Although the Eagles played before millions of fans on a subsequent tour, those experiences deepened the strains of the group, both personal and creatively. When Meisner refused to sing "Take It To The Limit" one June night in Knoxville, Tennessee because he wasn't sure he could hit the high notes, those struggles elevated, leading to Meisner eventually leaving the group in September.
But the Eagles always had an uncanny ability to make themselves better and they replaced Meisner with Timothy B. Schmit, coincidentally Meisner's replacement in the group Poco. Everyone in the group except Felder sang and played backup for Randy Newman's 1978 album Little Criminals, which featured the hit song "Short People".
The Eagles' cover of "Please Come Home For Christmas" was released as a single and made it all the way to #18 on the Popular chart, nearly unheard of for a Christmas song.
The Eagles then recorded one of the best albums of their career, The Long Run, which took them two years to finish. The first single was born when Bob Seger visited Henley and Frey in Los Angeles. The three songwriters often shared what they had been working on and Frey had the verses for the song. Glenn and Bob were jamming at LaFontaine when Seger belted out the chorus. Bob left town after that, and Souther, Henley and Frey finished it.
"Heartache Tonight" became the group's latest to dominate the singles chart in the U.S. and Canada and it jumped to #7 in New Zealand and 10 in Ireland.
"I Can't Tell You Why" showcased Schmit's amazing high vocals on the third single from The Long Run. It soared to #3 on the all-important Adult Contemporary chart and was a Top 10 hit overall in both the United States and Canada.
We're going to feature all the great tracks which make The Long Run such an incredible album, but we want you to pause and think about the slate of songs you've just heard (from 1974-1980). There were 11 singles released during that time, and just two (2!) failed to make the Top 10. One of those two was a Christmas song, which almost never makes the Top 10, and the other was "Life In The Fast Line". That is a batting average of 81.8%, nothing short of sensational.
Here is that historic chart run: #1 ("Best Of My Love"), #1 ("One Of These Nights"), #2 ("Lyin' Eyes"), #4 ("Take It To The Limit"), #1 ("New Kid In Town"), #1 ("Hotel California"), #11 ("Life In The Fast Lane"), #18 ("Please Come Home For Christmas"), #1 ("Heartache Tonight"), #8 ("The Long Run", and #8 ("I Can't Tell You Why"). And then you also have all the classic album tracks such as all of these from The Long Run.
The divide between Frey and the rest of the group was so wide that Glenn refused to even speak with the other members. Album credits actually listed five attorneys and the album notes for Eagles Live said simply and succinctly "Thank you and goodnight".
The album went Top 10 across the world and has sold over seven million copies. Yet radio stations were not able to figure out that a single from an album with seven million in sales should have been played. One of the great examples of harmony you will hear anywhere--here is the incredible "Seven Bridges Road", one of the very best of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.
The group also gave Walsh a lead vocal on "In The City", a solo song of his featured in the movie The Warriors. The rest of the group wanted to record it together as the Eagles. "In The City" is another Top Track* and member of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.
Henley's great vocals highlight the fabulous track "The Sad Cafe".
We also want to feature this fun fraternity song: "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks".
Here is another Top Track* from the album--"Those Shoes".
Felder wrote the music for "Disco Strangler" with Henley providing lyrics. Don intended for the song to be an antidote to Disco music, which was popular at the time.
This song is about the decadent lifestyle of the big bosses of Hollywood, primarily the producers. Here is Henley's biting "King Of Hollywood".
We will see that turmoil in the group was coming to a head, but in the long run, the Eagles came through. Join us for Part Four!
The band released the album One of These Nights in 1975, the album that turned the Eagles into superstars. The title song gave them another #1 smash in the United States, and word was spreading like wildfire about this one-of-a-kind California group with songs about real life, some of the best lyrics ever written, and those tremendous harmonies. It reached #3 in New Zealand and 7 in the Netherlands. Don'tcha just love that symbol beat that Henley plays?
The album topped charts in the U.S., was a solid #2 in Canada, the Netherlands and Norway, and easily made the Top 10 in virtually every country. It has topped four million in sales in the U.S. alone.
This classic arose when Henley and Frey were roommates in a house in Trousdale. "It was built in 1942 by the actress Dorothy Lamour," Henley told Crowe. He talked more about the house and the background for this song:
Glenn and I lived at opposite ends of the
house and we actually converted a music
room to a full-on recording studio. The
house was located at the highest point on
the hill and we had a 360-degree panorama.
In the daytime, we could see the snowcapped
peaks to the east and the blue Pacific to the
west. At night, the twinkling lights of the city
below were breathtaking. The place had a
couple of nicknames--"the House With the
Million Dollar View" and "The Eagles Nest"
of course. We had some great times up there.
As for "Lyin' Eyes", Glenn's pretty much
responsible for that track and for the title, the
choruses. I helped out with the verses and
perhaps with the melody. It's really Glenn's
baby.
"Lyin' Eyes", a fellow member of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, captured the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and is also one of The Top #2 Songs of the Rock Era* It was so strong that it gave the Eagles a Top 10 hit on three formats (nearly unheard of), #2 Popular, #3 Adult, and #8 Country (also #3 in Ireland and #7 in New Zealand).
The Eagles toured the world in support of the album, which was nominated for Album of the Year. If you are thinking, "Man, this is just one classic after another!", give yourself extra music expert points. One of the things the group had going for it was their uncanny, incredible consistency. More than any other act except perhaps the Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Eagles put out one great song after another. That should be apparent in listening to every song by every artist in this special.
There are many great artists in the Rock Era, but they sometimes released singles or in some cases entire albums that were sub-par. Not so the Eagles. Their batting average of Top 10 hits to singles released is unsurpassed--more on that later. The only single in their catalog to highlight Meisner on lead vocals is the wonderful "Take It To The Limit", giving the group three of The Top 500 Songs* on one album. It was a dual #4 (#4 on both the Adult and Popular charts), and the group's first Gold single.
But groups who enjoy great chart success have just as many Top Tracks* as those who don't (the Who, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC, for example). To be ranked this high, one has to have both--a catalog of huge hits and dozens of great songs never released as singles. Frey and Henley wrote the lyrics with Don providing the bridge for the ballad "After The Thrill Has Gone".
Walsh made an early songwriting contribution with "Hollywood Waltz".
Leadon, who preferred the Country Rock sound that the group emphasized in the beginning, left the Eagles after the One of These Nights album. What happened next was akin to a professional football team scoring a coup with a first round draft pick, or picking up an amazing "free agent". The group chose veteran Joe Walsh, member of the James Gang and a recent successful solo artist, to replace Leadon. With Walsh, the superstar Eagles soared to even new heights. Felder assumed the duties of playing banjo, pedal steel and mandolin, something Leadon had specialized in.
To this point, the Eagles had been together a little over four years, but they had already accumulated enough amazing music for a compilation album, and in 1976, the group released Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975). As millions of more people have joined the ranks as Eagles fans, the album has achieved legendary status, proof that all those initial low peaks of early Eagles material were way, way too low.
The album sold like hotcakes upon release, leaving befuddled music directors scratching their heads how they could be so wrong. Believe us, the Eagles have had the last laugh many times over since then. These MD's, supposed professionals, just didn't get how a group so amazingly talented could escape them.
The combination of a group's early catalog severely underplayed on the radio and the incredible talent of the Eagles created a situation where music fans around the globe were starving for their music, and Their Greatest Hits continued to sell and sell year after year to the point where it has now sold over 38 million copies in the U.S. and 50 million worldwide. Only when Thriller sold heavily after the death of Michael Jackson in 2009 did an album finally top the Eagles' compilation. But the Eagles regained #1 on the all-time list in 2018.
The Eagles scored their second consecutive #1 album with Hotel California, their first with Walsh aboard. It was and is a work of art, taking a year-and-a-half to finish.
