Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with over 200 million records sold worldwide. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked her second on their list of the greatest singers of all time. Houston influenced many singers in popular music, and was known for her powerful, soulful vocals and vocal improvisation skills. She is the only artist to have had seven consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. Houston also enhanced her popularity upon entering the movie industry. Throughout her career and posthumously, she has received numerous accolades, including two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, and 28 Guinness World Records. Houston has also been inducted into the Grammy, Rhythm and Blues Music, and Rock and Roll halls of fame.
"It's Raining Men" is a song by the American musical duo the Weather Girls from their third studio album, Success (1983). It was released as the album's lead single on September 10, 1982, through Columbia Records and CBS Records International. Paul Jabara wrote the song in collaboration with Paul Shaffer, and produced the song in collaboration with Bob Esty. "It's Raining Men" is a Hi-NRG and post-disco song that incorporates elements of R&B, soul, and 1970s-style electronic dance music. Its lyrics describe an excitement and enjoyment of many different types of men.
"Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" is a song by American recording artist and actress Whitney Houston, featured on the soundtrack for the film Waiting to Exhale. It was released as the lead single from the soundtrack on November 7, 1995, by Arista Records. The song was written and produced by Babyface. A mid-tempo R&B and soul ballad, composed in the key of D-flat major, the song's lyrics speak about growing up and learning to let go. The song garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, many of whom noted Houston's vocal maturity in the song.
The American singer Whitney Houston released seven studio albums, six compilations, three soundtrack albums, five box sets, six extended plays, and 57 singles. She has sold over 200 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling music artists in history. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Houston is the best-selling female R&B artist of the 20th century, and has sold 100 million certified records in the United States. She is also the fourth best-selling female album artist in the US with 61 million certified album sales. 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. According to the Official Charts Company in October 2012, Houston is the fourth-biggest-selling female singles artists of all-time list with a sales total of 8.5 million singles in that country.
Thank God It's Friday is a 1978 American musical disco comedy film directed by Robert Klane and produced by Motown Productions and Casablanca FilmWorks for Columbia Pictures. Produced at the height of the disco craze, the film features The Commodores performing "Too Hot ta Trot", and Donna Summer performing "Last Dance", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1978. The film features an early performance by Jeff Goldblum and the first major screen appearance by Debra Winger. The film also features Terri Nunn, who would go on to fame in the 1980s new wave group Berlin. This would be one of several Columbia Pictures films in which the studio's "Torch Lady" came to life in the opening credits, showing off her moves for a few seconds prior to the start of the film.
"Run to You" is a song performed by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on June 21, 1993, by Arista Records as the fourth single from The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1992). It was written by Jud Friedman and Allan Rich, and produced by David Foster. Originally intended to be a break-up song, it was approved by the production and stars. However, a month later, the director of The Bodyguard called, saying he liked the song so much, but he'd rather have it to be a love song so the entire song was rewritten, except for the title.
"You Give Good Love" is the debut solo single by American singer Whitney Houston for her 1985 eponymous debut studio album. It was written by La Forrest 'La La' Cope and produced by Kashif. When La La sent Kashif a copy of the song, originally offered to Roberta Flack, she thought it would be a better fit for Houston and told Arista Records he would be interested in recording with her.
"Last Dance" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from the soundtrack album to the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday. It was written by Paul Jabara, co-produced by Summer's regular collaborator Giorgio Moroder and Bob Esty, and mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Stephen Short, whose backing vocals are featured in the song.
Paul Jabara, also known as Paul Frederick Jabara, was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry, born in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday (1978) as well as "No More Tears " her international hit duet with Barbra Streisand. He also cowrote The Weather Girls iconic hit "It's Raining Men". Jabara's cousin Jad Azkoul is a Lebanese-American musician specializing in classical guitar.
Success is a 1983 studio album originally released by American singing duo The Weather Girls. The album includes the group's biggest hit, "It's Raining Men", which peaked at #1 on the U.S. Dance chart, #46 on the U.S. Pop chart, & #34 on the U.S. R&B chart.
