The videography of American cultural icon Whitney Houston, nicknamed “The Voice”, consists of fifty-five music videos, four music video compilations, a concert tour video and three music video singles. In 1983, Houston signed a recording contract with Arista Records and two years later released her eponymous debut album. Houston's first music video was for the single "You Give Good Love", which was selected to establish her in the black marketplace first. Houston then released the video of her worldwide hit "Saving All My Love for You". The following video, for the song "How Will I Know", helped introduce the singer to a wider audience when it became one of the first videos by a black female singer to earn heavy rotation on MTV and established her as a pop culture icon. It won MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video at its 3rd ceremony of 1986. "Greatest Love of All", the final single released from Houston's debut album, helped cement the M.O. for the classic Whitney video.
In June 1986, Houston released her first video compilation The No. 1 Video Hits, containing her four music videos off the Whitney Houston album. It entered at number-one on the Billboard Top Music Videocassettes chart and stayed there for 22 weeks, which remains the all-time record for a video collection by a female artist, it was also certified Platinum for shipments of 100,000 units by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 15, 1986. In 1987, Houston released the music video for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", the first single from her second album Whitney (1987), which depicts Houston in one of her iconic looks, the clip―towering curly wig, colorful dangly earrings and a series of going-to-the-club outfits. In 1988, the music video for the song "One Moment in Time", the title track off the 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time, was released.
In October 1990, Houston released the video for her song "I'm Your Baby Tonight", the title track from the singer's third album I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990). The following year, "All the Man That I Need" was released as a music video. In 1991, due to overwhelming response to her performance of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV, it was released as a video single, which was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA in April 1991. Such Houston's patriotism-boosting-performance for the national anthem led her to give the Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston concert, in honor of those returning from the Gulf War. The concert was released in VHS that same year and was certified Gold for shipments of 50,000 units by the RIAA. "I Will Always Love You" was the music video for the lead single off the soundtrack for Houston's 1992 film debut The Bodyguard. Having sold over 45 million copies worldwide, the soundtrack is the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. In 1995 and 1996, Houston starred in and contributed on the soundtracks for two films: Waiting to Exhale (1995), which generated the music video for the song "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"; and The Preacher's Wife (1996). In 1998, Houston released the video for "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack, alongside American singer Mariah Carey. In November 1998, Houston released her fourth studio album My Love Is Your Love, whose singles "Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right But It's Okay", and "My Love Is Your Love" all had heavy rotation on MTV.
Houston began the 2000s with her first greatest hits compilation album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, the homonymous video compilation spawned three then new videos, including two for the duet songs that she collaborated on, with Enrique Iglesias on "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and with George Michael on "If I Told You That". In December 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney. Two music videos from the album, "Whatchulookinat" and "Try It on My Own", were considered her answers to the media for getting too deep into her personal life and to malicious rumours surrounding her then-public image. In August 2009, Houston returned to the music scene with her fourth Billboard 200 number-one album, I Look to You, which yielded her final two videos, "I Look to You" and "Million Dollar Bill".
Most of Houston's notable videos involve just a bit of perfunctory storyline and focus on her performance, however, several sources recognized her as one of the pioneers who laid the groundwork and broke down barriers with the videos during her generation. In addition, Houston has also been recognized for being one of the "most preeminent divas of the early music video age." In 2003, VH1 ranked Houston at number three on the list of '50 Greatest Women of the Video Era'. In February 2012, TIME, on a photo article in honor of Black History Month, listed her as one of '50 Cultural Giants'. Gil Kaufman from MTV News said that "[Houston] proved you could make a fuss without making a spectacle."
