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WHITNEY HOUSTON

There is a reason why Whitney Houston was known as The Voice. Her command of melody and key was legendary, and she had the vocal power to blast down mountains.

Born in New Jersey on 9 August 1963, Houston had singing in the blood - her mother was gospel singer Cissy Houston, she counted iconic soul vocalist Dionne Warwick as a cousin and her godmother was Wall of Sound era star Darlene Love.

Whitney's legacy as a vocalist stands for itself, across the seven studio albums released in her lifetime, she managed to straddle both the worlds of commercial pop and R&B, breaking down barriers for Black women in pop music and opening the doors for future superstars like Mariah Carey and Beyoncé.

Whitney's UK chart debut came in August 1985 with You Give Good Love, then three months later in the November of that year, Whitney would achieve not only her first UK Top 10 hit, but a Number 1, with Saving All My Love For You - the first of four UK Number 1 singles for Whitney Houston. Whitney's other chart toppers included some of her most well-known and timeless classics; the effervescent joy of I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), 1988 Olympics anthem One Moment In Time, and the bone-shaking, career-defining power of Dolly Parton cover I Will Always Love You. 

As well as her four Number 1s, Whitney delivered a slew of 18 Top 10 singles in total, including the sunshine bounce of How Will I Know, the devastating I Have Nothing, empowering female kiss-off anthem It's Not Right But It's Okay and many more. Take in the full list below. 

As well as a successful singles career in the UK, Whitney enjoyed two UK Number 1 albums with 1987's Whitney, which spent six weeks at the top of the Official Albums Chart, and also her 2000 Greatest Hits collection.

But legends do not stay with us forever; following her too-soon passing in 2012 aged just 48, Whitney left a legacy of trailblazing glory. And best of all...The Voice. We will never hear another like it.

WHITNEY HOUSTON Songs stats

UK No1s
4
UK Top 10s
18
UK Top 40s
33
UK Top 75s
36
Weeks at No1
16
Weeks in the Top 10
88
Weeks in the Top 40
252
Weeks in the Top 75
378

WHITNEY HOUSTON Albums stats

UK No1s
2
UK Top 10s
8
UK Top 40s
12
UK Top 75s
13
Weeks at No1
8
Weeks in the Top 10
96
Weeks in the Top 40
399
Weeks in the Top 75
865

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JW

James Wilson

2

I wish someone would add more detail to the blurb for her above. Madonna's blurb is like 10 times more detailed. I appreciate Madonna's chart longevity is legendary, but Whitney is more deserving that this little footnote that refers more to her famous relations than her actual achievements.

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whitneyUK

1

I agree. And they need to put a better and more iconic picture from the 80's or 90's.

M

mehaan

0

higher love ended up being one of her biggest hits but she is dead now

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Sunshine Gal

0

OK official charts won’t let me post the link but everyone go on YouTube and type in ‘Whitney Houston Johnny Carson’. It should have a performance of her first US top 10 hit you give good love back in early 1985. To give you all an idea on how good she sounded on the radio back then, this performance is the closest thing to it 🥰🥰. She sounded amazing singing live & on the radio back then the quality was exactly the same! THAT’S why she was so big here....And nobody sounded like her until Mariah Carey and Celine Dion came about here in the early 90s

LJ

Lisa Jones

2

Master Vocalist with an interesting catalog with brushes of r&B, dance, pop and gospel!

青

青木修

1

actually why the bogyguard soundtrack album was not on this charts everywhere?

TS

Tom Sam

2

The UK has a separate chart for soundtracks and various artists compilations, so it was #1 there. If one day they decided to credit it as a Whitney Houston album it would count as a #1 album with 8 weeks at no.1 on the main albums chart. It's considered as a Whitney album all over the world so hopefully the UK will eventually count it too. They did make an exception for The Preacher's Wife soundtrack since Whitney sang the whole album. I understand not counting Waiting to Exhale but The Bodyguard should definitely count.

青

青木修

0

Thank you for the detailed explanation

TS

Tom Sam

0

You're welcome!

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DamionThorn

-2

Um, it is NOT a Whitney album at all. It is a soundtrack that features a number of other artists and thus, should be treated as a soundtrack by various artists. Again, it is NOT a "Whitney" album.

青

青木修

0

I can understand what you mean by becoming a "soundtrack" as a credit for a hit chart. But it's a shame We can't reveal that this soundtrack belongs to her.