"My Heart Is Calling" is a song recorded by the American recording artist Whitney Houston for the 1996 film The Preacher's Wife. It was released on June 10, 1997, as the third and final single by Arista Records from the accompanying soundtrack. The song was written and produced solely by Babyface. Musically, the song is an R&B ballad, with gospel music and funk influences, and the lyrics speak about meeting someone special. "My Heart Is Calling" received mainly positive reviews from music critics, who commended Houston's soulful performance. It peaked at number 77 on the United States Billboard Hot 100, and number 35 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Keeping Time is the second studio album by American actor, singer and songwriter Paul Jabara.
The Third Album is the third studio album by American actor, singer and songwriter Paul Jabara. The album includes the single releases "Disco Wedding" and "Never Lose Your Sense of Humor". The Third Album, whose title and cover picture paraphrases the Barbra Streisand album of the same name, was released in 1979 on the Casablanca Records label, and again features guest vocalist Donna Summer. In 1979 Jabara also composed the Streisand & Summer duet "No More Tears ".
The Third Album was finally released on CD by Gold Legion on June 3, 2010. It was manufactured by Universal Music Special Markets B-0013910-02.
De La Noche: The True Story – A Poperetta is the fifth and final studio album by American actor, singer and songwriter Paul Jabara.
The concept/musical album, released on Warner Bros. Records in the United States in 1986, features guest vocals by Leata Galloway who also appeared on Jabara's previous album Paul Jabara & Friends (1983). The tracks "Ocho Rios" and "This Girl's Back in Town" were also issued as singles.
De La Noche: The True Story - A Poperetta remains unreleased on CD.
The I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour was a concert tour by American pop/R&B singer Whitney Houston, in support of her multi-platinum album I'm Your Baby Tonight. Prior to Houston performing two dates in Japan early-March, the official tour started on April 18, in North America. Houston's performed nearly 100 concert dates throughout 1991 in North America and Europe.
The Moment of Truth World Tour was the second worldwide tour by American recording artist Whitney Houston and supported her multi-platinum hit album Whitney. The trek started on July 4, 1987 in North America and continued overseas during 1988 in Europe, Asia and Australia.
The Greatest Love World Tour is the debut worldwide concert tour by American singer Whitney Houston, in support of her debut studio album Whitney Houston. The four-month tour began in North America on July 26, 1986 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion with an itinerary that included visits in Europe, Japan and Australia.
Word of Mouth is the debut studio album by Toni Basil. It was first released in May 1981 in the United Kingdom and April 1982 in the United States. The album featured the number-one worldwide hit "Mickey". The album also contains three covers of songs by Devo who also performed on three tracks. The US version of the album added the songs "Rock On" and "Shoppin' from A to Z", deleting "Hanging Around". The album was certified Gold by the RIAA.
The videography of American recording artist Whitney Houston, nicknamed “The Voice”, consists of fifty-five music videos, four music video compilations, a concert tour video and three music video singles. In 1983, Houston signed a recording contract with Arista Records and two years later released her eponymous debut album. Houston's first music video was for the single "You Give Good Love", which was selected to establish her in the black marketplace first. Houston then released the video of her worldwide hit "Saving All My Love for You". The following video, for the song "How Will I Know", helped introduce the singer to a wider audience when it became one of the first videos by a black female singer to earn heavy rotation on MTV, and it won MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video at its 3rd ceremony of 1986. "Greatest Love of All", the final single released from Houston's debut album, helped cement the M.O. for the classic Whitney video. In June 1986, Houston released her first video compilation The No. 1 Video Hits, containing her four music videos off the Whitney Houston album. It reached number-one on the Billboard Top Music Videocassettes chart and stayed there for 22 weeks, which remains the all-time record for a video collection by a female artist, it was also certified Platinum for shipments of 100,000 units by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 15, 1986. In 1987, Houston released the music video for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody ", the first single from her second album Whitney (1987), which depicts Houston in one of her iconic looks, the clip―towering curly wig, colorful dangly earrings and a series of going-to-the-club outfits. In 1988, the music video for the song "One Moment in Time", the title track off the 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time, was released.
American singer Whitney Houston released 57 singles as a lead artist, 4 as a featured artist and 18 promotional singles. Nicknamed ''The Voice", she has sold more physical singles in the United States than any other female solo artist in history, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In the United States, Houston amassed 11 Billboard Hot 100 number one singles and remains the only artist to score seven consecutive number one singles.
