Whitney Houston Discography

Whitney Houston Discography

The discography of Whitney Houston, an American pop/R&B singer, consists of six studio albums, six compilations, a holiday album, two soundtrack albums, five box sets, six extended plays, and 55 singles. Her recording debut was actually made in 1978 when she sang back-up (and partially lead) vocals for The Michael Zager Band's "Life's a Party" and background vocals on Chaka Khan's hit single "I'm Every Woman"—a song she would turn into a larger hit for herself in 1993. During the next few years, she was also to make occasional guest appearances on other artists' records including the track "Memories" (her first full-lead-vocal recording) for the group Material on their One Down album, and the track "Eternal Love" for the Paul Jabara and Friends album. Among her recordings before the release of her debut album, two duet songs, "Hold Me" (with Teddy Pendergrass) and "Take Good Care of My Heart" (with Jermaine Jackson) were both issued in 1984 and later included on the Whitney Houston album, which caused The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) to disallow her from competing for 1985 Best New Artist.

In 1983, Whitney Houston signed a recording contract with Arista Records and began recording music for her self-titled debut album, which was released in February 1985. The album spent fourteen weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, a record for the most weeks at the top spot by a female artist of 1980s. It was certified 13× Platinum (Diamond) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over thirteen million copies in the United States, making her the first female artist to earn the ten-time-platinum mark. It also has sold 25 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo artist. The album's lead single was strategically selected in each region: "You Give Good Love" in the United States, "All at Once" in Benelux countries and Germany, and "Someone for Me (Remix)" in the United Kingdom. The album produced four US top 5 singles including three Billboard Hot 100 number-ones, "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know", and "Greatest Love of All", making it the first album by a female artist and new artist to yield three No. 1 singles from one album. In May 1987, Houston released her second album, Whitney, and set remarkable chart records with it. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart of the June 27 issue, becoming the first album by a woman in Billboard history. Moreover, the album spawned four US number-one singles; "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", which established an unprecedented seven consecutive number one hits by a performer. The album's first single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", went to No. 1 in over a dozen countries and is Houston's second top-selling single with 4.2 million copies sold worldwide. The album was certified 9× Platinum by the RIAA and topped the charts in numerous countries around the world, having sold over 25 million copies globally. In fall of 1988, "One Moment in Time", recorded by Houston and used as the theme song for the US coverage of 1988 Summer Olympics, was a big hit worldwide, reaching the top 10 in many countries. Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (November 1990), peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and yielded two number-one singles; "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need", selling 13 million units in markets around the world and being certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA. In February 1991, Houston released "The Star Spangled Banner" performance from Super Bowl XXV as a single, and made it Top 20 hit (re-peaked at number six in 2001 when the single was re-issued after 911 attacks), which was the first and only rendition of the US national anthem to achieve that feat since 1958 when the Billboard Hot 100 chart was first released. RIAA certified the single Gold in April 1991 (re-certified Platinum in 2001). According to Nielsen SoundScan, as of 2007, the single sold 1.2 million copies in the U.S. alone.

The Bodyguard, the soundtrack from her film debut, was released in November 1992. The album contains tracks by other recording artists but is considered a Whitney Houston album by the Billboard and the RIAA. The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for twenty non-consecutive weeks, the longest tenure by any album on the Billboard 200 chart in the Nielsen SoundScan era. It was also reached the number one on the albums chart in almost all countries. The album was certified 17× Platinum (her second Diamond album) in the United States and sold over 45 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling soundtrack album ever and one of the top 5 best-selling albums of all time. The lead single from the soundtrack, "I Will Always Love You", topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a then-record-breaking fourteen weeks and was certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA, making her the first and only female artist to reach the level before the digital single era. Like the soundtrack, the single peaked at number one on the charts in nearly every country and sold 12 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. The soundtrack also produced worldwide hit singles such as "I'm Every Woman" and "I Have Nothing". After Houston contributed to three songs including her eleventh number-one single "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" on the seven-time-platinum album, Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack (November 1995), she released her second film's accompanying soundtrack, The Preacher's Wife in November 1996. The soundtrack was certified three times Platinum by the RIAA and became the biggest selling gospel album of all time, with worldwide sales of 6 million units. In 1998, she released her first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love. The album failed to match the chart records of her previous albums, peaking at number thirteen, her lowest chart position on the Billboard 200 among her studio albums. But Houston went on to achieve multi-platinum status with 13 million selling album worldwide, being certified 4× Platinum in the United States. From late 1998 to early 2000, the album generated five smash hit singles; "When You Believe", "Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right But It's Okay", "My Love Is Your Love", and "I Learned from the Best". Among the singles, in particular, "My Love Is Your Love" became one of her best-selling singles with sales of over 3 million copies worldwide.

Houston entered the 2000s with her first greatest hits compilation, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, released in May 2000. The double-disc was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA in 2002 and earned 5× Platinum award posthumously, recognizing 2.5 million sales throughout the United States. The album hit the top position on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 1.66 million copies in the UK alone. Also, it reached the top ten in many worldwide markets, selling 10 million copies globally. Just Whitney, released in December 2002, became her first album after renewing her contract with Arista for a record $100 million in 2001. The album failed to earn multi-platinum status, receiving only Platinum award in the US, and became her lowest-selling studio album to date. She released her first Christmas album, One Wish: The Holiday Album in November 2003. In September 2009, Houston returned the top position of the Billboard 200 with I Look to You, becoming her fourth number-one album on the chart; which was her first non-soundtrack number-one in 22 years, since 1987's Whitney. It also topped the album charts of several European countries and was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

According to the RIAA, Houston is top-selling R&B female artist of the 20th century, and the fourth best-selling female artist in the United States, with shipments of 57 million albums. In addition, until the launch of the RIAA's digital certification program in 2004, she had sold 16.5 million physical singles more than any other female solo artist in history. In the U.K., as of 2010, her albums sold over 11 million copies. According to the Official UK Charts Company in October 2012, Houston is at number four in the top 10 biggest selling female singles artists of all time list with a sales total of 8.5 million singles. Whitney Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170-200 million records sold worldwide.

Read more about Whitney Houston Discography:  Other Charted Songs, Other Recorded Songs, Other Appearances

Famous quotes containing the word houston:

    When your dreams tire, they go underground
    and out of kindness that’s where they stay.
    —Libby Houston (b. 1941)