TS

Tom Sam

0

Yes in the UK they don't count it yet as a "Whitney album" but in the whole rest of the world they do count it and it's listed in her album discography and in her album chart stats. The UK has only 0.87% of the world population so 99.13% of the world count it as a Whitney album and know that she is the one who made it the huge success it was and not the other artists. The album of the year Grammy for The Bodyguard also went to Whitney and not the other artists. Have a nice day.

TS

Tom Sam

4

The huge success of Higher Love shows that Whitney's talent will shine forever. The immortal diva.

SC

Stephen Curtis

0

….or that a good song is a good song whoever sings it

TS

Tom Sam

0

Let's hear your version...

A

addickted2hcharlton

1

She aint my favourite singer, I mean I prefer Donna meself but thass cos she ad a deeper voice than Whitney n she wasn't juss the disco queen but then thass cos she was underrated. Whitney's best song which should ave been uge over ere was I Belong To You n thass all there is to it. Lover for Life is a good one n all. I aint that keen on Igher Love, she sounds a bit like Jesse J on this cover.

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Sunshine Gal

-1

i'm really surprised on the 4 #1's :0! over here, she's still the only artist to notch 7 straight #1's (from 1985-88). and some of her biggest u.s. hits didn't seem to reciprocate in the uk: you give good love, how will i know, the greatest love of all, i wanna dance with somebody....interesting!

S

Seso

1

"I wanna dance with somebody" was number one here (UK), and How Will I Know was still quite a big hit that got played a lot. The Greatest Love of All was also top ten but it was a slushy cheesy song and didn't deserve to do as well as her brighter uptempo songs.

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Sunshine Gal

-1

i disagree about 'the greatest love of all'...it's one of her very best! and one of her biggest hits over here in the u.s.

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Sunshine Gal

-1

you gotta remember it was in 1986 when 'the greatest love of all' came out. i was 11 that year and lemme tell ya: we had LOTS of great and talented singers in the 80s...she was the best vocalist out of everyone. no other way to put it. when that song came out i was smitten! she was a huge childhood idol of mine.

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Mac Davis

0

Her 7 consecutive #1s were bought and paid for by Clive Davis and Arista Records. The chart calculations had change to favour airplay, its used to be a more 50/50 (airplay/sales). Houston only had 1 gold single in the US in 1980s (I million seller). Those 7 # 1s only spent a total of 13 weeks on top of the charts. Very different from the Beatles or the Bee Gees who had 6, which was more organic, and not due to being pushed and promoted by business dealings. She only charted one song in the top 100 songs of the 80's in the US, I Wanna Dance With Somebody at #95.

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Sunshine Gal

0

really...? so why did it take her a year to make it in the top 10? just so you know i was alive back then and bought her first album...why didn't 'you give good love' go to #1 then? since clive davis 'paid' for those #1s?

btw, whitney was the best vocalist you'd hear on the radio back then, THAT'S why she has so many hits. don't come @ me with like that and i was there and you weren't.

and you're forgetting one thing: in the 80s, singles weren't big sellers, you'd buy the ALBUM. :) i bought her first album, i didn't buy all the singles separately. so why was her first album (at the time) the top selling debut album of all time?? people didn't like her music or something? it's just because clive davis bought all her success??

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Sunshine Gal

0

you don't get it: after 'how will i know' became a big hit here in america, she's already a huge pop star here! clive davis had little to do with, otherwise the previous batch of singles they released the year prior would've been top 10 and #1 hits. 'how will i know' was an infectious pop song and mtv also played the heck out of that vid.

you make it sound like nobody liked her in the 80s and it was all because of clive davis paying the radio stations to play her music. i bought her 2nd album in 1987 when the first single 'i wanna dance with somebody' was a huge hit...so clive davis paid off u.s. radio for that one too? really? or did u.s. radio play her music because she was just that good?

i was there in the 80s here in america and what i saw was whitney becoming a huge pop star and then becoming an even bigger pop star after the bodyguard comes out. so clive davis paid off u.s. radio for that one too? people didn't just like the soundtrack cuz her singing was just that good? wow, and to think when i went to see the movie, just about everyone couldn't believe how much of a better singer she was...i don't recall anyone saying anything about clive davis ;)

just don't come @ me with stupid unless you have some proof to back up what you say. she was one of the biggest artists here in the states and if her success was all bought by clive davis, then her album would've been a huge success in 1984 WHEN it was released, not 1 year later. she was even an opening act for another lesser known artist on arista in 1984...so why didn't i hear about her in 1984 then? why wasn't she on mtv in 1984? why only in 1985? cuz it took many pre-internet artists about a year to make it on the mainstream level...she's not the only one.

