Memories (Siti Nurhaliza and Whitney Houston song) performer Siti Nurhaliza
Siti Nurhaliza and Whitney Houston version
A cover version of "Memories" was recorded by Malaysian artist Siti Nurhaliza and featured vocals from American artist Whitney Houston taken from the 1982 Material cover of the song, recorded when Houston was 19. Houston had died in 2012. This rendition was first performed live at the Dato' Siti Nurhaliza & Friends Concert on 2 April 2016, a special concert to mark her 20th year in the Malaysian music scene. It was performed as a "digital duet" where Siti sang along with prerecorded Houston's vocals.The pairing was the idea of Adam Kidron, CEO of Yonder Music. On 10 December 2016, "Memories" was released exclusively on Yonder Music music streaming app and on the same day, its music video was televised on Astro Ria and published on Yonder Music Malaysia's YouTube account.
"Memories" marked Siti Nurhaliza as the second Malaysian artist to have a digital duet with a deceased musician, the first being KRU, a music group that in 1997 rerecorded a song that was performed by Tan Sri P. Ramlee, "Getaran Jiwa" ("Spiritual Vibrations") for the 1960 movie Antara Dua Darjat.Release and promotion
"Memories" was first performed live by Siti as a tribute to Houston at Dato' Siti Nurhaliza & Friends Concert on 2 April 2016. During the performance, Siti sang live while being accompanied by prerecorded Houston's vocals and Houston's images and pictures that were projected on the backdrop. While donning a striped sequin gold dress with a red base and side panels by Rizman Ruzaini, Siti performed "Memories" as a "digital duet" right in front of more than 7000 people who attended the concert that night. At the end of the performance, she cited the influence that Houston's songs had on her in order for her to learn proper vocal techniques. She also added, "With the advancement of modern technology today, I am able to sing a duet with my idol."The debut live performance of "Memories" was well received by critics. Siti Athirah Dzulkifly of Utusan Malaysia called the duet as "unique", Bissme S. of The Sun reviewed it as "one of the highlights of the night", and Jemang Rahman of mStar praised it as "Siti continues to spellbind thousands of her audience with her impressive vocals" and the performance "will be remembered by the audience". At the end of the concert, music video for "Memories" was shot and recorded.On 9 December, two video teasers for its music video were uploaded to Yonder Music Malaysia's official YouTube account. On 10 December, the single version of "Memories" was released for exclusive streaming on Yonder Music streaming app. On the same day, its music video premiered on both Astro Ria and Astro Ria HD and was published on Yonder Music Malaysia's official YouTube account on the same day.