J.D. Souther began this song with the Eagles helping to finish it. According to Henley, it's about "the fleeting, fickle nature of love and romance." "It's also about the fleeting nature of fame, especially in the music business," he added. "We were basically saying, 'Look, we know we're red hot now, but we also know that somebody's going to come along and replace us--both in music and in love.' We were always doing that double entendre thing, between the music business and personal relationships.
"New Kid In Town" gave the group their third #1 song and pulled off the great feat of going #1 overall and #2 Adult in both the U.S. and Canada (also hitting #6 in Norway and #9 in New Zealand).
"New Kid In Town" was the Eagles' second Gold single. The title song, which sold over two million copies and prominently featured the great guitar work of both Walsh and Felder, has become their signature song. Henley called it "basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream and about excess in America". It reached #1 in the U.S. and Canada and Top 10 in virtually every country in the world. We now know it as The #15 Song of the Rock Era*!
Frey got the inspiration for this song when he was riding with a friend to an Eagles poker game. The friend got in the left lane and was driving super fast. Frey told him to slow down, to which the friend responded, "Hey, man, it's life in the fast lane." Frey knew he had the title for a great song.
"Joe started playing a riff at rehearsal one day, and I said, 'That's "Life In The Fast Lane"", Frey said in the liner notes. "So we started writing a song about the couple that had everything and did everything — and lost the meaning of everything. Lifestyles of the rich and miserable." The single "Life In The Fast Lane" reached #11.
This gem on the album was a conscious attempt by the Eagles to write blue-eyed Soul, as the genre was called. "I loved all the records coming out of Philadelphia at that time," Frey told The American Songwriter. "Don could stand out there all alone and just wail. We did a big Philly-type production with strings," Glenn remembered. "Don's singing abilities stretched so many of our boundaries. He could sing the phone book."
"Wasted Time" is not only a Top Track*, identified by the fact that it was never released as a single, but a legitimate Top 10 song had it been released, making it another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.
Another tremendous track is "Victim Of Love". After writing most of the song, the Eagles began recording the song with Felder on lead vocal. But after several unsuccessful attempts, Henley stepped in and it is his vocal which made the album. This formed a wedge between Felder and the rest of the group that continued to foment in the years to come.
Meisner wrote and sang lead on "Try And Love Again".
Walsh sang lead on "Pretty Maids All In A Row"
Hotel California was a #1 album in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Norway and Top 5 in every major market in the world. Another song on the album which fits both Top Track* and Top Underrated* is this amazing song.
The Eagles started the song when they first began recording, and Henley finished it seven months later.
Long before what we now recognize as a strong movement the world over to protect our planet, Henley penned timeless and searing lyrics for "The Last Resort".
Frey called it "Henley's opus". Glenn and Don both expressed great, poignant thoughts about the song. Glenn Frey:
One of the primary themes of the song was
that we keep creating what we’ve been
running away from — violence, chaos,
destruction. We migrated to the East Coast,
killed a bunch of Indians, and just completely
screwed that place up. Then we just kept
moving west: “Move those teepees, we got
some train tracks coming through here. Get
outta' the way, boy!” There were some very
personal references in the song, including a
girl from Providence, Rhode Island, who Don
had dated for some time. She had taken an
inheritance from her grandfather and moved
to Aspen, Colorado, in search of a new life.
Look where Aspen is now. How prophetic is
“The Last Resort” 28 years after it was
written? Aspen is a town where the
billionaires have driven out the millionaires.
It was once a great place. Look at Lahaina;
look at Maui. It’s so commercial. It’s
everything Hawaii was not supposed to be.
Whether we’re carrying the cross or carrying
the gasoline can, we seem to have a
penchant for wrecking beautiful places.
Don Henley:
I’d been reading articles and doing research
about the raping and pillaging of the West
by mining, timber, oil and cattle interests.
