Whitney Houston Greatest Hits

Whitney Houston Greatest Hits Overview

Whitney Houston Photo
Whitney Houston Photo

This is a review of Whitney Houston greatest hits and her career as a singer and a recording artist. She also was an actress and model. She is one of the world’s best-selling music artists with over 200 million records sold worldwide. Whitney in her career released six studio albums, one holiday album, and three movie soundtrack albums all have diamond, multi-platinum, or gold certification.

She is the only artist to chart seven consecutive number one hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Whitney is also the first female artist to have an album “Whitney” to debut at number one on Billboard 200 Albums chart. She also became the first act or solo artist to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period under the Nielsen SoundScan system. Here is her story…

Early Childhood

She was born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, and died on February 11, 2012 at the age of 48. She was the second child born to John Russell Houston, and Cissy Houston, a gospel singer. Whitney has two older brothers “Gary Garland”, who is also a singer, and “Michael Houston”.

Whitney Houston Color Photo
Whitney Houston Color Photo

At the age of 11, she began performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. While there, she learned to play the piano. Her first church singing solo was singing “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”.  She attended the “Mount Saint Dominic Academy” a Catholic girls’ high school in Caldwell, New Jersey. During this time her mother continued to teach her how to sing. Whitney was exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Night, and Roberta Flack which would have an influence on her as singer and performer.

Whitney spent some time in nightclubs with her mother and would sing with her. At the age of 14, she became a backup singer on the Michael Zager Band single “Life’s Party” in 1977. The following year, she sang backup vocals on Chaka Khan hit single “I’m Every Woman”, which she would later turn into a hit for herself in 1993 a top ten song peaking at #4 on the Hot 100 chart.

Singing Career

In the early 1980s, Houston started working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother. She appeared in “Seventeen” and became one of the first women of color to grace the cover of the magazine. She was also featured in layouts in the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss, and appeared in a Canada Dry soft drink TV commercial.

Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw her performing at a New York nightclub with her mother and was impressed. He convinced Arista Records head “Clive Davis” to see Houston perform and he also was impressed and she was signed to a worldwide recording contract in 1983. Her first recorded single with Arista was “Hold Me” and became a top 5 hit on the R&B chart, and #46 on the Hot 100 chart in 1984.

Her first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 chart was “You Give Good Love” which was #3 in 1985 and was on the charts for 21 weeks. Whitney’s first number one Hot 100 hit song was her next release “Saving All My Love For You” which topped the charts for 1 week in 1985. Her next song was “How Will I Know”  also went to #1 for 2 weeks, in 1985. She followed that hit with “Greatest Love Of All” which was number one for three weeks in 1986. Her fourth consecutive #1 hit was “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and stayed at #1 for two weeks in 1987. Her next song “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” was her 5th consecutive #1 hit song for two weeks, also in 1987. Her sixth consecutive #1 hit was “So Emotional” was #1 for one week in 1987, giving Whitney three number one songs in the same year. Her seventh consecutive number one song was “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” released in 1988, and stayed on top for two weeks.

Her All-time Career Best Song

I Will Always Love You Photo Album Whitney Houston
I Will Always Love You Photo Album Whitney Houston

In 1992, Whitney appeared in the film “The Bodyguard” with Kevin Costner and received horrible reviews for her acting. But, in that film he sang the song “I Will Always Love You” which was written and recorded by Dolly Parton in 1974. Houston’s version of the song set a record for topping Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for 14 weeks, beating Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” in 1956, at eleven weeks. The song also established a record on the R&B charts by topping it for eleven weeks and it also was number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for five weeks.

The song was certified platinum four times by the RIAA, making Whitney the first woman with a single to reach that level, and becoming the best-selling single by a woman in the U.S. The song also became a global success, hitting number one in almost all countries and selling over 12 million copies. The Album’s soundtrack sold over 44 million copies worldwide making “The Bodyguard” the biggest selling album by a female act, and topping Shania Twain’s 40 million sold with “Come On Over”.

