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Whitney Houston (album)

by Whitney Houston

Released: February 14, 1985

Pop, pop-soul, R&B

musicOnOff editorial

Why This Album Matters

This album matters because its strongest editorial story is: Breakthrough.

The Album

"Whitney Houston" is the debut studio album by American contemporary R&B and pop singer Whitney Houston, released on February 14, 1985, by Arista Records. The album reflects a melting pot of youthful exuberance and polished, professional songwriting.

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Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston (album)

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Reception

The self-titled album achieved significant commercial success. It spent 14 weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200, generating three No.1 singles—"Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know," and "Greatest Love of All." The album had a massive influence on the next generation of pop vocalists, and it remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 22 million copies worldwide. Thanks to this album's success, Houston became the first female artist to place three songs in the Top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

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The Complete Album Story

"Whitney Houston" is the debut studio album by American contemporary R&B and pop singer Whitney Houston, released on February 14, 1985, by Arista Records. The self-titled album achieved significant commercial success. It spent 14 weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200, generating three No.1 singles—"Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know," and "Greatest Love of All."

The album had a massive influence on the next generation of pop vocalists, and it remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with sales of over 22 million copies worldwide. Thanks to this album's success, Houston became the first female artist to place three songs in the Top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

The album reflects a melting pot of youthful exuberance and polished, professional songwriting. It secured Whitney’s place in the annals of pop history and launched a career that would continue to generate chart-topping hits for years to come. The mixture of ballads and dance songs proved popular in numerous markets, hitting both the pop and R&B charts in multitudes of countries.