We’ve spent a lot of time this week contemplating a heartbreaking aspect of Whitney Houston’s life. Let’s use this thread to celebrate her. Do you have a favorite Whitney Houston song or performance? Do you watch Waiting to Exhale at least once a year like I do? Let’s praise her. Let’s hold up her name in the light.
Growing up listening to my mom sing All The Man that I Need to herself made the single a touchpoint in my mind. When I hear it, I'm four years old again, sitting on the couch, watching my mother like she's the whole world.
What a great way to end this week! Bravo, Saeed! 👏👏👏
I love the vocalizing at the beginning of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” — the song hasn’t even started and she brought such joy to it already! You can hear her smiling throughout the song.
Because of The Preacher's Wife and later, Prince of Egypt, Whitney was one of the few popstars I was allowed to listen to growing up in an evangelical household. I still love the duet "When You Believe" with Mariah Carey from Prince of Egypt. I think the soundtrack was the first CD I bought with my own money!
Whitney's "Cinderella" is the ONLY "Cinderella" I knew as a kid. Now an adult, I rewatched it last year and it is still so delightful and well done. "The Bodyguard" is also one of my mom's faves, so Whitney's music and work floated through my childhood, and now as an adult I find myself returning to her music and other films ("The Preacher's Wife"!) when I need to reconnect to joy.
I love everything that Whitney has ever sang but I have to say that my all time favorite was her rendition of the national anthem on Jan 27th, 1991, Super Bowl 25!! No one has sang it better before or since.
Her hits were a big part of my '80s pop listening experience (I had the first album on cassette!) but stopped really listening once I got into other genres. But her voice...I just appreciate it more and more as I get older. I guess when you're a kid, something might strike you as amazing, but who knows how unique it is, really. Now I see clearly how unique and incredibly talented she was. Hardly anyone else compares. Praise Whitney!
I have a playlist called "Go Full Aunty!" and listen... you know Nippy is absolutely on there multiple times.
I remember my elementary, middle school, AND high school all used the Whitney version of the anthem to play on Mondays. My schools were 65%+ Black so you know we went up for it.
I also – very specifically – watch the first episode of Pose over and over again for Damon's dance school audition scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehx0qKP5DLE). He uses a tape of "Dance With Somebody" that says 'Whitney! <3' on it and just KILLS it. I adooooore that scene, that song, and RJS' acting here. I think I'm so endeared to it b/c he reminds me of a bi boy I dated as a Senior in HS. His name was Bobby & he was also a dancer. He had colored contacts, but it was 2000 so I don't hold that against him lol
I cannot tell you how much Waiting To Exhale shaped my early womanhood, (for better or for worse.) Watched it last month for the first time in about fifteen years. Still iconic x
When I’m feeling blue, I always go back to this one, just the way she starts it all up, takes her time, it just make me feel everything. I dunno. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iF0j0WuOhDM
In 1987, my dad gave me the VHS of "Whitney: The #1 Video Hits”. I loved it so much, and wore it out singing and dancing along in the basement! I can picture my 12 year old self belting out “You Give Good Love”, “Saving All My Love For You”, “How Will I Know” and “The Greatest Love of All” over and over and over while feeling all the emotions. So much love for Whitney then, now and always. Thanks for giving us this opportunity to remember all the joy Whitney inspired in our lives.
When I was 5, 'Whitney' (1987) was like one of the first and only CDs we had. I fascinated by the technology, but I wore the disc out listening to Just The Lonely Talking Again and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. I was emotionally invested like I'd been through 25 years of love and heartbreak.
Whitney is a forever staple in my rotation. Too many favorites to count, but I love going to youtube and watching her cover this Aretha track from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. It gives me chills every damn time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIwXvGqHEao
Also love that when I was a kid, I played "I Will Always Love You" on repeat until my dad and brother had to (kindly) ask me to PLEASE STOP.
There are maybe a handful of albums where I feel every single song is a smash hit. Whitney's 2009 album I Look to You is one of those for me! I love it so much! I hadn't listened to it for a while and just came across it again, and ughh it's the best! What a voice!!!!
One of my Whitney-related memories is the time my friends and I were playing "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" on my little tape player outside and we were dancing in the driveway. We must have been around 6? Early elementary school for sure. And a guy was walking past and shouted out (thankfully in a completely non-creepy way) something like, "Yeah! Go on!" Like he approved of our choice. Felt like bringing the joy of the song to the whole neighborhood.
When I first started making the "must-play" list for our wedding reception, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" was the first song on it. When it played on the dance floor all those months later, it was transcendent. She blessed us.
It is difficult to choose the best Whitney moment, but one that I always go back to is her stunning “I Have Nothing” medley at the 1994 American Music Awards. She was my first celebrity crush, and I miss her every single day. ✨
Her and Natalie Cole singing Bring Over Troubled Water and Say A Little Prayer on Cole's show. Or her and Cece Winans singing Call On Me Live at the 1996 Grammy's. Impeccable performances. There was something overwhelmingly beautiful about her singing with women who gave me the sisters she never had vibe.
And my GOD, I'm still upset we never got a video for "Same Script, Different Cast" with Deborah Cox.
So many memories! Both my parents played her self- titled album nonstop when they separated. I was around 5-6 years old? "Someone for Me" was a fav! I remember rollerblading around my driveway to the Bodyguard soundtrack in middle school. And my first Valentine's Day post- separation from my ex husband included m&ms and "Waiting to Exhale" on Netflix and it was the best one in years.
I listen to her version of "I'm Every Woman" over and over again, month after month. So much strength and love and joy in that one song-- and so much respect for the original, Chaka Khan. I love it.
Growing up listening to my mom sing All The Man that I Need to herself made the single a touchpoint in my mind. When I hear it, I'm four years old again, sitting on the couch, watching my mother like she's the whole world.
