Whitney Houston Songs

L'app Whitney Houston contiene canzoni di Whitney Houston per i suoi fan.

Whitney Houston has been cited by the Guinness Book of Records as the most awarded female performer of all time. She sold more than 170 million records worldwide.

Whitney Houston's Early Life and Relations

Whitney Houston was born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother was gospel and R&B singer Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick was a cousin. She also counted singer Darlene Love as godmother and Aretha Franklin as an honorary aunt. By the age of 11, Whitney Houston was performing as a soloist at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. She attended the Roman Catholic School Mount Saint Dominic Academy. Whitney Houston counts Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Roberta Flack among her early musical influences.

Background Vocalist

As a teenager Whitney Houston began touring with her mother as a backup vocalist. In 1978, at the age of 15, she backed Chaka Khan on the hit single "I'm Every Woman." Whitney Houston also sang on recordings by Lou Rawls and Jermaine Jackson. In addition to her music career, Houston began working as a model and appeared on the cover of Seventeen magazine, one of the first black women to do so. She made an appearance on the 1982 album One Down by Bill Laswell's avant funk band Material. Whitney Houston sang the ballad "Memories." Whitney Houston was given multiple offers for a recording contract in the early 1980s, but her mother insisted that she complete high school first. Finally, legendary music executive Clive Davis signed Whitney Houston to a recording contract with Arista Records in 1983 after seeing her performance in a nightclub.

Whitney Houston's Debut Album

Clive Davis did not rush the recording of Whitney Houston's self-titled debut. In the meantime she recorded "Hold Me," a duet with R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass for his solo album Love Language. It became a top five R&B hit in 1984. It was also later included on her debut album. That collection titled Whitney Houston was released in February 1985. She immediately received rave critical reviews. The first single "Someone For Me" was a relative failure and did not chart in the US or UK. The second single "You Give Good Love" took off with R&B audiences hitting #1 on the R&B chart in May 1985. It then started to climb the pop chart and ultimately landed at #3 in July. The following three singles all topped the pop singles chart. The album hit #1 on the album chart a year after its release and stayed there for 14 weeks. It ultimately sold over 13 million copies in the US. At the time, it was the bestselling debut album ever by a solo artist.

Whitney Houston's album earned three Grammy Award nominations in 1986 including for Album of the Year. The early appearance in a duet with Teddy Pendergrass made Whitney Houston ineligible for the Best New Artist category. Her performance on the song "Saving All My Love For You," Whitney Houston's first #1 pop hit, also won her first Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal.

Whitney Album

Anticipation was very high for Whitney Houston's second solo album. Upon release in June 1987, some critics complained that Whitney was too similar to her first album. However, pop audiences disagreed. The first four singles all went to #1. Whitney Houston became the first recording artist to ever release seven consecutive singles that topped the Billboard Hot 100. She bypassed the previous record of six by the Beatles and the Bee Gees. A fifth single from the album, "Love Will Save the Day," also hit the top 10. The album was the first by a female artist to debut at #1 on the US album chart. The success of concert tours helped Whitney Houston break into the Forbes list of the top 10 moneymaking entertainers.

Whitney Houston repeated her Grammy Awards success in 1988 with three more nominations including a second for Album of the Year. She also won the Best Female Pop Vocal for a second time with "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."