The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | November 26, 1996 | |||
Recorded | January – February 1996 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:20 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
| |||
Whitney Houston chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from The Preacher's Wife | ||||
|
The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album is the soundtrack to the 1996 film of the same name and features songs performed and produced by American singer Whitney Houston, who also stars in the film. The soundtrack was released on November 26, 1996, by Arista Records and BMG Entertainment. With sales of 6 million copies worldwide, it is the best-selling gospel album of all time. [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Billboard | (favorable) [3] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [4] |
The New York Times | (favorable) [5] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Music critics saw a more emotionally engaged side of Houston, particularly with the soundtrack's gospel offerings. “For the first time in her 12-year recording career, Houston sounds genuinely moved by her material. Early on she stumbles through the Annie Lennox-penned "Step By Step," but the presence of the Georgia Mass Choir on six subsequent tracks melts her frosty reserve,” People magazine wrote. [7]
Released on November 26, 1996, The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on the issue dated December 14, 1996, selling 90,500 units in the first week. [8] On its second week, the album jumped to number four on the chart with the Greatest Gainer mark, and the following week reached number three, which was the album's peak position. [9] [10] The album also debuted at number eight on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, and in three weeks later, peaked at the number one and remained there for two weeks, becoming her fourth number one album on the chart. [11] [12] It stayed for a total of 43 weeks and 49 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and the Top R&B Albums chart respectively. [11] [13]
In addition, the soundtrack was more successful on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart. It debuted at number one, becoming the first album by a female solo artist to do so. It spent 26 consecutive weeks at the top from December 14, 1996, to June 7, 1997. It remained on the chart for 117 weeks during its initial run. [14] [15] It has since returned to the Top Gospel Albums chart for 44 more weeks, bringing its total to 161 cumulative weeks. The album was the number one gospel album on the 1997 Billboard Top Gospel Albums year-end chart.
Prior to the album's release, music industry insiders had expected The Preacher's Wife soundtrack to "do at least as well as" Waiting to Exhale 's soundtrack, which sold 5,100,000 copies in the United States. [16] The album was the Best-selling Gospel Recording by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) in 1996–1997. [17] [18] It was certified 3× Platinum for shipping 3 million copies in the United States alone by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 30, 1998. [19] According to Nielsen SoundScan, as of 2012, the album has sold 2,627,000 copies in the United States alone. [2]
The lead single, "I Believe in You and Me" (originally by The Four Tops), became a top five hit in the U.S. [20] and was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards, where the soundtrack overall was nominated for Best R&B Album. [21]
"Step by Step" was another hit single, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "My Heart Is Calling" became the soundtrack's final single release.
Chart success of the soundtrack and its hit singles, "I Believe in You and Me" and "Step By Step", the singer further promoted the album and singles touring across Asia, Australia, and in North America. Known as the Pacific Rim Tour, Houston played shows in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia and Hawaii. The setlist featured tracks from the album, as well as duet performances of "Count On Me" with singer CeCe Winans and "In Return" at select shows in Japan.
Date | Title | Details |
---|---|---|
December 13, 1996 | Rosie O'Donnell Show |
|
December 14, 1996 | Saturday Night Live |
|
March 15, 1997 | UK National Lottery Show |
|
All tracks are produced by Houston and Mervyn Warren, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Believe in You and Me" (film version) |
| 4:01 | |
2. | "Step by Step" | Annie Lennox | Stephen Lipson | 4:12 |
3. | "Joy" (with the Georgia Mass Choir) | Kirk Franklin | 3:16 | |
4. | "Hold On, Help Is on the Way" (with the Georgia Mass Choir) | Rev. Kenneth Paden | 3:09 | |
5. | "I Go to the Rock" (with the Georgia Mass Choir) | Dottie Rambo | 4:05 | |
6. | "I Love the Lord" (with the Georgia Mass Choir) | Richard Smallwood | 4:57 | |
7. | "Somebody Bigger Than You and I" (Featuring Bobby Brown, Faith Evans, Johnny Gill, Monica and Ralph Tresvant) |
| 4:42 | |
8. | "You Were Loved" | Diane Warren | Babyface | 4:13 |
9. | "My Heart Is Calling" | Babyface | Babyface | 4:14 |
10. | "I Believe in You and Me" (single version) |
| David Foster | 3:52 |
11. | "Step by Step" (Remix) | Annie Lennox | Remixed by Teddy Riley | 4:34 |
12. | "Who Would Imagine a King" |
| 3:31 | |
13. | "He's All Over Me" (with Shirley Caesar and the Georgia Mass Choir) | Alvin Darling | 3:53 | |
14. | "The Lord Is My Shepherd" (performed by Cissy Houston with Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir) | Traditional | 4:24 | |
15. | "Joy to the World" (with the Georgia Mass Choir) | Isaac Watts | 4:41 |
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [61] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [62] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [63] | Platinum | 20,000* |
Italy (FIMI) [64] | Gold | 50,000* |
