Whitney Houston (album)

***Whitney Houston*** is the self titled debut album of American recording artist Whitney Houston, released February 14, 1985 on Arista Records.

## Reviews

_Whitney Houston_ received positive reviews.

### Musicians

- Lead vocal – Whitney Houston
- Duet vocals – Jermaine Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass
- Clarinet – John Barnes
- Keyboards – Robbie Buchanan, Randy Kerber, Yvonne Lewis, Richard Marx
- Bass guitar – Nathan East, Freddie Washington, Randy "The Emperor" Jackson
- Synthesizer – Preston Glass, Greg Phillinganes
- Drums – Ed Greene, John "J.R." Robinson, J.T. Lewis, Steve Rucker
- Background vocals – Cissy Houston, Jermaine Jackson, Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters, Yogi Lee, Mary Canty, Deborah Thomas
- Guitar – Paul Jackson, Jr., Dann Huff, Tim May, Ira Siegel, David Williams, Louie Shelton

- Percussion – Bashiri Johnson, Joe Lala
- Rhythm and string arrangements – Gene Page, Jr
- Synth guitar – Corrado Rustici
- Saxophone – Tom Scott, Ernie Watts, Premik Russell Tubbs

### Production

- Producers: Jermaine Jackson, Kashif, Michael Masser, Narada Michael Walden
- Executive producer: Clive Davis
- Engineers: Michael Barbiero, Michael Mancini, Michael O'Reilly, Russell Schmitt
- Mixing: Michael Barbiero, Michael O'Reilly, Bill Schnee
- Arrangements: Gene Page Jr., Kashif, Narada Michael Walden
- Art direction: Donn Davenport
- Photographer: Garry Gross
- Fashion stylist: Tiagi Lambert (Gown by Giovanne De Maura, Bathing Suit by Norma Kamali)
- Makeup: Quietfire
- Coordinator: Brenda Gorsky
- Hair sylist: Jeffrey Woodly

### Chart positions

|Chart (1985–86)|Peak position||
| --- | --- | --- |
|Australian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|Austrian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|3|
|Canadian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|French Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|13|
|Finnish Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|German Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|Italian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|11|
|Japanese Albums Chart <small>(CD)</small>|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|Japanese Albums Chart <small>(LP)</small>|style="text-align:center;"|4|
|Japanese Albums Chart <small>(CT)</small>|style="text-align:center;"|6|
|New Zealand Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|3|
|Norwegian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|Swedish Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|Swiss Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|UK Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|U.S. _Billboard_ 200|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|U.S. Top Black Albums|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|Austrian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|44|
|Argentine Albums Chart <small>The Deluxe Anniversary Edition</small>|style="text-align:center;"|14|
|Swiss Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|71|
|U.S. _Billboard_ 200|style="text-align:center;"|9|
|U.S. Top Pop Catalog Albums _(Billboard)_|style="text-align:center;"|4|

### Year-end charts

|Chart (1985)|Position||
| --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|U.S. Pop Albums|29|
|U.S. Top Black Albums|style="text-align:center;"|4|
|align="left"|Australian Albums Chart|1|
|align="left"|Austrian Albums Chart|17|
|align="left"|Canadian Albums Chart|1|
|align="left"|Japanese Albums Chart|17|
|Swiss Albums Chart|1||
|align="left"|UK Albums Chart|5|
|align="left"|U.S. Pop Albums|1|
|U.S. Top Black Albums|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|align="left"|Italian Albums Chart|43|
|align="left"|U.S. Pop Albums|22|
|align="left"|US _Billboard_ 200|198|

### Decade-end charts

|Chart (1980–1989)|Position||
| --- | --- | --- |
|Australian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|5|

### Certifications

|Region|Provider|Certification (<small>sales thresholds</small>)|Sales/Shipments||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Australia|ARIA|4× Platinum|400,000||
|Austria|rowspan="2"|IFPI|Platinum|50,000|
|Belgium|Gold|70,000|||
|Canada|CRIA|Diamond|1,100,000||
|Denmark|IFPI|Gold|10,000||
|France|SNEP|Gold|115,000+||
|Finland|IFPI|Gold|29,109||
|Germany|BVMI|Platinum|500,000||
|Hong Kong|IFPI|Platinum|20,000||
|Japan|RIAJ|2xPlatinum|500,000||
|Netherlands|NVPI|Platinum|120,000||
|New Zealand|RIANZ|2xPlatinum|40,000||
|Norway|IFPI|Platinum|50,000||
|South Africa|RiSA|Gold|30,000||
|Sweden|rowspan="2"|IFPI|2× Platinum|100,000|
|Switzerland|Platinum|50,000|||
|United Kingdom|BPI|6× Platinum|1,800,000||
|United States|RIAA|13× Platinum (Diamond)|13,000,000||

### Singles chart positions

|rowspan=2|Year|rowspan=2|Single|colspan=18|Peak chart positions|||||||||||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||1984|style="text-align:left;"|"Hold Me"|46|5|6|―|―|44|―|―|―|―|―|25|―|24|―|―|―|―|
|rowspan="5"|1985|style="text-align:left;"|"Thinking About You"|―|10|―|24|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|
|style="text-align:left;"|"Someone for Me"|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|||
|style="text-align:left;"|"You Give Good Love"|3|1|4|―|7|93|58|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|44|―|―|||
|style="text-align:left;"|"All at Once"|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|―|2|―|―|―|4|5|―|―|―|―|||
|style="text-align:left;"|"Saving All My Love for You"|1|1|1|―|8|1|20|12|11|11|18|1|―|16|10|5|―|5|||
|rowspan="2"|1986|style="text-align:left;"|"How Will I Know"|1|1|1|3|1|5|2|28|20|―|26|3|23|12|2|19|2|11|
|style="text-align:left;"|"Greatest Love of All"|1|2|1|―|1|8|1|25|26|―|30|4|13|24|―|12|14|20|||
|colspan="20" style="text-align:center;"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart|||||||||||||||||||||

## Infobox (album)

- **name**: Whitney Houston
- **type**: studio
- **artist**: Whitney Houston
- **border**: yes
- **released**: February 14, 1985
- **recorded**: 1984
- **length**: 47:23
- **label**: Arista Records, Arista
- **next title**: Whitney Dancin' Special
- **next year**: 1986