I Will Always Love You Words
I Will Always Love You Words

Her Recording Career

Whitney’s last #1 song was “Exhale”, in 1995, and stayed on top of the charts for 1 week. Her last top ten hit was “My Love Is Your Love” in 1999 at #4, and was on the chart for 28 weeks. Her last Hot 100 recorded single was “Million Dollar Bill” in 2009 at #100. She recorded “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” in 2009 which hit the Bubbling Under chart at #119.

All told, on the Hot 100 chart, Whitney Houston had a total of 11 #1’s, 23 top 10, 27 top 20, 32 and top 40 hits. She also had a total of eight top ten albums. Billboard ranks Whitney Houston as the #14 artist from 1980-1989, the #5 artist from 1990-1999, and the #13 artist of all-time from 1955-2010.

On the Adult Contemporary chart, Whitney Houston had 10#1’s, 23 Top 10, 25 Top 20, and 26 Top 40 hits. She is the #18 artist of all-time from 1961-2001.

On the R&B chart, Whitney had 8#1’s, 26 Top 10, 30 Top 20, and 39 Top 40 hits. She is ranked as the #25 artist from 1980-1989, the #5 artist from 1990-1999, and the #22 artist of all-time from 1942-2010.

Number One & Top Ten Songs

This is a complete listing of all of Whitney’s number one and top ten songs on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and R&B charts. The list will include the title, date song first hit #1, number of weeks at #1 (), and the year. #1 songs will be in bold, and weeks at #2, & #3 in ()

Hot 100 Chart

  1. You Give Good Love – May 11, 1985 #3 (1)
  2. Saving All My Love For You – October 26, 1985 #1 (1)
  3. How Will I Know – February 15, 1986 #1 (2)
  4. Greatest Love Of All – May 17, 1986 #1 (3)
  5. I Wanna Dance With Somebody – June 27, 1987 #1 (2)
  6. Don’t We Almost Have it All – September 26, 1987 #1 (2)
  7. So Emotional – January 9, 1988 #1 (1)
  8. Where Do Broken Hearts Go – April 23, 1988 #1 (2)
  9. Love Will Save The Day – July 2, 1988 #9
  10. One Moment In Time – September 10, 1988 #5
  11. I’m Your Baby Tonight – December 1, 1990 #1 (1)
  12. All The Man That I Need – February 23, 1991 #1 (2)
  13. I Will Always Love You – November 28, 1992#1  (14)
  14. I’m Every Woman – January 9, 1993 #4
  15. I Have Nothing – February 27, 1993 #4
  16. Exhale (Shoop Shoop) – November 25, 1995 #1 (1)
  17. Count On Me – March 23, 1996 #8
  18. I Believe In You And Me – December 26, 1996 #4
  19. Heartbreak Hotel – December 26, 1998 #2 (3)
  20. It’s Not Right But It’s Okay – May 8, 1999 #4
  21. My Love Is Your Love – September 9, 1999 #4

Adult Contemporary Chart

  1. Hold Me w/Teddy Pendergrass – June 30, 1984 #6
  2. You Give Good Love – May 11, 1985 #4
  3. Saving All My Love For You – October 25, 1985 #1 (3)
  4. How Will I Know – February 15, 1986 #1 (1)
  5. Greatest Love Of All – April 26, 1986 #1 (5)
  6. I Wanna Dance With Somebody – July 4, 1987 #1 (3)
  7. Didn’t We Almost Have it All – September 19, 1987 #1 (3)
  8. So Emotional – October 31, 1987 #8
  9. Where Do Broken Hearts Go – April 2, 1988 #1 (3)
  10. Love Will Save The Day – July 2, 1988 #10
  11. One Moment In Time – October 29, 1988 #1 (2)
  12. I’m Your Baby Tonight – October 20, 1990 #7
  13. All The Man I Need – February 16, 1991 #1 (4)
  14. Miracle – April 13, 1991 #4
  15. I Will Always Love You – December 19, 1992 #1 (5)
  16. I Have Nothing – May 1, 1993 #1 (2)
  17. Run To You – June 19, 1993 #9
  18. Exhale (Shoop Shoop) – November 4, 1995 #5
  19. Count On Me w/Cece Winans – March 16, 1996 #4
  20. Why Does It Hurt So Bad – July 27, 1996 #6
  21. I Believe In you And Me – December 14, 1996 #2 (1)
  22. When You Believe w/Mariah Carey – November 14, 1998 #3
  23. Could I Have This Kiss Forever w/Enrique Iglesias – June 3, 2000 #10

