Whitney Houston 35th Anniversary Album Release

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, and Vinyl Me, Please-in conjunction with The Estate of Whitney E. Houston–are pleased to announce the 35th anniversary 2LP 12” vinyl collector’s edition of Whitney Houston, the debut album that launched the American music icon’s superstar career, began shipping yesterday, Tuesday, June 30.

As a special bonus for fans, the 35th anniversary edition of Whitney Houston includes the first US release of the Whitney Dancin’ Special EP/remix album (previously released only in Japan in 1986). Tracks–including “How Will I Know” (Dance Remix)–from Whitney Dancin’ Special became available on all DSPs Friday, June 26.

The 2LP deluxe vinyl package produced by Vinyl Me, Please includes heavyweight color vinyl and a premium gatefold jacket, housed in a foil-stamped slim case box. The 180-gram peaches and cream swirl color vinyl set features the original album alongside the first U.S. pressing of Whitney Dancin’ Special. The anniversary edition includes a 40-page hard cover photo and lyric book with new essays from Pat Houston, Clive Davis, Narada Michael Walden, LaLa and others who collaborated with Whitney on the album.

In 1985, nine-year-old Keara Gordon was cast as the young Whitney Houston in the original “Greatest Love of All” video. Keara recalls her audition, meeting and working with Whitney and the impact of the experience in an interview premiering tonight (June 30) on Entertainment Tonight (check your local listings). Keara’s interview may be seen in full (following the premiere) on Whitney’s YouTube channel.

The release of Whitney Houston / Whitney Dancin’ Special and the Keara Gordon interview cap a series of events celebrating the 35th anniversary of Whitney’s breakout debut.

A newly remastered 4K version of the “Greatest Love of All” music video was released on Valentine’s Day 2020 (Whitney’s debut was originally released on Valentine’s Day 1985). https://WhitneyHouston.lnk.to/GLOA4K

Newly upgraded to HD, Whitney’s iconic music video for “Saving All My Love For You” was released on Whitney’s YouTube channel on Monday, June 29.

In commemoration of Whitney and her enduring musical and cultural influence, The Estate of Whitney E. Houston partnered with Black Archives, an archive of Black lives researched and curated by multimedia artist Renata Cherlise, to create an inspirational lyric video for Whitney’s transcendent interpretation of “Greatest Love of All” (a ballad originally recorded by George Benson in 1977). The new “Greatest Love of All” lyric video incorporates poignant and powerful images of the everyday Black experience from around the world with scenes culled from Whitney’s original music video to embody the beauty, joy, expression and pride within the Black community, particularly the dreams, aspirations and promise of Black youth. The video premiered Monday, June 22 and may be viewed here: https://whitneyhouston.lnk.to/GLOALV

Whitney Houston took 55 weeks to hit #1, but once there, spent 14 non-consecutive weeks in the top slot, one of the longest-running #1’s in Billboard chart history. Whitney Houston was the best-selling album of 1986 in the United States and the first album by a female artist to earn Billboard’s #1 Album of the Year (1986). The album was certified Diamond on March 16, 1999 and awarded 13x platinum status on July 29, 1999. Worldwide, Whitney Houston has sold more than 22 million copies.

Whitney Houston generated three iconic #1 singles-”Saving All My Love for You”, “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All” (a cover of “The Greatest Love of All”, originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson)—making it the first debut album and the first album by a solo female artist to feature three #1 singles.

In 2013, Whitney Houston was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, established by the Recording Academy’s National Trustees in 1973 to honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. On January 15, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced the induction of Whitney Houston into its Class of 2020.

Whitney Houston has been cited as the most awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records and remains one of the best-selling music artists of all time with 200 million records sold worldwide.