Japan (RIAJ) [65] | 2× Platinum | 400,000^ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [66] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Sweden (GLF) [67] | Gold | 40,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [68] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [69] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [70] | 3× Platinum | 2,471,000 [71] |
Summaries | ||
Europe (IFPI) [72] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
Worldwide | — | 6,000,000 [2] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album | Favorite Soundtrack [73] | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album | Favorite Female, R&B [74] | Won |
1998 | The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album | Favorite Soundtrack [75] | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Whitney Houston (herself) | The Triumphant Spirit Award [76] [77] | Won |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Special Award | Outstanding Mainstream Contribution to Gospel Music [78] | Won |
1998 | "I Go to the Rock" | Traditional Gospel Song of the Year (with Dottie Rambo) [79] [80] | Won |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album | Best R&B Album [81] | Nominated |
"I Believe in You and Me" | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance [81] | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album | Outstanding Gospel Artist (with Georgia Mass Choir) [82] [83] [84] | Won |
Outstanding Album [82] [83] [84] | Won |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | The Preacher's Wife Original Soundtrack Album | Best-selling Gospel Recording [18] | Won |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Whitney Houston (herself) | Favorite Female Musical Performer (tied with Reba McEntire) [85] [86] | Won |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Special Award | The 1998 Quincy Jones Award — for Outstanding Career Achievements in the field of entertainment [87] [88] | Won |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Whitney Houston (herself) | The Pinnacle Award [89] [90] | Won |
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, film producer, and philanthropist. Known as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded entertainers and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 220 million records worldwide. Her crossover appeal on the popular music charts and her performances influenced the breaking down of gender and racial barriers, as well as popular culture. Known for her vocal ability and distinctive timbre, Rolling Stone ranked Houston second on their list of the greatest singers of all time. Her life and career have been the subject of multiple documentaries and television specials.
Whitney Houston is the debut studio album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released on February 14, 1985, by Arista Records. Whitney Houston initially had a slow commercial response, but began getting more popular in mid-1985. It eventually topped the Billboard 200 for 14 weeks in 1986, generating three number-one singles—"Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All"—on the Billboard Hot 100, which made it both the first debut album and the first album by a solo female artist to produce three number-one singles.
Whitney is the second studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released on June 1, 1987, by Arista Records as the follow-up to her debut album. Whitney is one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 20 million copies worldwide. The album features five top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, which also became international hits. The album's first four singles—"I Wanna Dance with Somebody ", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"—all peaked at number one on the US Hot 100, making her the first female act to achieve four number-one hits from one album.
I'm Your Baby Tonight is the third studio album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released on November 6, 1990, by Arista Records. The album is one of the best-selling female albums of all time and has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
My Love Is Your Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Whitney Houston, released worldwide on November 17, 1998. The album is one of the best-selling female albums of all time, selling over 10 million copies worldwide. It was Houston's first studio album in eight years, following I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) although she had participated on three movie soundtracks during that period. My Love Is Your Love is composed of mid-tempo R&B, hip hop soul, pop and dance music, produced by musicians such as Whitney Houston herself, Rodney Jerkins, Soulshock & Karlin, Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, David Foster, Lauryn Hill, and Babyface.
The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album is a soundtrack album from the film of the same name, released on November 17, 1992, by Arista Records. The album's first side features songs recorded by American singer Whitney Houston, who starred in the film, while side two features the work of various artists. Houston and Clive Davis were co-executive producers of the record.
"When You Believe" is a song made for the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature The Prince of Egypt, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe" performed by American singers Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, was also recorded for the film's end credits and its soundtrack album by DreamWorks Records. Additionally, the song serves as the soundtrack's lead single on November 2, 1998 and for both Houston's fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love by Arista Records and Carey's first compilation album, #1's by Columbia Records. The original version of the song, featured in the narrative portion of the film, is performed by Sally Dworsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a children's choir soloist Andrew Bryan. "When You Believe" is described as a big ballad, with meaningful and inspirational lyrics, describing the ability each person has to achieve miracles when they reach out to God and believe.