R&B Chart

  1. Hold Me w/Teddy Pendergrass – June 2, 1984 #5
  2. You Give Good Love – May 25, 1985 #1 (1)
  3. Thinking About You – October 19, 1985 #10
  4. How Will I Know – March 8, 1986 #1 (1)
  5. Greatest Love Of All – April 5, 1986 #3 (1)
  6. I Wanna Dance With Somebody – May 16, 1987 #2 (2)
  7. Didn’t We Almost Have It All – August 1, 1987 #2 (1)
  8. So Emotional – November 7, 1987 #5
  9. Where Do Broken Hearts Go – March 5, 1988 #2 (1)
  10. Love Will Save The Day – July 2, 1988 #5
  11. It Isn’t It Wasn’t It Ain’t Never Gonna Be w/Aretha Franklin – July 1, 1989 #5
  12. I’m Your Baby Tonight – December 1, 1990 #1 (2)
  13. All The Man That I Need – March 2, 1991 #1 (2)
  14. Miracle – April 13, 1991 #2 (2)
  15. My Name Is Not Susan – July 27, 1991 #8
  16. I Belong To You – November 16, 1991 #10
  17. I Will Always Love You – December 5, 1992 #1 (11)
  18. I’m Every Woman – January 9, 1993 #5
  19. I Have Nothing – February 27, 1993 #4
  20. Exhale (Shoop Shoop) – November 25, 1995 #1 (8)
  21. Count On Me – March 23, 1996 #7
  22. I Believe In You And Me – December 28, 1996 #4
  23. It’s Not Right But It’s Okay – January 2, 1999 #7
  24. Heartbreak Hotel – February 13, 1999 #1 (7)
  25. My Love Is Your Love – July 24, 1999 #2 (2)

Music Awards

During Whitney’s music career she has been nominated and won many awards. Here is a sample of the awards she has won.

Billboard Music Awards

Whitney was nominated for 57 awards and won 30. She also received at the 2012 awards ceremony the “Billboard Millennium Award”.

Grammy Awards

Whitney was nominated for 26 Grammy’s and won six as listed below:

  • Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “Saving All My Love For You” in 1985
  • Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” in 1987
  • Album of the Year for “The Bodyguard Original Soundtrack Album” in 1994
  • Record of the Year for “I Will Always Love You” in 1994
  • Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “I Will Always Love You” in 1994
  • Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay” in 1998
  • Grammy Hall of Fame (Special Award) for “Whitney Houston” in 2013

Guinness World Records

  • The Most Awarded/Popular Female Artist of All Time for “Whitney Houston (Herself)” in 2006
  • Most Simultaneous Hits in the United Kingdom for “Whitney Houston (Herself)” in 2012

American Music Awards

During her career, Whitney Houston has been nominated 38 times and won 22 of them including two special awards ― Award of Merit and International Artist Award. Houston holds the record for the most AMA wins by a female artist and the most AMA ever won in a single year with 8 awards in 1994.

Other Awards

Whitney was inducted into the “The Singers Hall of Fame” in 2013, and in the same year, elected into the Georgia Hall of Fame.

I Will Always Love You #1 (14 Weeks)

Shop Whitney Houston Greatest Hits

Now you can own all of Whitney’s number one songs with her Whitney Houston – The Greatest HitsWhitney Houston - The Greatest Hits album that contains 36 tracks. This album is also available for MP3 users.

Now, you can shop for individual Whitney Houston Greatest Hits by clicking on the link. You will be taken to the Amazon Try Prime Digital Music page where you can download individual Whitney Houston’s greatest hit songs for a small fee.

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