"Queen of the Night" is a song co-written by American singer and actress Whitney Houston along with L.A. Reid, Babyface and Daryl Simmons. Produced by Reid and Babyface along with Simmons and Houston and performed by Houston, it was released on October 13, 1993, by Arista Records as the fifth and final single from the soundtrack album The Bodyguard (1992), and is played during the closing credits of the film of the same name.
The song was an uptempo hard rock number in which Houston expresses how she "rules the club scene" as the self-proclaimed "queen of the night". It was the fifth and last single released from the soundtrack. In the US, it was released as a radio-only single and the song became a top 40 hit on several Billboard airplay charts in early 1994. A house remix version by British remixer C.J. Mackintosh helped Houston earn her fifth number one single on the BillboardHot Dance Club Songs chart.
It entered the top 40 in several global countries such as Canada, Switzerland, Ireland and the Netherlands while finding its biggest success on the charts in Portugal, Iceland, Belgium and the UK, where it landed on several charts.
Background and development
Houston and the duo of Babyface and L.A. Reid began working together for the former's album, I'm Your Baby Tonight in March 1990. At the time, Houston had been accused of having her music catering to white audiences and her label Arista hired the duo to silence critics.[7][8]
The album became a hit and the title track became the duo's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The duo would have two more hits with Houston on the album including the soul ballad "Miracle" and "My Name Is Not Susan". It would start a lifelong collaboration and friendship between the three.
In April 1991, Houston announced that she would begin filming her debut leading role as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard.[9] After Clive Davis complained of the film not having accompanying music to explain Houston's role as a temperamental, talented diva, Houston signed a deal to produce her first soundtrack album, agreeing to recording the majority of the songs.[10]
The soundtrack would be Houston's second as executive producer. Maureen Crowe was hired as the film's musical supervisor. Houston, who was attaining more control of her career after years of being guided and mentored by Davis, chose Babyface and Reid to contribute to the soundtrack.[11]
On November 9, 1991, weeks before filming commenced in Hollywood, Houston entered Larrabee Sound there to record with the producers. The songsmiths were busy at work on the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy vehicle, Boomerang, which led to delays in production on Houston's song.[11]
Houston insisted on helping out with the lyrics, music and arrangement, alongside Daryl Simmons, on what eventually became "Queen of the Night".[11]
Said Crowe, "She felt like they had limited time and they wanted to make sure they were writing something she was comfortable with." Crowe continued: "she had been working on her character, so they wanted her to come in, ‘we’ll hammer this out together,’ with the idea of getting the rhythm right, the attitude right."[11]
It would be the first song to be recorded for the soundtrack. The song played a pivotal role in the film where Houston, as Rachel Marron, performs the song at a rowdy rock nightclub before audience members grabbed her offstage, causing a near-riot before she's saved by co-star Kevin Costner's character, bodyguard Frank Farmer.[11]
The original soundtrack version of "Queen of the Night" is a hard rock and R&B song with funk, glam metal and new jack swing elements.[12] It has a medium rock tempo with a time signature of 4 4 common time and 106 beats per minute and plays in the key of A major.[12]
Later, Arista sent house music remixes of the song, mainly from British remixer C.J. Mackintosh, which was released to nightclubs and radio. Much like the original, the song starts in the key of A major and has a dance beat of 120 beats per minute.[13]
Critical reception
A reviewer from AllMusic complimented "Queen of the Night" as "a first-rate urban pop song that skillfully captures Houston at her best."[14]Larry Flick from Billboard commented, "If anyone can successfully bring house music back to pop radio, it's Houston", describing it as "a wickedly catchy ditty, armed with a chorus that will stick in your mind like sinfully sweet brain candy."[5] Troy J. Augusto from Cash Box named it Pick of the Week, writing that "it's actually one of Houston's least impressive single releases—but its aggressive vocal delivery and En Vogue-like flow will probably make for another chart-topper."[15] A reviewer from CD Universe felt that Houston "continues to mine her rich vein of ornate balladry and pop-flavored dance workouts, [like] on her own 'Queen of the Night,' with its percolating upbeat production a la L.A. Reid & Babyface."[16]