But I was interested in an even larger scope
for the song, so I tried to go “Michener” with
it. I remember going out to Malibu and
standing on Zuma beach, looking out at the
ocean. I remember thinking, “this is about as
far west — with the exception of Alaska — as
you can go on this continent. This is where
Manifest Destiny ends — right here, in the
middle of all these surfboards and volleyball
nets and motor homes.” And then I thought,
“Nah, we’ve gone right on over and screwed
up Hawaii too.”
Here is that timeless song--"The Last Resort".
The incredible album has now topped 26 million in U.S. sales (#3 All-Time) and 40 around the world and won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year for the title song and Best Arrangement for Voices for "New Kid In Town". In a normal year, it would have easily been Album of the Year but 1977 was no normal year. It also happened to be the year of release for Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, which is now The #1 Album of the Rock Era*, so this time, the Eagles had to take a backseat, although a very prominent one!
"Every note, and I mean every note, and their harmony, was pure perfection."
"The Eagles are one of the legendary bands."
"Their music was immortal. Pure perfection."
"There is not an Eagles song that I don't like. A band with songs that are timeless."
"What a legendary band."
"Absolutely the BEST band ever!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️"
"Their songs are so relevant. They will be relevant 100 years from now, and relevant 500 years from now."
"One of the greatest bands I ever heard."
"The voices are so perfect. I do not think there has ever been better harmony."
"Some of the greatest songwriting ever."
"These guys are and will forever be number one for their music thru the years."
"These guys are timeless. They are truly a national treasure. Their music is part of my life."
"Great voices, excellent musicians."
"It is truly impressive the talent in this band. They could all sing. One of the Top 3 bands of all time. Maybe top 2."
"Best harmonies ever, hands down."
"There is no one like the Eagles. Love their music."
"Pure magic."
"The Eagles are timeless. My parents loved them, I love them, and my kids love them."
"The vocals are awesome. Truly timeless music."
"Such talent throughout."
"Deep meditations, wonderful visions, and incredible music."
"The best group ever."
"The key to the Eagles success is their songwriting. They went beyond words that rhymed...and carefully selected words that mirrored real life. Greatest band ever...thanks guys."
"Such depth in their music."
"If someone asks you 'What's harmony?', play them the Eagles."
"The Eagles and their songs and creations are awesome!!"
Their harmonies and professionalism are virtually unsurpassed in music. Music critics, jealous of their tremendous success, have never understood the tremendous appeal and respect from music fans around the world, but in the long run, it is those critics who have had to wear egg on their faces for all these years!
In 1971, Linda Ronstadt recruited Glenn Frey and Don Henley, both of whom had moved to Los Angeles, for her backing band. Texas native Henley recorded an album with his band Shiloh, while Frey formed the group Longbranch Pennywhistle upon settling. Both were signed to Amos Records and met a year earlier at The Troubadour in L.A. Bassist Randy Meisner, a member of Ricky Nelson's band, the Stone Canyon Band, and guitarist Bernie Leadon, a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, joined Ronstadt on a summer tour to promote her album Silk Purse. The only time all four played together was for a July concert at Disneyland, but all played on Ronstadt's debut album.
While on tour, and with Ronstadt's complete blessing, Frey and Henley formed their own group, bringing both Leadon and Meisner with them. So respected were they at musicians that they were signed to a recording contract in September by Asylum Records. Label head David Geffen had just formed the company and suggested they go to Aspen, Colorado to rehearse. In October, the group performed for the first time at The Gallery in Aspen known as Teen King and the Emergencies. Geffen and partner Eliot Roberts managed the group in their early years, with the band soon deciding on the name Eagles.
The group was fortunate to be produced by respected Glyn Johns (who had worked with the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin previously) on their self-titled debut album in 1972. The Eagles and music fans hit it off from the beginning with a song co-written by Frey and Jackson Browne, who were neighbors in Laurel Canyon. Browne had begun the lyrics but was stuck after writing the line "I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona." His neighbor upstairs just happened to be Frey, who was looking for songs to complete an album with the Eagles.
