Whitney performing at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England for the Moment of Truth World Tour, April 27, 1988

Whitney Houston by Randee St. Nicholas, 1992

Whitney Houston - I Believe in You and Me (Record Version) (1996, Arista Records)

2011

2010

Whitney Houston Discography

Video chronicling Whitney’s historic feat of seven consecutive number one singles in a row back in 1988 including interviews by Clive Davis and Whitney discussing the historic feat as well as vintage audio of legendary radio hosts Casey Kasem and Rick Dees bringing up the historic achievement live on their shows, American Top 40 and the Weekly Top 40 respectively in late April 1988.

36 years ago today, Billboard magazine announced that Whitney’s soulful ballad, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”, had replaced Billy Ocean’s “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” as the number one single in the country.

In doing so, Whitney set an all-time chart record that stands to this day when she became the first artist in music history to produce seven consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.

The historic chart record started when the quiet storm-styled rendition of “Saving All My Love for You” reached number one for the week of October 26, 1985, replacing a-ha’s iconic “Take on Me” and becoming the then 22-year-old singer’s first-ever number one hit and later won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Later on, her stirring Grammy performance of the same song won her an Emmy Award for Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Musical Program in September 1986.

Less than five months later, on February 15, 1986, Whitney scored her second number one single on the Hot 100 with her funky dance number, “How Will I Know”, enjoying a two-week stay. It replaced cousin Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For” at the top, making it the first time in eight years that an artist replaced a relative at number one since the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” replaced little brother Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water”. It’s notable for having originally been offered by a then-struggling teenage R&B singer named Janet Jackson who turned it down and also for the song’s colorful music video helping Whitney break the color barrier for black female artists on MTV as it became the first black female video to instantly reach heavy rotation on the channel within the first week of its airing in late December 1985. Before then, Whitney had struggled to get on the channel due to being told she was “too R&B”. She eventually earned light rotation play for her hit ballad “Saving All My Love for You”, which set up the universal acceptance for “How Will I Know”, which later won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. Though other artists such as Donna Summer and Tina Turner had enjoyed medium to heavy rotation prior to Whitney’s arrival, it was nothing compared to “How Will I Know”, ushering in the new era of black female-dominated pop music. It also became Whitney’s first pop anthem.

On May 17, 1986, Whitney’s third number one single, “Greatest Love of All” reached number one, replacing Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” at number one and staying there for three consecutive weeks. In doing so, it marked the first time a female solo artist had took three singles to number one off a single album. The ballad later won a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year at the 1987 Grammys. The song, which Whitney began performing as a teenager after coming up second place in a statewide talent show losing to a girl who sang that song, was an early signature song for her. It remained her favorite of her hit singles.

On June 27, 1987, Whitney once again entered the history books when the frenetic dance number, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a two-week stay, replacing Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam’s Motown-inspired freestyle hit “Head to Toe”. On that same day, her second album, Whitney, which accompanied the dance anthem, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, first by a female artist in history. The song would go on to be Whitney’s second best selling single of her career, selling over 14 million physical and digital units worldwide and would win Whitney the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It is also notable for having been streamed over a billion times on the popular streaming app Spotify.

On September 19, 1987, Whitney once again made history when the second single from Whitney, the orchestrated soft rock ballad, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”, replaced Michael Jackson’s own soft rocker, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, a duet with singer Siedah Garrett, at the top for a two-week stay. This accomplishment tied her with Elvis Presley for having five consecutive number one hits in a row on the Hot 100, a record at the time for a solo artist.

Whitney then shocked everyone on January 9, 1988, when the uptempo rocker “So Emotional” replaced George Michael’s “Faith” to enjoyed a week long tenure atop the chart. In doing so, Whitney broke Elvis’ solo chart record, which put her in a three-way tie with the Beatles and the Bee Gees for the most consecutive number one singles in a row with six. Thus setting up the impossible task of earning a seventh number one. Leading to…

When “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” hit number one on April 23, 1988, she broke the tie with the Beatles and Bee Gees to become the all-time leader of consecutive number one singles, a record that nearly five decades later still holds and is unlikely to break.

Whitney posing with Cher, 1999

Congratulations to Cher for being selected for induction to the 2024 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Whitney with Mary J. Blige, April 1999

Congrats to Mary for being selected for induction to the 2024 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Whitney at the FIFA World Cup press conference prior to her historic performance there in Pasadena, California, July 15, 1994

Congratulations to Dionne Warwick for being named as one of the inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the Musical Excellence category.

Whitney was inducted four years ago under the main class after her first nomination in 2020.

Whitney posing with Bobby Brown, BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans during the 25th birthday party held for CeCe in October 1989.

This was reportedly the same night Bobby asked Whitney out on a date.

No idea who the other two women are though.

Whitney and 80s R&B singer Meli’sa Morgan, 1999

Whitney and Robyn (looks like the pre-Grammy party), 1994