Music videos 1980s Year Title Director Note(s) 1985 "You Give Good Love" Michael Lindsay-Hogg The video features Houston rehearsing for a performance on stage and an off-duty cameraman entering a club that's being refurbished. Taken aback by her impressive singing, the man begins filming Houston as she performs. "All at Once" (Version 1) The video was released in some European countries. It features Houston singing the song on a stage. "All at Once" (Version 2) Arista released a promotional music video exclusive to Germany. "Saving All My Love for You" Stuart Orme Houston takes the role of a woman who's saving all of her love for a married man whose family clearly takes precedence over the cupcake he's seeing on the side. The video won Favorite Soul/R&B Video award at the 13th American Music Awards, held on January 27, 1986. "How Will I Know" Brian Grant The video is set against a strikingly designed, vividly colored setting of video screens and partitions. Houston, accented by a tight and sleeveless gray dress made of metal mesh and a bow hair band, is seen interacting with animated dancers, in black outfits and wearing French-style makeup. The video also has a scene of splattering of paint and it's dripping down the screen. Houston family friend and label-mate, Aretha Franklin, makes a cameo as a footage from her "Freeway of Love" video. Houston won Best Female Video award for the video at the 3rd MTV Video Music Awards on September 5, 1986. 1986 "Greatest Love of All" Peter Israelson In the video, she is a successful singer about to perform in front of an audience at the theater. She reminisces about the time when she was a child performing in a talent competition at the very same theater. The video features Houston's mother Cissy Houston playing herself and then 10-year-old girl Keara Janine as a young Whitney. The video was filmed at Harlem's Apollo Theater in New York City in spring of 1986. Houston earned Favorite Soul/R&B Video award for the video at the 14th American Music Awards, held on January 26, 1987. 1987 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"(Version 1) Brian Grant In the intro of this video, Houston just finishes a performance onstage. She walks backstage, and the scene is intercut with more vivid, colorful images of her. Dressed in a body-hugging purple dress, towering curly wig and colorful dangly earrings, Houston focuses on singing directly into the camera while a series of dancers showed off their moves with flashing fluorescent backdrops in wide-shot cutaways as she changed through a series of going-to-the-club outfits. Grant, in an interview with the BBC News in February 2012, noted that because Whitney could not dance in any way whatsoever, the solution was to surround the singer with top talent, and keep her own dance moves to a minimum in the video, which was choreographed by Arlene Phillips. Houston was nominated for Best Music Video for the video at the 1988 Soul Train Music Awards. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"(Version 2) Only includes studio scenes, added some extra shots that was not shown in version 1. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (Live) A live performance of the song in Saratoga Springs, New York in September 1987 among her Moment of Truth World Tour dates. The video premiered at the 4th MTV Video Music Awards and then it was used as a promotional clip for the song, which had already peaked at number one the Billboard Hot 100 chart without the official music video. "So Emotional" Wayne Isham The video was filmed at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on October 21, 1987. The night's large audience, admitted by free tickets given away at area record stores the previous days, and three-tier stage were set up to simulate a concert. Also, a five-man band accompanied Houston during the taping. Houston had 17 days of rehearsal at Stabler that summer to prepare for the night's filming. The first half of the video features scenes of a rehearsal for the filming and the second Houston's staged performance for the song.1988 "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" Peter Israelson The video, one of only a few videos among Houston's, has a storyline that a couple reunite after a short separation. Houston who plays herself as a singing star, receives a package containing a bunch of white roses and a goodbye card from her boyfriend in her dressing room. Then she reminisces about good memories with him, being switched in black and white. "Love Will Save the Day" (Live) Jeff Margolis A live performance from the Special Olympics opening ceremonies at the Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, held on August 2, 1987 and broadcast on ABC the following day. "One Moment in Time" (Version 1 and 2) There are two versions, but Houston doesn't appear on both videos. The first half of the version one shows children dreaming of becoming an Olympic medalist with scenes of their running, balancing on a beam, swimming and playing baseball. The latter contains various players in sports games. The version one accompanies to a three-minute-edited-song from the original album version. The version two features only footages from the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul: the Olympic torch and various athletes who won medals at the Olympics.
1990s Year Title Director(s) Note(s) 1990 "I'm Your Baby Tonight" (US version)(LA & Babyface Mix) Julien Temple Houston travels in time and space through mirrors, which were served as media of her time travel. During the trip, she pays tribute to three different legends in film and music industries: Marlene Dietrich who was famous for her masculine wardrobe, The Supremes who was one of notable artists during Motown's glory days, and Audrey Hepburn in the movie Funny Face. Adam Shankman who subsequently established a partnership with Temple, choreographed the video for Houston.