Whitney: The Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released on May 5, 2000, by Arista Records. Anticipation over a greatest hits album from Houston arose as far as 1995, when Billboard first announced the album's release. However, it was continuously postponed as Houston focused on film projects, before deciding to record several new tracks for the belated collection in 1998. The effort was quickly expanded into her fourth studio album My Love Is Your Love, released in November 1998 to widespread success, which effectively postponed Whitney: The Greatest Hits again.
The albums discography of American singer, actress and producer Whitney Houston consists of seven studio albums, eight compilations, three soundtracks, five box sets and six extended plays. In 1986, Houston's self-titled debut album spent fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, earned three number one singles in a row on the Billboard Hot 100 including "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All" and was 1986's top album of the year, giving Houston the distinction of the first female artist to earn that honor. The album became the first studio album by a female artist to be certified over ten-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 1994, and went on to be certified fourteen-times platinum, tying with Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time, as the highest-certified debut album by a female artist in history. It sold 25 million copies worldwide and earn a Guinness World Record as the best-selling R&B studio album by a female artist in the United States. Houston's second album, Whitney, was released in 1987 and became the first album by a female artist to debut at the top of the Billboard 200. It also became the first female album to spend its first ten weeks at number one, eventually staying there for eleven consecutive weeks. The album spawned four number one singles in a row including "I Wanna Dance with Somebody ", which helped Houston become the only artist to produce a record seven consecutive number-one hits. The album was certified Diamond by the RIAA for sales of ten million equivalent album sales and topped the charts in other countries, eventually selling in excess of 20 million copies worldwide. Houston earned a third consecutive top ten album on the Billboard 200 with the release of I'm Your Baby Tonight in 1990. The album helped Houston become the first female artist to earn multiple number one singles off three or more albums.
Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album is the soundtrack for the film of the same name, released on November 14, 1995, by Arista Records. Produced by Babyface, the soundtrack features appearances by several prominent R&B artists, including Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, TLC, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Faith Evans, Patti LaBelle, SWV and Mary J. Blige.
"I Believe in You and Me" is a song written by Sandy Linzer and David Wolfert in 1982. The song was first recorded and released by the R&B group The Four Tops, who released it as a single from their album One More Mountain (1982). While it failed to reach the US Top 40, it became a moderate hit for the group on the US Billboard R&B chart, peaking at number 40 in early 1983.
"Step by Step" is a song recorded by Whitney Houston, originally written and recorded by Annie Lennox. The song appeared on the B-side to Lennox's 1992 single "Precious". Whitney Houston released a reworked crossover R&B/pop cover version in 1996 on the soundtrack to the film The Preacher's Wife. Houston's version replaces Lennox's verses with new lyrics and omits portions of the bridge. Annie Lennox provides backing vocals for Houston's rendition.
"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. There was no music video made for the song.
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.
I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston is a posthumous greatest hits album by American recording artist Whitney Houston. The album was released on November 13, 2012 via RCA Records.
American singer Whitney Houston, known as "The Voice", released 57 singles as a leading artist and 4 as a featured artist. Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. In the United States, Houston amassed 11 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, all of whom have been certified either gold, platinum, multi-platinum or diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and was one of a selected group of artists to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in four different decades. She is currently ranked in seventh place of the artists with the most number one singles in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. Prior to the introduction of digital singles, Houston sold 16.5 million physical singles in the country, the most ever by a female recording artist. In October 2012, the Official Charts Company claimed Houston was the fourth biggest-selling female singles artist of all time with a sales total of 8.5 million singles in that country.
This is a comprehensive listing of official releases by CeCe Winans, an American gospel singer. Winans has sold 19 million records in the United States and over 27 million records worldwide with 15 Grammy Awards, 23 Dove Awards, and 16 Stellar Awards. Furthermore, Winans is an inaugural inductee in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Nashville Music City Walk of Fame. Winans is the best-selling and most-awarded female gospel artist of all time.
I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston is a posthumous gospel compilation album by American recording artist Whitney Houston, released on March 24, 2023 by Arista Records, Legacy Recordings, and Gaither Music Group. The album features 14 tracks, including six never-before-released songs, three of which culled from a 1981 recording session when Houston was just seventeen.