Whitney Houston dominated the pop charts and broke musical barriers during the 1980s and 1990s. Today’s reigning pop stars like Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Beyonce are still striving to accomplish what Houston achieved at the height of her career. Among her many firsts, Whitney Houston was the first person to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with seven consecutive singles.
According to Guinness World Records, Houston’s list of awards includes 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Here are some of her biggest hits. Please feel free to add your own Whitney Houston song that has touched your life.
1. “I Will Always Love You” – 1992. “I Will Always Love You” was the lead single from the soundtrack to Whitney Houston’s acting debut in The Bodyguard.
2. “Greatest Love Of All” – 1986. “Greatest Love Of All” was originally recorded by George Benson for the soundtrack to the film The Greatest about Muhammad Ali.
3. “How Will I Know” – 1985. “How Will I Know” was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam who are better known as the duo Boy Meets Girl.
4. “All the Man That I Need” – 1990. “All the Man That I Need” had been previously recorded by dance artists Linda Clifford and Sister Sledge before Whitney Houston’s 1990 version.
5. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” – 1987. This was the second #1 hit written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam for Whitney Houston.
6. “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?” – 1988. Whitney Houston was originally reluctant to record this song feeling it conveyed nothing special.
7. “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?” – 1987. “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?” was Whitney Houston’s second single and second #1 from the album Whitney.
8. “Saving All My Love For You” – 1985. It was Whitney Houston’s second hit single from her self-titled debut album and became her first #1. She won her first Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal for the recording.
9. “I’m Your Baby Tonight” – 1990. She turned more strongly toward urban R&B. The title song was the first single from the project and brought her back to #1 on the pop singles chart for the eight time.
10. “So Emotional” – 1987. This song became Whitney Houston’s sixth consecutive #1 hit tying her with the Beatles and Bee Gees.
Whitney Houston died at age 48 on February 11th, 2012 at 3:55 p.m. pacific time. May her soul rest in peace!
