The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston Song) - Release and Donation

Release and Donation

The patriotic feeling of Houston's stirring cover resonated strongly with the public. Due to overwhelming response to her rendition, Arista Records announced that it was released as a single and video of her performance, and all profits would be donated to a charity connected with the war effort, to be selected by Houston at a later date. Afterward Houston said that "I went back up in the sky booth and watched the game. It wasn't until a day or two later that I realized the whole country was in an uproar." According to Clive Davis, Arista Records' decision to release the record came after three days of being flooded with phone calls from all over the country from people asking to buy copies of the single. Hundreds of radio stations around the country aired the song from tapes they had recorded from the TV broadcast. Eventually, the CDs, audio cassettes of the performance were released on February 12, and its video singles on February 17, 1991 in the United States by Arista Records, respectively. And the proceeds―$531,650, a combined contribution from the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, Inc., Arista and Bertelsmann Music Group Distribution which donated all their royalties and profits from the sale of those―went to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund, which provided aid to U.S. military personnel, their families and war victims in the region. Houston was named to the American Red Cross Board of Governors. The audio single was also released in some countries including the Netherlands but its shipments were very small.

On May 16, 2000, the song and its video were released on CD, VHS and DVD of her Whitney: The Greatest Hits, worldwide. That was the first release of the song in most countries.

According to Arista, Houston, who had been in the process of picking songs for the upcoming album with then Arista CEO L.A. Reid before September 11 attacks, shortly after the attack, decided to do her part to help the country recover by agreeing to have her 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" re-released. So, it was reissued as a commercial CD single on September 26, 2001 by Arista Records, with proceeds went to the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police, both benefiting the departments and families affected by the attack at the World Trade Center. The single also included her version of "America the Beautiful." With releasing of the single, Reid said that "In a time of tragedy, Whitney Houston's recording of our National Anthem has comforted and inspired our nation."