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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Whitney Houston: "I Will Always Love You"

The last time I entered calculations into my patented formula to determine The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era* in 1999, this song came in second.  My experience tells me that the tragic passing of the most-gifted Whitney Houston will generate the airplay and sales this song needs to become the #1 Song of the Rock Era.  Which is probably where it belonged all the time.

The song broke a Rock Era record when it sold 400,000 copies in its second week.  It then proceeded to break its own record each of the next three weeks, peaking at 632,000 copies for the week ended December 27, 1992.  The single was certified 4x Platinum in the United States by the RIAA on January 12, 1993, making Houston the first female artist to accomplish that feat.  As of 2009, the single is over 4,591,000 copies, second only to Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997".


This monumental achievement was one of the great international success stories of all-time.  It topped the United States chart for 14 weeks.  It reached #1 in Europe (13 weeks), Australia (10 weeks), Austria (five weeks), Belgium (seven weeks), France (eight weeks), Germany (six weeks), Ireland (eight weeks), Italy (two weeks), Netherlands (six weeks), New Zealand (11 weeks), Norway (nine weeks), Sweden (six weeks), Switzerland (eight weeks) and the U.K. (10 weeks).  Whitney's performance in the U.K. set a Rock Era record for the longest run at the top for a female artist.


"I Will Always Love You" is the only single in history to top the U.S., the U.K. and Australian singles charts (three of the most important in the world) for at least ten weeks.  It sold 1.5 million copies in the U.K.  The song was certified Platinum for shipments of over 500,000 copies by the BVMI in Germany.  Japan:  over 810,000 copies, becoming the best-selling single by a foreign female artist at the time.


"I Will Always Love You" captured Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the Grammy Awards in 1994.  Whitney was presented the award by Dolly Parton, the writer of the song.  The song was not only #1 for the year 1993 but also the #1 R&B song of 1993, the first time a female artist had accomplished that feat and just the second time it has ever happened.  Whitney's masterpiece also won Favorite Pop/Rock Single and Favorite Soul/R&B Single awards at the American Music Awards, which is the first time a solo female has won both categories.  


The song also won Japan Gold Disc Awards for 1993 International Song of the Year and won the 1994 International Song of the Year Special Award, presented because it had also outsold all songs in 1994 despite being more than a year old.


The all-time classic also won six Billboard Music Awards for Hot 100 Single of the Year, Hot R&B Single, a Special Award for breaking the all-time record for weeks at #1 (14), #1 World Single, #1 Hot 100 Singles Sales and #1 Hot R&B Singles Sales, the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Music Video, Soul Train Music Awards for Best R&B/Soul Song of the Year and R&B/Soul Single, Female and Best Song from a Movie at the MTV Movie Awards. 

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