I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston

I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You The Best Of.png
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedNovember 13, 2012 (2012-11-13)
Recorded1984–2009
Genre
Length79:38 (North American Version / International Version - Disc 1)
67:47 (International Version - Disc 2)
24:40 (HSN bonus disc)
LabelRCA Records
Producer
Whitney Houston chronology
The Collection
(2010)
I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston
(2012)
Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances
(2014)
Singles from I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston
  1. "I Look to You"
    Released: September 25, 2012
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Slant

I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston is a posthumous greatest hits album by American recording artist Whitney Houston. The album was released on November 13, 2012 via RCA Records.

Content and release

I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston is Houston's second greatest hits collection to receive a worldwide release (her two prior compilations, Love, Whitney and The Ultimate Collection were only given limited releases in certain European territories). The album features remastered versions of hits from all of Houston's studio and soundtrack albums, with the exception of her fifth studio album, Just Whitney (2002). The tracks featured on I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston appear either as their original album versions or as radio edits, in contrast with Whitney: The Greatest Hits, which featured many of Houston's hits in remixed form, a decision which drew some controversy among fans and critics. Internationally, the compilation was released in both standard and deluxe versions. In North America, the album was issued as a single-disc release, which contains the same track listing as disc one of the international deluxe edition. An alternate two-disc edition of the album was released in North America, available only through HSN. This version contains the standard 18-track version of the album, with the second disc comprising five duets Houston recorded with other artists. The album also includes new liner notes written by Clive Davis.

Among the tracks are two previously unreleased songs, a new composition titled "Never Give Up" and a new version of "I Look to You", recorded as a duet with R. Kelly, who wrote the song for Houston in 2009 and performed it at her funeral service earlier in 2012. "I Look to You" was released on September 25, 2012 as the first single from the album. On November 6, 2012, "Never Give Up" was released as a lyric video on Whitney Houston's official YouTube (Vevo) channel.

At the 2013 44th NAACP Image Awards, the album won two awards in the 'Outstanding Album' and 'Outstanding Song' categories, the latter of which was for "I Look To You".

In 2021, Houston's official website announced that the album would be released on vinyl on October 29. The double vinyl includes an additional track, a remix of "Higher Love", a collaboration between Houston and Norwegian DJ Kygo, which was released in 2019 to moderate worldwide success. The original version of "Higher Love" first appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990).

Commercial performance

The week of its release, the album peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums. On March 3, 2020, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA for selling over 500,000 copies. The album has spent 152 weeks on the Billboard 200, making it Houston's third longest-charting album of her career, one of the longest-charting albums of all time by a woman, the second-longest charting compilation album by a woman, the longest charting greatest hits compilation by a female artist, surpassing the 148 weeks set by Madonna's The Immaculate Collection and one of the longest charting compilations ever in the history of Billboard as well as the longest charting compilation by a black female artist; on the latter chart, it has spent a cumulative total of 58 weeks becoming the fifth longest charting female compilation on the chart. Peaking at number eight on Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, the album has spent 214 weeks there becoming the longest-charting female compilation on that chart, replacing H.E.R.'s self-titled 2017 compilation. In the UK, it peaked at number 13 in 2023 and has been certified platinum for selling over 300,000 copies and has spent 104 weeks on the chart, making it her fourth longest charting album in that country. In Ireland, the compilation has spent 76 weeks on the chart.

Track listing

International and European edition – Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)AlbumLength
1."Love Will Save the Day"Toni C.Whitney5:21
2."One Moment in Time"1988 Summer Olympics Album4:45
3."It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (Duet with Aretha Franklin)Through the Storm4:50
4."My Name Is Not Susan"Eric Foster WhiteI'm Your Baby Tonight4:37
5."I Belong to You"
I'm Your Baby Tonight5:29
6."Run to You"
  • Allan Rich
  • Jud Friedman
The Bodyguard4:24
7."Queen of the Night"
The Bodyguard3:07
8."Count On Me" (Duet with CeCe Winans)
  • Babyface
  • W. Houston
  • Michael Houston
Waiting to Exhale4:26
9."Step by Step"Annie LennoxThe Preacher's Wife4:12
10."It's Not Right but It's Okay"
My Love Is Your Love4:51
11."I Learned from the Best" (Radio edit)WarrenMy Love Is Your Love3:56
12."If I Told You That"
  • R. Jerkins
  • F. Jerkins
  • Daniels
  • Estes
My Love Is Your Love4:38
13."Heartbreak Hotel" (featuring Faith Evans and Kelly Price)My Love Is Your Love4:42
14."Million Dollar Bill"I Look to You3:24
15."All at Once" (Japan bonus track)Whitney Houston4:32
Total length:67:47
North American HSN bonus edition – Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)AlbumLength
1."Hold Me" (Duet with Teddy Pendergrass)Whitney Houston5:59
2."If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful" (Duet with Jermaine Jackson)Elliot WillenskyPrecious Moments4:20
3."I Know Him So Well" (Duet with Cissy Houston)Whitney4:29
4."It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" (Duet with Aretha Franklin)
  • Hammond
  • Warren
Through the Storm4:52
5."Count On Me" (Duet with Cece Winans)
  • Babyface
  • W. Houston
  • M. Houston
Waiting to Exhale4:26
Total length:24:40

Notes

  • ^[a] – On the 2021 reissue, the duet version of "I Look to You" was replaced with the album version, likely due to the sexual abuse allegations and subsequent charges raised against R. Kelly in the years following its release.

Personnel

Adapted from album liner notes

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV) Platinum 20,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 300,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

NAACP Image Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2013 "I Look to You" (with R. Kelly) Best Outstanding Song Won
I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston Best Outstanding Album Won

Release history

Country Date Label(s) Format Edition
United States November 13, 2012 (2012-11-13) RCA Records CD, digital download Standard, HSN
Finland November 16, 2012 (2012-11-16) Deluxe (32 tracks)
United Kingdom November 19, 2012 (2012-11-19) Standard, deluxe
Japan December 26, 2012 (2012-12-26)
United States October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29) Vinyl, digital download Standard, deluxe (19 tracks, vinyl; 33 tracks, digital download)

This page was last updated at 2023-06-18 07:58 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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