Chris Willman of the L.A. Times assessed the song negatively, "The only obvious dud (on the album) is 'Queen of the Night,' a silly stab at hard-rock that's almost a dead ringer for En Vogue's "Free Your Mind", particularly where her vocals are multi tracked."[2] Howard Cohen from The Miami Herald said the singer "slips into a downright funky mode on the R&B workout".[4] Dave Piccioni from Music Week's RM Dance Update stated that Houston "returns to the pure house sound with this wonderful CJ Mackintosh collaboration", remarking that she "is in as full vocal form as ever and the gospelled vocal harmonies are sweet and strong."[6] Another RM editor, James Hamilton, called it a "CJ Mackintosh remixed pleasant but bland jiggly garage-style loper".[17]Stephen Holden from The New York Times deemed it a "run-of-the-mill dance tune".[18] Popdose compared its production to Janet Jackson's "Black Cat".[19] Arion Berger from Rolling Stone said that "on "Queen of the Night", L.A. and Babyface start out stomping and never stop, letting Houston belt riotously along until she drops or they do. (They do.)"[20]USA Today writer James T. Jones IV. described it as a surprise, "rocking" tune.[21] James Hunter from Vibe noted that it lets the remixer replace the producer's "guitar slams with snare-happy waves of glowing rhythm that add up to disco for a generation that's unsure whether disco is nostalgic or eternal."[22]
Chart performance
The song was released to US as an airplay-only single in November 1993. Due to Billboard's charting requirements at that time, singles without a commercial release were ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Despite this, the single still found success on several Billboard component charts. The original version peaked at number 17 on the BillboardTop 40/Mainstream chart and number 36 on the BillboardHot 100 Airplay chart. It found more modest success on the Hot R&B Airplay chart where it peaked at number 47 and stayed on the chart for 11 weeks.
In January 1994, the C.J. Mackintosh remix topped the BillboardHot Dance Club Play chart, becoming Houston's fifth number-one dance single and her first Billboard chart-topper as a songwriter and producer.
The single was released to several other countries. In Canada, it peaked at number 39. In the UK, it peaked at number 14 on the UK singles chart, and numbers nine and four on the Music Week dance singles and airplay charts. It also reached the top 20 in Belgium and Iceland and was a top ten single in Portugal.
It also placed in the top 40 in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland and had more modest success in Germany, France and Australia. It peaked at number 33 on the Eurochart Hot 100.
Music video
The accompanying music video for "Queen of the Night", directed by English film director and television producer Mick Jackson,[23] features the full performance Houston gives in the motion picture The Bodyguard, which is interrupted by violence. The video features footage from the 1927 film Metropolis.[24]
Live performances
During the Bodyguard World Tour (1993-1994), the band would start the song off with the hard rock original while Houston was in intermission before she'd return to the stage.
Houston would sing the original before she reappeared and then the band would launch into the C.J. Mackintosh remix version.
Since its release, the song has been covered numerous times over the years by various artists. In 1993, Chinese-Canadian singer Sally Yeh covered it for her album, 與你又過一天 Another Day With You. In 2006, it was covered by American Idol contestant Haley Scarnato. It was also covered by Australian singer Delta Goodrem during her Believe Again Tour at various locations throughout Australia in 2009.
The 2009X Factor contestants also performed this song on Sunday, October 18, 2009, as a group performance. Contestant Stacey Solomon, who came third, performed this song on The X Factor Live Tour 2010. The independent, web-based, electronic/dubstep artist known as Futret released a remix/crossover-cover of the song in early February 2012.[25]
Singer Kelly Clarkson recorded covers of "Queen of the Night" on two occasions: the first was on Clarkson's original demo tape recorded in 2001,[28] while he second was for the album, Kellyoke.[29]
Polls and rankings
BET ranked the song 40th place in their list of the forty best Whitney Houston songs, writing that Houston "returned to her sassy mid-80s form with this rocked-out En Vogue-esque scorcher".[30]
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote of the song in his 2012 write-up of his favorite Houston songs, "This isn’t one of her more famous songs, but it’s a special fan favorite – Whitney goes glam-metal. It’s the only time she sounded like a big Ziggy Stardust fan, but maybe once was enough."[31]Classic Pop described the song as "a funk-filled floorfiller".[32]
In their retrospective appraisal of the soundtrack, BuzzFeed News stated that, thanks to Houston's compositional and production input in the song, "'Queen of the Night' became a high-energy, drum-centric, pop-rock showpiece, with Tina Turner–esque growling, that showed a different side of her persona," calling her lyrics in the song "her most in-your-face yet."[11]
Track listings and formats
Japanese CD single
"Queen of the Night" (CJ's Single Edit) – 3:21
"Queen of the Night" (Album Version) – 3:06
UK CD maxi-single
"Queen of the Night" (CJ's Single Edit) – 3:21
"Queen of the Night" (CJ's Master Mix) – 6:35
"Queen of the Night" (CJ's Instrumental Mix) – 9:35
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