10 OF THE BEST WHITNEY HOUSTON SONGS – SELECTED BY A CASUAL FAN

Whitney Houston was aptly nicknamed “The Voice”. With over 200 million records sold, Rolling Stone ranks her second on their list of the greatest singers of all time.

Header Image Credit: Sony Pictures

Throughout her career and posthumously, she has received numerous accolades, including two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, and 28 Guinness World Records. Houston has also been inducted into the Grammy, Rhythm and Blues Music, and Rock and Roll halls of fame.
Wikipedia

Raised a Baptist in her home state of New Jersey, Whitney Houston began singing gospel in church choir, graduating to solos and learning to play the piano soon after. With Cissy Houston as her mother and Dionne Warwick as a distant cousin, music was literally in her blood.

After briefly modeling as a teen, Whitney Houston was nurtured in her music career by Arista Records’ head Clive Davis (after rejecting a number of contract offers in order to finish her schooling). The rest, as they say, is history.

As we’ve done in the past, join us to revive, relive, and relate to the best of Whitney Houston. Here we present ten classic tracks we appreciate the most (in no particular order). If you have a favorite that didn’t make our cut, feel free to share those suggestions within the comments at the bottom of this page. We’ll definitely take a listen!

NOTE: CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR A VIDEO PERFORMANCE OF EACH SONG

I WANT TO DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) (1987)

Proving she was no victim of the so-called “sophomore slump”, Whitney Houston’s lead single from her second album rocketed to number one in 18 countries. Although the track was criticized for being a bit too much like “How Will I Know” (it was written by the same songwriters) as well as Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, the song won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards. Oddly enough, producer Narada Michael Walden wasn’t fond of the song, feeling it was too country and western for Houston to record. 9/10

Peak Position in the US – #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

YOU GIVE GOOD LOVE (1985)

Originally intended to be recorded by Roberta Flack, this single became the debut solo single from Whitney Houston’s monster debut album. Originally intended to give Houston a boost within the black music charts, the single unexpectedly became a pop crossover hit, causing famous columnist Ann Landers to include it on a list of songs that had a bad influence due to suggestive lyrics. Others on that same list included “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC, “Fire Down Below” by Bob Seger, “Hot Love” by Cheap Trick, and “Let’s Go to Bed” by The Cure. Houston later realized Landers appeared to have just looked at song titles rather than the song’s lyrics. 7/10

Peak Position in the: US – #3 (Billboard Hot 100)

HOW WILL I KNOW (1989)

Another tune recorded by Whitney Houston after being rejected by the initial target artist (Janet Jackson in this case), this third single from Houston’s debut album filled in the “pop crossover” requirement alongside the R&B and ballads already recorded. Critics were mostly positive on the song, although noting its similarity to the Pointer Sisters hit “He’s So Shy”. On a side note, when hitting the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, Whitney displaced her cousin Dionne Warwick’s smash “That’s What Friends are For”, later relinquishing the top spot to Mr. Mister’s single “Kyrie”. 8/10

Peak Position in the: US – #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

GREATEST LOVE OF ALL (1986)

This seventh single (not a typo) from her debut album, critics consider this to be the centerpiece of the release. Originally recorded several years earlier by George Benson, the Houston version took that minor hit to the top of the charts and was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, losing to Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love”. 8/10

Peak Position in the: US – #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

ONE MOMENT IN TIME (1988)

With her glorious voice, ballads tend to dominate Houston’s most successful recordings. This single recorded for 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea is no exception. The composition was inspired by the thought of Elvis Presley singing it at the opening of the Olympics. 7/10

Peak Position in the US – #5 (Billboard Hot 100)

I’M YOUR BABY TONIGHT (1990)

Answering critics that her previous two albums were a sellout to the black community, Houston enlisted L.A. Reid and Babyface to bring a more urban sound to her third album, after being booed at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards for being too formulaic and “not black enough”. Critics were generally positive with their reviews of this lead single, calling it both “sassy” and “fiery”. With her 8th number one single, Whitney tied Madonna as the female artist with the most number one singles at the time. 8/10

Peak Position in the: US – #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

WHEN YOU BELIEVE (1998)

“Epic”, “Bombastic”, “Stunning”, “Powerful”. These were the words used by critics to describe this duet between the two superstars, recorded for the animated film “The Prince of Egypt”. With both Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston drawn to the song based upon its Biblical origins in the book of Exodus, the single served to dispel media speculation that the two were rivals and had only animosity for each other. It won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 71st Annual Academy Awards. 7/10

Peak Position in the: US – #15 (Billboard Hot 100)

SAVING ALL MY LOVE FOR YOU (1985)

Another cover recording originally performed by Billy Preston & Marilyn McCoo in 1975, SAMLFY was released as the second single from her debut album “Whitney Houston”, proving instantly that the singer was no flash in the pan. The song itself courted controversy due to the lyrical content involving an affair with a married man, but ultimately the song received critical acclaim, becoming Whitney’s first number one single. 7/10

Peak Position in the: US – #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

SO EMOTIONAL (1983)

Writers Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly (“Like a Virgin”, “True Colors”, “Alone”, “Eternal Flame”) penned this upbeat tune for Whitney Houston as a swan song as a writing duo. With it’s rockier edge, the single became Houston’s 6th consecutive number one, breaking Elvis Presley’s record of most consecutive number ones by a solo artist. The song has sold over 1.7 million copies to date. 7/10

Peak Position in the: US: #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (1992)

Originally the lead single from “The Bodyguard” soundtrack was expected to be “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, but because of its use in “Fried Green Tomatoes”, Kevin Costner suggested this Dolly Parton-penned song instead. Producer David Foster worked with Houston to re-arrange the song as a soulful ballad. Houston’s subdued vocal delivery building slowly to that oh so familiar money-note near the end made her debut film’s soundtrack an unstoppable juggernaut, with the single remaining at #1 for a record-breaking 14 weeks. 9/10

Peak Position in the: US – #1 (Billboard Hot 100)

Because this is a “casual” listener list, it consists of hits by the artist. There are so many great Whitney Houston songs that it truly is hard to narrow them down to ten. What are some of the other songs we “should” have included? What album tracks should have been singles? Here’s a secondary list: