbuster soundtrack, Houston's "I Will Always Love You" packs a poignant punch right out of the gate with its impeccably sung, unmistakable a cappella intro. 1 on the Hot 100 and is still the best-selling single ever by a female artist, but its true legacy is its cultural and emotional resonance. There's no overstating the commercial impact of this song, which spent a then-record 14 weeks at No. "I Will Always Love You" ( The Bodyguard soundtrack, 1992) The ad-libs toward the end gave a hint of what was to come, but it was enough to propel her to the top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and a No. The opening track on Whitney Houston's self-titled 1985 debut, "You Give Good Love" is an exemplar of mid-'80s balladry, with light synths and a gentle, easy groove providing the bedrock for Houston to show off just an ounce of her firm, confident vocal prowess. "You Give Good Love" ( Whitney Houston, 1985) Blige's similarly themed smash "Just Fine" a couple years down the road. 72 on the Hot 100 - but it feels like a nice warmup for Mary J.
Might've been a little too muted for pop success - the song topped out at No. The breezy opener to Whitney's first album of the 21st century is a rare slice of total R&B serenity, Whitney taking a break from the drama (with some relaxed-groove assistance from producer Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs) to get a mani-pedi and just live life for a moment. "One of Those Days" ( Just Whitney, 2002) The conceit is clever, the vocals are massive, and the key changes are as plentiful as you could ever hope for. "Same Script, Different Cast" with Deborah Cox ( Whitney: The Greatest Hits, 2000)Ī less-hyped diva-down than "When You Believe," 2000's "Same Script, Different Cast" with Deborah Cox is actually the much richer of the two duets, the two R&B powerhouses trading runs over "Fur Elise" piano on a (somewhat literally) theatrical romantic triangle drama. But when you're belting out an against-the-odds ode to victory for the whole damn planet, that's not the name of the game. and a top 5 hit Stateside), this regal, stately ballad delivered for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea went a long way toward establishing Houston as a breathtaking vocal dynamo on the global stage for those who slept on her first two albums. "One Moment In Time" ( 1 988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment In Time, 1988)Ī massive international hit (No. Mariah Carey and Houston beautifully trade runs and choruses, blending their talents into one gorgeous ballad. "When You Believe" - the powerhouse duet featured on the soundtrack of the underrated 1998 animated film The Prince of Egypt - rightfully kicks off with Whitney Houston's slow-burn vocals. There may be miracles when you combine two of the greatest female vocalists of our time on one song.
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