Whitney Houston has yet again earned a feat, no other female performer of her time has – till now.
Her signature classic, ‘I Will Always Love You’, has touched the applause-worthy milestone of over 1 billion views on YouTube.
This makes it the very first pre-2000 song by a solo female artist to cross the “Big Billion” mark on YouTube, something her contemporaries in popular music like – Madonna, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, haven’t been able to achieve with any of their classics yet.
This also becomes the first 20th century music video by a solo artist, male or female, to cross one billion views on the video streaming service.
The David Foster-produced high-octane theatrical ballad , already ranks as the ‘best selling song by a female artist in history’, with sales of over 20 million units worldwide.
Released in the year 1992, and featured on her motion picture debut as a leading actress in the Kevin Costner starrer romantic drama, The Bodyguard, this Dolly Parton-penned classic remained one of the most played songs on the radio for several years after it’s release.
The film, it’s accompanying soundtrack and this juggernaut-of-a-song, helped catapult Whitney’s legendary status across the stratosphere, making her the top selling artist in history around that time, topped over the excellent sales of her previous 3 studio albums.
Two years later, in 1994, the diva swept all major awards across multiple ceremonies in the world of music, including three Grammy’s won in the categories – ‘Record Of The Year’, ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance – Female’ and ‘Album Of The Year’.
Not only did it immediately become one of her most recognized signature songs, alongside ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, it still continues to attract listeners, even from a much younger generation of music-lovers, nearly 3 decades since it’s release.
So this ‘new feat’ is only one of the many feathers on this iconic soundtrack’s coveted hat.
Even in death, the Queen of Pop continues to set benchmarks.