With the recent passing of one of the world’s greatest vocalists, Whitney Houston, the Saturday Hustle team is sharing our top ten Houston tracks.

Saving All My Love For You

The second hit single from Houston’s self-titled debut album became her first Billboard Hot 100 chart topper. The song also became a global hit, scoring either number one or landing in the top 10 in various countries around the world. The track earned Houston the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and the American Music Award for Favourite R&B/Soul Video in 1986.

The Star Spangled Banner

After Houston performed the United States national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, in 1991 at the Super Bowl XXV, her record label Arista Records were flooded with phone calls from across the country with people wanting to purchase the single. Eventually the label released the track and all its proceeds went to charity. In 2001, the single was re-released after the September 11 attacks. This time it peaked at number six on the US Hot 100 and the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified platinum.

I Will Always Love You

Houston’s remake of Dolly Parton’s 1974 hit song I Will Always Love You spent 14 weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. It also dominated various other Billboard charts, spending 14 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales chart and 11 weeks at number one on its Hot 100 Airplay chart. The track won the Record of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance at the 36th Grammy Awards in 1994.

Greatest Love of All

Originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest, Greatest Love of All was the seventh release from Houston’s debut album, and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song won Houston an American Music Award for Favourite Soul/R&B Video, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and a Soul Train Music Award for Single of the Year. After her death, it returned to the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 41.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) was released as the first single from Houston’s second studio album Whitney. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 38, her highest debut in the 1980s. Six weeks later, it reached the top spot of the chart, making it Houston’s fourth number-one single in the United States — the same day that Houston’s album Whitney debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 — the first time ever by a female artiste. It remained there for two weeks, and spent 18 weeks on the chart.

One Moment In Time

The Emmy Award-winning track, One Moment In Time, was released as the first single from The 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart, making it her seventh number-one single on the chart, and stayed on the top for two weeks.

I’m Every Woman

Released as the second single for The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1993, I’m Every Woman — which is a re-record of Chaka Khan’s 1978 hit, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The song became number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, number five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and cracked the top 40 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. Houston’s cover was also a bigger international hit than the original version as it peaked within the top five in the UK and several other countries.

Exhale (Shoop Shoop)

Exhale (Shoop Shoop) debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Hot R&B Singles chart. It became the third single to do so in Billboard’s history, following Michael Jackson’s You Are Not Alone (1995) and Mariah Carey’s Fantasy (1995). The track, which was her eleventh number-one hit, was released as the lead single for the soundtrack for Waiting To Exhale in 1995.

My Love Is Your Love

Houston’s fourth single from her fourth studio album of the same title, My Love Is Your Love peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the US R&B chart, and number two in the UK. The track was extremely successful worldwide, hitting the top 10 in nearly two dozen international markets. At over three million units sold globally, it stands as Houston’s third most successful single, after I Will Always Love You and I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).

I Believe In You and Me

Upon its release, I Believe in You and Me debuted at number seven and number six, on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B Singles charts. Houston, who released the track 14 years after The Four Tops’ original version, made the track the first single from The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack in 1996. Billboard gave the song a positive review saying, “As she did with Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You, Houston redefines the composition with a soaring, glass-shattering performance that will leave her legions of fans breathless.”

Caption:

Whitney Houston shows off the awards she won on February 7, 1994, at the 21st American Music Awards.