What a great way to end this week! Bravo, Saeed! 👏👏👏
I love the vocalizing at the beginning of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” — the song hasn’t even started and she brought such joy to it already! You can hear her smiling throughout the song.
I'm Your Baby Tonight 😍 every love song Whitney touched is a revelation
Because of The Preacher's Wife and later, Prince of Egypt, Whitney was one of the few popstars I was allowed to listen to growing up in an evangelical household. I still love the duet "When You Believe" with Mariah Carey from Prince of Egypt. I think the soundtrack was the first CD I bought with my own money!
Whitney's "Cinderella" is the ONLY "Cinderella" I knew as a kid. Now an adult, I rewatched it last year and it is still so delightful and well done. "The Bodyguard" is also one of my mom's faves, so Whitney's music and work floated through my childhood, and now as an adult I find myself returning to her music and other films ("The Preacher's Wife"!) when I need to reconnect to joy.
Waiting for “I Will Always Love You” get to number 1 every week on the radio for a long time felt like the biggest win 💝
I love everything that Whitney has ever sang but I have to say that my all time favorite was her rendition of the national anthem on Jan 27th, 1991, Super Bowl 25!! No one has sang it better before or since.
Her hits were a big part of my '80s pop listening experience (I had the first album on cassette!) but stopped really listening once I got into other genres. But her voice...I just appreciate it more and more as I get older. I guess when you're a kid, something might strike you as amazing, but who knows how unique it is, really. Now I see clearly how unique and incredibly talented she was. Hardly anyone else compares. Praise Whitney!
I was looking at those 80s videos not long ago and they are so joyful.
I have a playlist called "Go Full Aunty!" and listen... you know Nippy is absolutely on there multiple times.
I remember my elementary, middle school, AND high school all used the Whitney version of the anthem to play on Mondays. My schools were 65%+ Black so you know we went up for it.
I also – very specifically – watch the first episode of Pose over and over again for Damon's dance school audition scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehx0qKP5DLE). He uses a tape of "Dance With Somebody" that says 'Whitney! <3' on it and just KILLS it. I adooooore that scene, that song, and RJS' acting here. I think I'm so endeared to it b/c he reminds me of a bi boy I dated as a Senior in HS. His name was Bobby & he was also a dancer. He had colored contacts, but it was 2000 so I don't hold that against him lol
I cannot tell you how much Waiting To Exhale shaped my early womanhood, (for better or for worse.) Watched it last month for the first time in about fifteen years. Still iconic x
When I’m feeling blue, I always go back to this one, just the way she starts it all up, takes her time, it just make me feel everything. I dunno. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iF0j0WuOhDM
In 1987, my dad gave me the VHS of "Whitney: The #1 Video Hits”. I loved it so much, and wore it out singing and dancing along in the basement! I can picture my 12 year old self belting out “You Give Good Love”, “Saving All My Love For You”, “How Will I Know” and “The Greatest Love of All” over and over and over while feeling all the emotions. So much love for Whitney then, now and always. Thanks for giving us this opportunity to remember all the joy Whitney inspired in our lives.
When I was 5, 'Whitney' (1987) was like one of the first and only CDs we had. I fascinated by the technology, but I wore the disc out listening to Just The Lonely Talking Again and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. I was emotionally invested like I'd been through 25 years of love and heartbreak.
Her remixes around 2000 were so great—“It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay,” “I Learned From the Best,” “My Love Is Your Love…”.
Whitney is a forever staple in my rotation. Too many favorites to count, but I love going to youtube and watching her cover this Aretha track from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. It gives me chills every damn time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIwXvGqHEao
Also love that when I was a kid, I played "I Will Always Love You" on repeat until my dad and brother had to (kindly) ask me to PLEASE STOP.
There are maybe a handful of albums where I feel every single song is a smash hit. Whitney's 2009 album I Look to You is one of those for me! I love it so much! I hadn't listened to it for a while and just came across it again, and ughh it's the best! What a voice!!!!
♥♥ All of her! Everything! Ahhhh! I Wanna Dance With Somebody! I Will Always Love You! I Have Nothing! Ahhhhh! ♥♥
One of my Whitney-related memories is the time my friends and I were playing "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" on my little tape player outside and we were dancing in the driveway. We must have been around 6? Early elementary school for sure. And a guy was walking past and shouted out (thankfully in a completely non-creepy way) something like, "Yeah! Go on!" Like he approved of our choice. Felt like bringing the joy of the song to the whole neighborhood.
When I first started making the "must-play" list for our wedding reception, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" was the first song on it. When it played on the dance floor all those months later, it was transcendent. She blessed us.
It is difficult to choose the best Whitney moment, but one that I always go back to is her stunning “I Have Nothing” medley at the 1994 American Music Awards. She was my first celebrity crush, and I miss her every single day. ✨
Her and Natalie Cole singing Bring Over Troubled Water and Say A Little Prayer on Cole's show. Or her and Cece Winans singing Call On Me Live at the 1996 Grammy's. Impeccable performances. There was something overwhelmingly beautiful about her singing with women who gave me the sisters she never had vibe.
And my GOD, I'm still upset we never got a video for "Same Script, Different Cast" with Deborah Cox.
So many memories! Both my parents played her self- titled album nonstop when they separated. I was around 5-6 years old? "Someone for Me" was a fav! I remember rollerblading around my driveway to the Bodyguard soundtrack in middle school. And my first Valentine's Day post- separation from my ex husband included m&ms and "Waiting to Exhale" on Netflix and it was the best one in years.
“HELL TO THE NO”, best line ever!
I listen to her version of "I'm Every Woman" over and over again, month after month. So much strength and love and joy in that one song-- and so much respect for the original, Chaka Khan. I love it.