Whitney Houston singles discography

Whitney Houston singles discography
Houston performing at Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston in 1991
As lead artist	57
As featured artist	4
Other appearances	10
Promotional or limited release	18

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4][5]

Houston's first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 songs chart was "Hold Me", which peaked at number 46 in July 1984, with her first top ten single, "You Give Good Love", reaching number three in July 1985.^[6][7] Houston's first number-one hit on the chart was "Saving All My Love for You".^[8] She would go on to become the first female artist to produce three number one singles off a single album with her debut album, Whitney Houston, following the releases of "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All".^[9] In 1987, Houston released her sophomore album, Whitney. Its leading single, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)", reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1987, the same day the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making her the first female artist in history to accomplish that feat.^[10] The song sold 7 million copies in the United States and 2.4 million copies in the United Kingdom.^[11] Following the success of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", Houston released three more singles from the album ("Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"), all of which topped the Billboard Hot 100, setting a record for female artists as it became the first album by a woman to launch four number one singles.^[12] Also, with this accomplishment, Houston became the first and only artist in history to release seven consecutive number one singles in a row, breaking a record the Beatles had set with six.^[13] In 1988, Houston had a top ten hit with the theme song for the 1988 Summer Olympics titled "One Moment in Time".

In 1990, Houston released her third album I'm Your Baby Tonight, which produced three top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including two number-one hits ("I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need") and made Houston the first solo female artist to launch multiple number one singles off three or more albums.^[14] In 1991, Houston made history again when her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, from Super Bowl XXV, reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first recording of the national anthem to reach that position.^[15] The same song later re-charted in 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks that year, and peaked at number six, becoming the first and only rendition of the national anthem to reach the top ten, which also made her the first female artist in history to have a song return to the top twenty twice.^[16]

In 1992, Houston released her first soundtrack album, The Bodyguard, from the movie of the same name, which launched the number one single, "I Will Always Love You", which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in its third week on the chart, staying there for a then record-setting 14 weeks, the song still holds the record for the longest consecutive run at number one by a female artist.^[17] The single went on to become the best-selling physical single by a woman in music history, selling over 20 million copies worldwide, selling 10 million copies in the United States^[18] and 1.6 million in the United Kingdom. In addition, the soundtrack boasted two more top five singles ("I'm Every Woman" and "I Have Nothing") on the Billboard Hot 100. Houston set more chart records, becoming just the second female solo artist after Donna Summer to land two singles in the top five simultaneously and, later, the first artist in history to land three singles in the top 11 simultaneously.^[19][20][21]

Houston continued to release work from soundtracks to the films, Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher's Wife, with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" becoming just the third single in history and the first single from a soundtrack to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Count On Me" and "I Believe in You and Me", reaching the top ten. In 1998, Houston released her first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love, which launched three top five singles ("Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right but It's Okay", "My Love Is Your Love"). In 2000, Houston's first compilation album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, launched two European hits, "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" and "If I Told You That". Two years later, in 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney, which produced three singles: "Whatchulookinat", "One of Those Days" and "Try It On My Own". After a long sabbatical from the industry, Houston released her seventh and final studio album, I Look to You, which released two singles: "I Look to You" and "Million Dollar Bill". Following Houston's death in 2012, four of her singles: "I Will Always Love You", "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)", "Greatest Love of All" and "How Will I Know" returned to the Billboard Hot 100, with "I Will Always Love You" returning to the top ten, re-peaking at number three, making Houston one of just thirteen recording acts to land a top ten hit in four decades or more.^[2][22][23] Houston set another chart record by being the only female artist to chart the same song twice in the top 20 twice, and the first to chart the same song twice in the top ten.^[16] Seven years later, in 2019, Houston returned to the Billboard Hot 100 with her Kygo-remixed rendition of "Higher Love", which gave Houston her 40th milestone Hot 100 hit, while also giving Houston the distinction of being one of a few acts to have a new hit single charting in four decades or more.^[24]