The Greatest Love World Tour was the debut worldwide concert tour (and second overall) by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, in support of her debut studio album Whitney Houston. The four-month tour began in North America on July 26, 1986 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion with an itinerary that included visits in Europe, Japan and Australia. In all, Houston toured in four continents in a span of six months.

Background

Houston's debut album was released in early 1985 and she performed at various clubs to promote the album. Following the success of the US #1 R&B hit single "You Give Good Love", Houston became the opening act for singers' Luther Vandross and Jeffrey Osborne on their individual 1985 US tours. After the next single, "Saving All My Love For You" became Houston's first #1 on the US Hot 100, she began headlining her own shows, playing at various American theaters, festivals, and clubs throughout the summer and fall of 1985.Whitney Houston Takes Fame in Stride.Orlando Sentinel With more #1 hits on the way, and Houston's album at the top of the album charts, she would become a household name. She then embarked on her first worldwide tour, the successful The Greatest Love Tour. The tour started in North America during mid-1986, before heading to Europe, Japan, Australia and back to the US for a final show in Hawaii at the end of the year.

The show The show consisted of Houston on a fringed round stage in the center of the arena/theater with a 9-piece band playing and four backup vocalists behind her. There were no costume changes or background dancers. Brother Gary Garland would replace Jermaine Jackson and Teddy Pendergrass on the duets. Comedian Sylvia Traymore served as the opening act.

While on her first global tour, Houston revealed she was a creative musician; rearranging most of the songs during her shows and sometimes deviating from the album's version. In "You Give Good Love", Houston would slow it down and emphasize the soulful elements of the song, treating it like a gospel number while breaking it down in a reggae melody with her background singers.Takiff, Jonathon. "Whitney Makes Converts". Philadelphia Daily News. August 28, 1986. During "Saving All My Love", Houston arranged the song into a bluesy jazz number that recalled Billie Holiday. Houston often scatted with sax player Josh Harris during the end of the song. Many critics noted "He/I Believe" and "I Am Changing" as the show's highlights. The former is a song she learned from her mother which joins the gospel songs "He Is" with "I Believe". The latter is a cover of the show Jennifer Holliday's show stopping Dreamgirls song. After opening the show with a tease of the anthemic "Greatest Love of All", Houston closed out the show with a slowed down soulful version of the song.

Billboard magazine's Carlo Wolff said the following on his column for her show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on July 28, 1986.

Opening acts Sylvia Morrison from Washington, DC, is the first black female impressionist/comedian.Palm Beach Improv | Comedian: Sylvia Traymore

Sylvia Traymore Morrison (US—leg) Mark McCollum (comedian) (US—leg) Kenny G (US—leg, select dates)

Set list Instrumental intro (contains elements of "Also sprach Zarathustra" and excerpts from "Greatest Love of All") "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" "Eternal Love" "You Give Good Love" "Hold Me" (duet with Gary Houston) "How Will I Know" "Take Good Care of My Heart" (duet with Gary Houston) "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" (duet with Gary Houston) "Saving All My Love for You" "Someone for Me "I Am Changing" "Heart to Heart" "All at Once" "He, I Believe" "Greatest Love of All"

Notes

Additional notes July, August: for select dates, Houston performed "Memories" , "A Brand New Day" and a duet with her mother, singer Cissy Houston. Houston also added Kenny Loggins's US pop hit "Heart to Heart" and "I Am Changing" from the musical Dreamgirls as part of her setlist. August 4: at the Garden State Arts Center show, Whitney performed "When I First Saw You" with her mother Cissy and brother Gary. September 13: for the concert in Mountain View, Houston brought out a cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to her father, John Houston. Houston was also working on her second album and included two new songs in her set, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All". AllWhitney.com

