Few female superstars have been able to establish the magnitude of crossover appeal and global impact, as the late and great Whitney Houston.
For once, putting aside her sublime vocal gift, Houston’s achievements on the professional front have had an unprecedented impact on popular culture and has cemented her legacy as one of the most influential female megastars of all time – apart from her vocal influence on aspiring artists.
Soundpasta attempts to touch base on few of her greatest achievements throughout the years – starting from the very beginning to the most recent feats achieved posthumously.
Here are Whitney Houston’s greatest achievements – by the year:
1982 – As a teen supermodel, Houston became one of the first African-american women to grace the cover of Seventeen magazine.
1985 – Marking her much talked-about advent to the music scene, the Grammy-winning songstress released her self-titled debut album – which went on to become the biggest selling debut LP by a female, selling over 30 million copies worldwide.
1986 – Almost a year after the release of her debut, Houston won her first Grammy award for ‘Saving All My Love For You’ in the ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance’ category.
1987 – Became the only female artist with three number one singles from one album, when ‘Greatest Love Of All’ topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
1987 – With the release of her sophomore album, ‘Whitney’, she became the first artist in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums charts.
1988 – On April 23, 1988, Houston made history by becoming the first and only artist to have seven consecutive #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, when ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ rocketed to the top spot – surpassing a record previously held by The Beatles. This also stretched her previous record further – as the only artist to have 4 number one singles from one album.
1989 – At the 31st Grammy awards, Houston performed a rousing rendition of ‘One Moment In Time’ – leading to thunderous standing ovation from a visibly shaken crowd. The song was chosen as the official theme of the 1988 summer Olympics.
1990 – Whitney released her multi-platinum selling third studio album, ‘I’m Your Baby Tonight’, with two more #1 Billboard singles with ‘All The Man That I Need’ and the title song.
1991 – With the USA engaged in the Gulf War, Whitney delivered, what is deemed – the greatest rendition of the American national anthem, ‘Star Spangled Banner’ – which strung a chord with a weary, war-struck nation and brought people together. It also became the most commercially successful version of the anthem ever, often referred to as one of the most memorable moments in television history.
1992 – Houston featured in her first-ever Hollywood motion picture as a lead actress with, ‘The Bodyguard’, which grossed over $500 million worldwide, becoming one of the Top 100 highest grossing movies of that time.
1992 – Whitney released The Bodyguard soundtrack album – which to this very day is the biggest selling album by a female artist with sales of over 45 million copies.
1992 – Released as the lead single from The Bodyguard OST, ‘I Will Always Love You’ became the biggest selling song by a female artist with sales of over 20 million copies. A record still, unbroken.
1993 – A record 11 trophies won at the Billboard Music awards.
1993 to 1994 – The Bodyguard World tour made her one of the most widely toured female artist of that time and also enlisted her in several lists of ‘The most powerful’ and ‘Richest’ women in Hollywood.
1994 – At this point Houston was the biggest selling female artist in the world.
1994 – A record 5 trophies at the World Music awards and 8 trophies at the American Music awards – the most awards won by a female artist in a single ceremony, for each show respectively. A record still unbroken.
1995 – Whitney starred in her second much-anticipated role in the Forrest Whitaker directed movie, ‘Waiting To Exhale’ with an all-black cast. The star-studded soundtrack featured her 11th #1 single, ‘Exhale’
1996 – Houston became the highest paid black actress of all time and one of the highest paid actresses ever, by charging $10 million for ‘The Preacher’s Wife’. The Soundtrack to the movie became the biggest selling gospel album of all time, and still is. The movie also won her, her first ‘Best Actress’ award at the NAACP Image awards.
1997 – Houston co-produced and starred in a multi-racial, made-for-television adaption of ‘Cinderella.’ The television film was the #1 show of the week on Television, with over 60 million viewers. It became the highest-rated TV musical “in years”. The movie was nominated for seven Emmy awards.
1998 – The multi-million seller, ‘My Love Is Your Love’ was released with a string of Top 10 hits – like ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay’ and the title track. The album received her widest and warmest critical reception till date.
1999 – My Love Is Your Love World Tour was the most successful tour of the year in Europe, by a female artist.
2000 – Released her first, two-disk, greatest hits compilation album – which went on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide.
2000 – Houston made headlines and created history again, when she signed one of the most expensive deals in music history – with a whopping $100 million contract for a total of seven albums.
2001 – Houston’s 1991 version of ‘Star Spangled Banner’ was re-released after the 9/11 tragedy – uniting the nation once again, and surpassing it’s previous peak on the Billboard Hot 100, by breaking into the Top 10. The only version of the national anthem to do so.
2002 – Released her fifth solo studio album, ‘Just Whitney’ featuring her most ‘RnB’ and ‘Street’ sound yet.
2003 – Released her first ever full-fledged Christmas album – featuring a soulful take on classic Holiday carols.
2006 – Houston was named ‘The Most Awarded Female Artist’ in history by the Guinness book of world records – a title that stays with her till date.
2009 – On August 31rst, 2009, Whitney released her seventh studio album, ‘I Look To You’ which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums charts and went on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide.
2012 – Following her death on February 11, which broke headlines worldwide, Whitney’s music scorched back at the top of the charts. The following week, she became the only female artist in history to have three albums inside the Top 10 of Billboard charts at the same time – with The Bodyguard OST, The Greatest Hits and Whitney Houston (self-titled debut) – all making it to the Top 10. This was after 44 years anybody was able to accomplish that.
2014 – Houston’s record label and estate made a posthumous release with, ‘Live: Her Greatest Performances’ – a collection of some of most iconic live performances, which topped the RnB albums charts, making her the only female artist to have at least one number 1 album for each of the past four decades.
Although, this might seem a lot to someone who’s unacquainted with Houston’s impact on popular music – this is merely touching base on the fraction of her overall accomplishments – not counting the impact she’s had on other artists with her musical and vocal legacy.
Even after her untimely passing, Whitney Houston – the global superstar, continues to be a force to be reckoned with.