All at Once (Whitney Houston song)

"All at Once"
One of 7-inch releases, manufactured in Germany
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album Whitney Houston
B-side	"Thinking About You" "Someone for Me"
Released	March 1985
Recorded	1984
Genre	Pop soul R&B [1]
Length	4:29
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	Michael Masser (music) Jeffrey Osborne (lyrics)
Producer(s)	Michael Masser
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"You Give Good Love" (1985) "All at Once" (1985) "Saving All My Love for You" (1985)
Licensed audio
"All at Once" on YouTube

"All at Once" is a song by American singer Whitney Houston from her self-titled debut album. The song was written by Michael Masser and Jeffrey Osborne and produced by Masser. It is a ballad about a love who leaves without warning and the heartbreak that is felt afterwards.

"All at Once" was released in March 1985 by Arista Records as a single in several European countries, as well as in Japan in 1985–1986. In North America it was not released as a single (but did receive steady radio airplay on pop and R&B stations there).

Music videos

Arista released a promotional music video exclusive to Germany and Japan. Another video was released for some European countries; it features Houston singing the song onstage. ^[2]

Chart performance

It became the first hit for Houston in the Netherlands in April 1985, and also a top 5 hit in Italy and Belgium.

Live performances

Houston performed the song on Dutch TV's PopsJops show, German TV's Peter's Popshow in 1985, and on the Japan TV show Night's Hit Studio in 1986. The following year, Houston performed the song at the 1987 American Music Awards as well as Italy's Sanremo Music Festival. In this latter competition, an encore of the song was requested. Houston also performed the song in Japan and Europe during her Greatest Love World Tour in 1986. Houston would include the song in the "Love Medley" portions of her concert tours, including the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, The Bodyguard World Tour and the Nothing but Love World Tour.

Accolades

In their list of forty best Whitney Houston songs, BET ranked it 21st place, citing the ballad as among her first "massive, pop-diva ballads, paving roads for Mariah, Celine and others to drive down." ^[3]

Formats and track listings

Europe 12" vinyl maxi single [4] A1: "All at Once" – 4:26 B1: "Thinking About You" – 4:53 B2: "Someone for Me" – 7:23 Jamaica 7" vinyl maxi single [5] A1: "All at Once" – 4:28 B1: "Greatest Love of All" – 4:55 Italy 12" vinyl, promo [6] A: "All at Once" – 4:26 B: "Hold Me" (duet with Teddy Pendergrass) – 6:00 Japan 7" vinyl single [7] A: "All at Once" – 5:56 B: "Greatest Love of All" – 6:16 Germany 7" vinyl single [8] "All at Once" – 4:06 "Thinking About You" – 4:44 South Africa 7" vinyl single [9] "All at Once" "Thinking About You"

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1985–1987) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [10] 2 Belgium (VRT Top 30) [11] 5 Italy (FIMI) [12] 5 Italy Airplay ( Music & Media ) [13] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [14] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [15] 6 South Africa (Springbok Radio) [16] 24 Chart (1996) Peak position Japan (Oricon) [17] 42 Chart (2012) Peak position France (SNEP) [18] 132 Japan (Japan Hot 100) ( Billboard ) [19] 24 South Korea International (Gaon) [20] 115 US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs ( Billboard ) [21] 42

Year-end charts Chart (1985) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [22] 24 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [23] 35 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [24] 48

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ) [25] 1996 release	Gold	50,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "All at Once - Whitney Houston | Song Info | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
2. "- YouTube". YouTube . Retrieved 24 April 2021.^{[ dead YouTube link ]}
3. "The 40 Best Whitney Houston Songs". BET . August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
4. "Whitney Houston - All at Once (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 1985.
5. "Whitney Houston - All at Once (Vinyl single)". Discogs.com. 1985.
6. "Whitney Houston - All at Once (Promo single)". Discogs.com. 1987.
7. "Whitney Houston - All at Once (Japan single)". Discogs.com. 21 August 1986.
8. "Whitney Houston - All at Once (German Vinyl Single)". Discogs.com. 1985.
9. "Whitney Houston - All at Once (CD Single)". Discogs.com. 1985.
10. "Whitney Houston – All at Once" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
11. ""I Will Always Love You" on Belgian VRT Top 30 chart". top30-2.radio2.be. February 27, 1992. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
12. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard . April 11, 1987. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
13. "European Playlist Reports: RAI - Italy" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 4, no. 13. 4 April 1987. p. 14.
14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 20, 1985" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
15. "Whitney Houston – All at Once" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
16. "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Songs (A-B)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
17. All at Once – Oricon Oricon News.
18. "Whitney Houston – All at Once" (in French). Le classement de singles.
19. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard.
20. "South Korea Gaon International Chart (Week: February 12, 2012 to February 18, 2012)". Gaon Chart. January 5, 2013. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
21. "Whitney Houston Chart History (R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales)". Billboard .
22. "Jaaroverzichten 1985". Ultratop. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
23. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1985". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
24. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1985". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
25. "Japanese single certifications – Whitney Houston – All at Once" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Retrieved 26 December 2020.Select 1996年8月 on the drop-down menu