Shows + List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue Date City Country Venue Attendance Revenue North AmericaSources for dates in North America: Review: Young Whitney Houston wows at Jones Beach Theater Review; Whitney Houston Live at Jones Beach Theater Looking back Whitney Houston Live in Montreal 1986 Whitney Houston Live in Chicago at Poplar CreekNorth America 1st Leg Boxcore Data:July 26, 1986ColumbiaUnited StatesMerriweather Post Pavilion13,000 / 13,000$176,267July 28, 1986Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts Center20,000 / 20,000$218,735July 29, 1986BostonBoston Common 37,000 / 37,000 $667,065July 31, 1986August 1, 1986August 2, 1986WantaghJones Beach Marine Theater20,600 / 20,600$376,326August 4, 1986Holmdel TownshipGarden State Arts Center10,600 / 10,600$156,647August 6, 1986WantaghJones Beach Marine TheaterAugust 10, 1986AtlantaChastain Park Amphitheater 12,702 / 12,702 $259,545August 11, 1986August 12, 1986NashvilleStarwood AmphitheatreAugust 14, 1986CincinnatiRiverbend Music Center16,289 / 16,289$251,000August 15, 1986LouisvilleFreedom Hall15,600 / 15,600$156,310August 16, 1986IndianapolisIndiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum16,287 / 16,287$225,965August 18, 1986Cuyahoga FallsBlossom Music CenterAugust 19, 1986Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatrerowspan=2 rowspan=2 August 20, 1986August 22, 1986TorontoCanadaCNE Grandstand25,370 / 25,370$465,286August 24, 1986OttawaLansdowne Parkrowspan=5 rowspan=5 August 26, 1986MontrealMontreal ForumAugust 27, 1986PhiladelphiaUnited StatesMann Music CenterAugust 30, 1986Hoffman EstatesPoplar Creek Music TheaterAugust 31, 1986September 1, 1986St. LouisMunicipal Theatre of St. Louis9,846 / 9,846$189,980September 2, 1986Bonner SpringsSandstone Center for the Performing Arts CenterSeptember 7, 1986SyracuseNew York State FairgroundsSeptember 8, 1986MorrisonRed Rocks Amphitheatre8,950 / 8,950$203,854September 10, 1986Salt Lake CitySpecial Events Center September 12, 1986SacramentoCal Expo Amphitheatre8,273 / 8,500$144,778September 13, 1986Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre15,211 / 15,211$256,782September 14, 1986ConcordConcord Pavilion8,333 / 8,333$152,485September 16, 1986FresnoSelland Arena5,908 / 5,908$99,715September 18, 1986San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena9,051 / 9,051$172,092September 19, 1986Costa MesaPacific Amphitheatre13,946 / 18,764$294,954September 21, 1986Los AngelesGreek Theatrerowspan=2 rowspan=2 September 23, 1986 EuropeOctober 10, 1986BrusselsBelgiumForest Nationalrowspan=6 rowspan=6 October 11, 1986RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam AhoyOctober 17, 1986LondonEnglandWembley ArenaOctober 18, 1986October 19, 1986October 20, 1986October 25, 1986GlasgowScotlandSECC October 26, 1986LondonEnglandWembley Arena AsiaNovember 4, 1986OsakaJapanOsaka Festival Hallrowspan=7 rowspan=7 November 5, 1986Osaka-jō HallNovember 6, 1986NagoyaAichi Prefectural Gymnasium November 8, 1986YokohamaYokohama Cultural GymnasiumNovember 10, 1986TokyoNippon BudokanNovember 11, 1986November 12, 1986 OceaniaNovember 15, 1986SydneyAustraliaSydney Entertainment Centrerowspan=4 rowspan=4 November 16, 1986November 17, 1986November 25, 1986MelbourneMelbourne Entertainment Centre North AmericaNovember 30, 1986HonoluluUnited StatesBlaisdell Arena 17,600 / 17,600 $362,313December 1, 1986 Total 285,066 / 290,011 $4,830,072

Cancellations and rescheduled shows August 28, 1986Geddes, New YorkState Fair GrandstandRescheduled for September 7, 1986Hard Rain; Whitney Houston at New York State FairNovember 19, 1986Brisbane, AustraliaBrisbane Entertainment CentreCancelledTeeds, J. "MELBOURNE CONCERT DOUBT". Sunday Mail. November 23, 1986.November 20, 1986Brisbane, AustraliaBrisbane Entertainment CentreCancelledNovember 23, 1986Melbourne, AustraliaMelbourne Sports and Entertainment CentreCancelledNovember 24, 1986Melbourne, AustraliaMelbourne Sports and Entertainment CentreNovember 26, 1986Perth, AustraliaPerth Entertainment CentreCancelledNovember 27, 1986Sydney, AustraliaSydney Entertainment CentreCancelled

Personnel Houston and John Simmons were friends from their church in New Jersey. While Houston was trying to get a recording contract, she would perform sets as part of her mother's nightclub act in New York City. Simmons was her musical director. Houston asked Simmons to put together a band that would back her during her nightclub act and record label showcases.Charles, Nat. "Conducting Electricity, and Idolatry". New York Times. January 14, 2007. The tour manager was Tony Bulluck, who remained her tour manager on several of her tours later, including the Nothing but Love Tour. Rickey Minor and Whitney's brother Gary Houston remained band members throughout her touring career.

Band Music director / piano – John Simmons Bass guitar / bass synthesizer – Ricky Minor Guitar – Curtis Taylor Neishloss Keyboards – Willard Meeks Saxophone – Josh Harris Drums – Brian Brake Percussion – Kevin Jones Background vocalists – Gary Houston, Felicia Moss, Voneva Simms, Billy Baker

Tour management Manager – Tony Bulluck

Broadcast and recordings The show at Osaka-jō Hall on November 5 was broadcast live on Asahi Hōsō Radio in Japan. There were no official recordings released to the public.

Ticket price score data + Not all ticket price dates are listed July 26, 1986 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD $16.50 / $11.50 July 28, 1986 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY $15 / $10 July 29, 31, August 1, 1986 Boston Common, Boston, MA $19.50 / $17.50 August 2, 6, 1986 Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, New York $22 / $20.50 / $17.50 August 4, 1986 Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ $18.50 / $11 August 10, 11, 1986 Chastain Park, Atlanta, GA $22 / $20.50 / $17.50 August 14, 1986 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH $20 / $11.50 August 15, 1986Freedom Hall Arena, Louisville, KY $10 August 16, 1986 Indiana State Fair, Indianapolis, IN $14.50 / $12.50 August 22, 1986 CNE Stadium, Toronto, Ontario $23.50 / $19.50 September 1, 1986 The Muny, St. Louis, MO $20.50 / $18.50 / $16.50 September 8, 1986 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver, CO $24.40 / $22 / $19.80 September 12, 1986Billboard Boxscore Top Concert Grosses, September 27, 1986 California Exposition & State Fair, Sacramento, CA $17.50 September 13, 1986 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA $18.50 / $15.50 September 14, 1986 Concord Pavilion, Concord, CA $22.50 / $15.50 September 16, 1986 Fresno Convention Center, Fresno, CA $17.50 September 18, 1986 San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA $25 / $18.50 September 19, 1986 Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, CA $24.75 / $15 November 30, December 1, 1986 Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, HI $22.50 / $17.50

Notes

References

External links The Greatest Love World Tour | Whitney Houston Official Site