American vocalist and performer Whitney Houston, known as "The Voice", is one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. She embarked on ten concert tours between the 1980s and the 2000s, including six world tours and four territorial tours. After performing as a successful opening act for singers Jeffrey Osborne and Luther Vandross on their respective 1985 US amphitheatre tours, and also having sung at various North American venues and festivals, Houston embarked on her worldwide debut, The Greatest Love Tour, in 1986. For the promotion of her globally-successful album Whitney (1987), Houston embarked on The Moment of Truth World Tour, which visited North America, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia from 1987 to 1988. In Europe, Houston visited 12 countries for the first time, singing for over half-a-million fans; the singer performed for nine consecutive nights at Wembley Arena in London. She then followed this success with a special, sold-out Japanese tour, the Feels So Right Japan Tour (1990) and the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour (1991).
After starring with Kevin Costner in the enormously successful film The Bodyguard (1992) and singing on its multi-platinum accompanying soundtrack, and receiving global accolades for the smash hit "I Will Always Love You"—originally written and performed by Dolly Parton—Houston went on her most ambitious world tour, at that point, The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–1994). Spanning two years, the tour took Houston throughout North America twice, as well as back to Europe and Japan, in addition to her very first shows in South America and South Africa. In 1997, she embarked on The Pacific Rim Tour, during which she performed for the first time in Thailand and Taiwan. In 1999, following the success of her first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love (1998), Houston embarked on her first world tour in five years to promote the album. The My Love Is Your Love World Tour was the highest-grossing European arena tour for that year, playing to almost half-a-million people. In 2009, Houston embarked on the Nothing but Love World Tour, her first tour in over 10 years, at the time, in support her seventh and final studio album, I Look to You (2009).
Throughout her career, Houston also made appearances at various charity concerts, and had her own televised specials, such as Freedomfest: Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Celebration (1988), A Benefit Concert for The United Negro College Fund (1988), That's What Friends Are For: AIDS Benefit Concert (1990), Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston (1991) and Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C. (1997).
Concert tours World tours Title Date Associated album(s) Continent(s) Shows Gross AttendanceThe Greatest Love World Tour – December 1, 1986Whitney HoustonNorth AmericaEuropeAsiaOceania54 (USA) Moment of Truth World Tour – November 21, 1988WhitneyNorth AmericaEuropeAsiaOceania157 (USA) I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour – October 2, 1991I'm Your Baby TonightAsiaNorth AmericaEurope97 The Bodyguard World Tour – November 19, 1994The BodyguardNorth AmericaEuropeAsiaSouth AmericaAfrica120 (USA) My Love Is Your Love World Tour – November 8, 1999My Love Is Your LoveNorth AmericaEurope66 (USA) Nothing but Love World Tour – June 17, 2010I Look to YouAsiaAustraliaEurope 48$36,300,000
Regional tours Title Date Associated album(s) Location(s) ShowsUS Tour June 3 – December 1, 1985Whitney Houston United States 59Feels So Right Tour January 1 – 24, 1990 Japan 14Pacific Rim TourMay 5 – 29, 1997The Preacher's Wife JapanTaiwanThailandAustraliaUnited States9The European Tour June 20 – July 11, 1998 Europe10Soul Divas Tour July 7 – 28, 2004 GermanyThailandChina7
Benefit concerts DateEventCityPerformed song(s)January 2, 1986An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.New York City"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (with Ashford & Simpson and Al Jarreau)July 4, 1986Liberty Weekend: Americana ConcertNew York City June 11, 1988Freedomfest: Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday CelebrationLondon August 28, 1988United Negro College Fund Benefit ConcertNew York City March 17, 1990That's What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary AIDS Benefit ConcertNew York CityMarch 31, 1991Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney HoustonNorfolkMay 12, 1991The Simple Truth: A Concert for Kurdish RefugeesLondonJanuary 27, 1994Commitment To Life VIILos Angeles April 9, 19944th Annual Rainforest Foundation ConcertNew York CityNovember 12, 1994Whitney: The Concert for a New South AfricaJohannesburgOctober 3 & 5,1997Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.July 11, 1998UNICEF Summer Open Air Festival '98 Aschaffenburg
Other notable appearances DateShow titleDetailsJune 23, 1983The Merv Griffin Show Arista Records founder, Clive Davis introduced Whitney Houston to the world on this show for her first TV performance. She performed "Home" from The Wiz and also sang a medley of soul classics, Aretha's "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone", "Ain't No Way" and Sam Cooke's "You Send Me", with her mother Cissy Houston.April 5, 1986Champs-Elysées(French TV Talk-Show) Whitney Houston met France's Serge Gainsbourg on this live talk-show, which was then the most watched Saturday evening show in France. An incident after the performance where Gainsbourg made a crude comment about Houston was listed at No. 41 in NME'''s "Top 100 Rock Moments of All Time" in 2001 and No. 48 in VH1's "100 Most Outrageous Celebrity Moments" in 2004. |- | style="text-align:center"|February 7, 1987 |Sanremo Music Festival | Whitney was the international guest at the finale of the most popular Italian contest and awards. Her live performance of All at Once got a huge standing ovation and the audience asked her for the encore, the request was immediately satisfied. That was the first encore requested in the history of the contest. |- | style="text-align:center;"|May 15, 1987 |The 27th Montreux Golden Rose Rock Festival; IM&MC Gala | Set list "How Will I Know "Where Do Broken Hearts Go "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" |- | style="text-align:center;"|July 31, 1987 |The Special Olympics World Summer Games Opening Ceremonies| It was held at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. She performed "Love Will Save the Day", "Didn't We Almost Have It All" and also joined "Winners All", which was dedicated to The Special Olympics, with Barbara Mandrell, Marvin Hamlisch, John Denver at finale. "Love Will Save the Day" performance was used as its music video later. In 1988, she won Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Sports Program for the performance in this event. |- | style="text-align:center;"|November 13, 1989 |Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Celebration in Show Business| She performed "One Moment in Time". |- | style="text-align:center;"|January 27, 1991 |Super Bowl XXV| Whitney Houston performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the Super Bowl XXV, played at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on January 27, 1991. A single of the performance was later released. The single was reissued on September 27, 2001, as a charity CD single after the September 11, attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon and has been certified platinum for U.S. sales in excess of 1 million copies by RIAA. Whitney Houston, The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, Inc. and Arista Records donated their royalties and net proceeds from the sale of re-released single to New York Fraternal Order Of Police and The New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund. The single released in 1991, reached No. 20 on Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart; making her second artist to turn the national anthem into a pop hit of that magnitude since José Feliciano's version has reached No. 50 in 1968 and re-released single in 2001, peaked No. 6 on the Hot 100 chart; becoming easily the biggest hit version ever of "The Star-Spangled Banner". In 2003, this performance listed No. 12 in VH1 and TV Guide's "100 Moments That Rocked TV" and ranked No. 1 in "25 Most Memorable Music Moments in NFL History" to be featured in Rolling Stone. |- | style="text-align:center;"|June 23, 1991 |Coca-Cola Pop Music Backstage Pass to Summer| A Fox's TV special hosted by Cher, which previewed the Summer 1991 music scene. It was aired to Whitney's "I'm Your Baby Tonight" live performance at Greensboro Coliseum on June 16, during I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour. |- | style="text-align:center;"|February 16, 1992 |Muhammad Ali's 50th Birthday Celebration| This event was taped at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on February 16, 1992, aired on ABC on March 1, 1992. She dedicated "Greatest Love of All" to Muhammad Ali, which was the theme of 1977 film The Greatest about the life of him and later joined "You've Got a Friend" with Diana Ross & other celebrities at the end of the show. |- | style="text-align:center;"|May 6, 1992 |Whitney Houston: This Is My Life| It was her first hourlong TV special aired on ABC on May 6, 1992. This special included eight edited live performances in A Coruña, Spain during I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour on September 29, 1991, as well as her two live performances during rehearsals for that tour, "This Day" and "Greatest Love of All". She talked about her musical and personal life with behind-the-scenes view of world tour. Her co-star, Kevin Costner in the movie The Bodyguard, her parents Cissy Houston and John Houston appeared to talk about Whitney Houston. |- | style="text-align:center;"|July 17, 1994 |1994 FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremonies| The 1994 FIFA World Cup Final took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on July 17, 1994. Whitney Houston arrived on the playing field with the legendary Brazilian soccer player Pelé and performed six songs for 25 minutes with support from several thousand dancers, flag bearers, and musicians during closing ceremony before the final game, Brazil Vs. Italy. Set list: "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" "How Will I Know" "I Will Always Love You" "I'm Every Woman" "So Emotional" "Greatest Love of All" |- | style="text-align:center;"|June 22, 1995 |VH-1 Honors| The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children Inc. was awarded a VH1 Honor for its charitable work. She performed "This Day" and spectacular duet "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with CeCe Winans. At the opening of the event, she performed "My Guy" in a duet with Smokey Robinson during Smokey Robinson tribute medley, followed by "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "Get Ready" with Boyz II Men, Wynonna and Vince Gill. |- | style="text-align:center;"|August 24, 1996 |Whitney: Brunei The Royal Wedding Celebration| Whitney did a private gig, for the wedding of Princess Rashidah, the eldest daughter of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, at Jerudong Park Garden on August 24, 1996. Setlist was almost the same as The Bodyguard World Tour except encore song was "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". She was reportedly paid $7 million to perform for this event. Media stories on the Brunei royal family indicated that Prince Jefri gave Houston a blank check for the event and instructed her to fill it out for what she felt she was worth. |- | style="text-align:center;"|November 28, 1996(Air date) |Celebrate the Dream: 50 Years of Ebony| It was a two-hour-long event featuring America's biggest stars, looking back, remembering and celebrating the past 50 years and the Ebony Magazine that chronicled it. Whitney Houston & the Georgia Mass Choir kick off the celebration with a soul-stirring medley of "I Love the Lord" and "Joy to the World". It was aired on ABC, November 28, 1996. |- | style="text-align:center;"|August 25, 1997 |The 1997 U.S. Open Tennis Championships: the Arthur Ashe Stadium Inauguration Ceremonies| It was the special event to celebrate opening a new stadium which was named after former tennis player Arthur Ashe.