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Mac Davis

0

LOL, much of your comment makes little sense to anyone but yourself. Do you have problem with the truth? Her entire career is owed to Clive Davis. Houston is the most promoted artist in pop music history in the US. Davis took out adds in Billboard Magazine for 3 consecutive months. She wasn't played on MTV until December 1985, How Will I Know. That video, Clive smartly hired Brian Grant to do the video. He was an MTV favourite and was responsible for winning the first Grammy Award for a video, and for the first video by a black female to be placed in heavy rotation on MTV, Donna Summer - She Works Hard for the Money, Aug 1983. Her first 2 videos did not make rotation on MTV. After she appeared on MTV, her album started to sell, and went to #1, that was over a year after it had been released. Her debut album was released in February 1985, you don't seem to know what you are talking about. You also don't seem to know how to articulate it, in writing. Oh and you seemed to put a lot of words in my comment that are not there !

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Mac Davis

0

You were alive ? Were you conscious ? Best female vocalists I heard on the radio in the 80s, Linda Ronstadt, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Pat Benatar, Ann Wilson; there are many others Laura Branigan, Taylor Dayne, Regina Belle etc. This is not Wikipedia, where the hyperbole is thick, it's reality. People have different opinions. But the reality of the charts are there for all to see.( You've come hear to complain, cuz you don't like what the UK Charts are telling you). Singles sales in the US market started there decline in the second half of the 1980s. The Billboard chart calculations (Hot 100) also started to favour airplay during that time. Albums sales stared to increase at that time. Perhaps you should ask the interns who work at Arista Records at the time, how Whitney Houstons 7 #1s, came about. You wouldn't like what they had to say; had the Hot 100, not changed their charts calculations, it's doubtful that would have ever occurred. Don't know why that would upset you. Oh and just so you know, she was not among the top 12 artists on the American Top 40 in the 1980s - Michael Jackson, Madonna, Hall & Oates, Prince, George Micheal/Wham, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Elton John, Phil Collins, John Cougar, Huey Lewis & the News, Kool and the Gang. They were the biggest hitmakers in the US in the 1980s. Like your friends at Wikipedia you seem to have selective memory or be married to the lies printed on her bio page on Wikipedia. Like the one where she broke the colour barrier on MTV for black females ... how is that even a possibility ?, when her first video (played on MTV) How Will I Know was played in heavy rotation on January 15, 1986. Some 2 years and 5 months after the first one...

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Sunshine Gal

-1

nobody could hold a candle to her vocally and THAT'S why she has those 7 straight #1s. and her first vid was 'you give good love', not 'how will i know'...'how will i know' was her first really big mtv and radio hit.

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Sunshine Gal

-1

look, NOBODY could hold a candle to whitney. and yes i do remember donna summer on mtv back then, but WHITNEY was the first real female black pop star. anyway, this is wasting my time even writing this...i've been a hot 100 fan for a long time and even been on the billboard disqus page for many years and you're the VERY first person to ever complain that she was somehow mediocre and didn't really deserve all her success.

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Mac Davis

0

How Will I Know was her first video that made MTV's rotation list. The other 2 didn't make rotation. Saving All My Love for You was, her first #1 hit in the US. And you were 10 years old in 1986, but you want to tell everyone how it was ?? That doesn't make much sense.

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Mac Davis

0

LOL, The Modern era began in 1964. Diana Ross and the Supremes were the first black female superstars of the modern era. In the US market, for solo females Dionne Warwick (Houston's cousin) and Aretha Franklin were among the black females that rose to stardom, along with Marilyn McCoo and the Fifth Dimension who won 2 record of year Grammy's in 68 & 70. In the early 70s, Diana Ross went solo, Roberta Flack and Gladys Knight were huge. Roberta being the first artist to win back to back Record of the year Grammy's in 73 & 74.(this is not to say these ladies didn't have a following worldwide), but the market was different back then. Donna Summer was the first female mega star in pop, selling million worldwide and being a top 10 artists on the pop charts worldwide for 76,77,78 & 79. Conversely Houston had 2 years in the 80s, 86 & 87; 2 years in the 90s, 92 & 93. Donna was also the first female (not just black female) to dominate the Billboard charts. To put it in perspective, they were only 2 solo female artists that would fill huge stadiums in 70s. Linda Ronstadt and Donna Summer. Stadium rock (concerts) became a thing in the 70s. Now if you would like me to explain how Donna dominated the charts I can. But you seem to have trouble with facts. Not once have I complain or said Whitney was mediocre. Like I said, putting word in my comment that aren't there. I am delivering facts. Perhaps being such a fan of the Hot 100, you should take trip through the archives. I am sorry, but the hyperbole (most probably from reading wikipedia)..."Whitney was the first real female black pop star"....LOL

TS

Tom Sam

1

Clive Davis tried to make artists like Deborah and Jennifer Hudson into huge superstars but failed. Whitney became a superstar for a reason. It's because she the greatest singer of all-time. Nothing was going to stop her even if she signed a record deal somewhere else. Have a nice day.

TS

Tom Sam

0

Sorry but Whitney's success in the industry rivaled the men. Dionne, Donna, Diana, Aretha weren't selling 20 million copies per album... Whitney took female superstardom to a whole level (alongside Madonna). Whitney was huge all over the world.

A

addickted2hcharlton

1

Yeah I much prefer Donna Summer meself n I miss er so much n all. I play Donna music every day she could sing everythin ad a far better voice than Ouston no doubt abahrt it. Donna was a Queen n could sing jazz, rock, gospel, soul, you name it she sings it. Ere are I can't wait to ear them Wanderer remixes ahrt October 16th over ere.

A

addickted2hcharlton

0

Nah she aint, Donna ad a better voice n paved the way for singers like er but Queen Donna Summer was always underrated by the black community on ere n elsewhere.

A

addickted2hcharlton

1

Yeah but she is, Donna is so much better. Thass why singers like Jessie Ware look up to er cos of all she ad put up with in the music business, Donna worked really ard for er money, Ouston ad it all on a plate.

A

addickted2hcharlton

1

Donna sold over 150m records world wide that aint bad so she deserves some credit on ere,

A

addickted2hcharlton

1

Nah Donna was always a better singer n proved it with Lass Dance, she could old er notes n sing igh n low n all.

A

addickted2hcharlton

1

Iss Donna Summer all the way for a2c n always will be, greatest underrated singer ever,

LJ

Lisa Jones

2

Crazed haters don't want to and will never properly address that fact! Clive has been behind SO MANY artists in the industry yet STILL had their projects and/or careers fail. Whitney became his most successful artist because of what Whitney [and her mother] already cultivated in her! She STILL is a one of a kind vocalist and superstar. You know she's one of the greatest when some people still try to re-write history and create strange fantasies on this lady.

LJ

Lisa Jones

2

That poster [Wack Davis...I meant Mac Davis] has got his diva's mixed up and his emotions! You have to laugh at the lunacy.

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Sunshine Gal

0

I was just re-reading all the comments on that page and I still stand behind everything I said about Whitney Houston. I was 10 years old in 1985 when she became a huge popstar here in America and nobody else sounded like her on the radio, nobody.

Plus Arista had released about three or four singles before ‘you give good love’ peaked in the top five & all those singles flopped. And she was still a good singer she just wasn’t able to make any impression on US radio during that time in 1984. So this that Clive Davis paid for her success is ridiculous! She wasn’t a household name here in America until you give good love became a big hit in 1985.

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Sunshine Gal

0

I’m using my microphone feature on my phone so some of my post may come out funny or repetitive😂😂

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Sunshine Gal

0

I remember Whitney Houston on the radio here in America when her first album was gaining momentum and in my honest opinion nobody sounded like her on the radio. YouTube really doesn’t do her any justice especially her early hits

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Sunshine Gal

0

That’s right! Whitney‘s first album went 11x platinum back then and at that time was not only the top selling debut album in America but the top selling album for a female artist. But it took her about a year to reach the top 10 on both the 200 album charts & the hot 100. That’s why this that Clive Davis paid for her success doesn’t make any sense otherwise it would’ve been a huge success right from the beginning in 1984

R

Ronnie

0

DIVA