Frey finished the verse, and Browne completed the song. "We gave Glenn a nickname, The Lone Arranger," Henley told Cameron Crowe in 2003. "He had a vision about how our voices could blend and how to arrange the vocals and, in many cases, the tracks," Don continued. "He also had a knack for remembering and choosing good songs. Jackson had shelved 'Take It Easy' because he couldn't complete it, but it was Glenn who remembered the song from some time earlier and asked Jackson about it one day."
In hindsight, it is ridiculous that Billboard magazine showed a peak at #12 (although it did reach #8 in much smarter Canada), since it is now known as one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.
Leadon wrote this song while with the Flying Burrito Brothers and he took it with him to the Eagles. Henley helped him finish it, and "Witchy Woman" also reached #8 in Canada and #9 in the U.S.
San Diego singer/songwriter Jack Tempchin wrote this song circa 1969. He had played a gig in nearby El Centro and was waiting for a waitress he was interested in. She never came back, so to kill the time, Tempchin picked up his guitar and starting writing the lyrics on the back of one of his flyers.
Tempchin continued to develop the song and moved to Los Angeles, where he frequented the famous Troubadour club. Tempchin was staying with Browne one day when Frey came downstairs and heard Tempchin playing the song. Jack recorded a cassette for Frey, who came back the following day with a demo he recorded with his aspiring band which had been backing Ronstadt - the band that became the Eagles.
"Take It Easy" and the beautiful "Peaceful Easy Feeling", neither of which made the Top 10 at the time ("Peaceful Easy Feeling" had an absurd peak of only #22), are both solid members of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.
The Netherlands' musical tastes have always been ahead of the rest of the world when it came to recognizing the greatness of the Eagles. Desperado rose to #5 on the Album charts there. The Eagles toured with Yes to promote their work. Two more of those underrated songs are included on the album Desperado. This song is one of two songs that Henley and Frey wrote in their first week of songwriting together. "Tequila Sunrise" stalled at #64.
Whereas Henley had just two lead vocals and one songwriting credit on the debut album, Desperado, which carries an Old West outlaw theme, reflects the time when he hit his stride. The title song, never released as a single, has become a fan favorite.
This song tells the story of the notorious Wild West outlaws known as The Dalton Gang. The gang included the Dalton Brothers, Bill Doolin, Bittercreek Newcomb and other outlaws that robbed trains beginning in 1888 in what was the Oklahoma Territory. By 1892, many members had already been killed, and five more, including three of the Dalton brothers, were ambushed and killed in Coffeyville.
Bill Doolin, Bill Dalton, Newcomb and Charlie Pierce, the last surviving members, recruited seven other criminals to form the Doolin-Dalton Gang with the aim of taking revenge. The Eagles' song ends here, but by 1898, every member was killed. Here is "Doolin-Dalton".
Leadon wrote "Bitter Creek" about the outlaw Bittercreek Newcomb referenced above.
The group had somehow managed to be known as a Country Rock group, when they were anything but. From the beginning, the Eagles have always been a group that could record both some of the best ballads ever written and do rock & roll as well. Feeling they needed a new producer to emphasize this diversity, the group turned to Bill Szymczyk, who would produce some of the best albums in music history in the next several years.
To complement that move, the Eagles invited guitarist Don Felder, a childhood friend of Leadon who had jammed with the group backstage in 1972, to play slide guitar on the song "Good Day In Hell" for their new album. The Eagles liked what they heard so much that they invited Felder to be in the group the next day.
The group's friend Tempchin wrote this one as well. Frey, who teamed with Leadon to offer twin guitar solos, felt Szymczyk gave the group more freedom to develop themselves in their own musical style than Johns did, especially on this song.
The Eagles released the fabulous rocker "Already Gone" as the first single from their album On the Border. It is one of the best examples of their incredible harmonies and, with a peak of #32 on Billboard, is another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*. Radio music directors didn't quite get it. But they would very soon.
"You can see the stars and still not see the light." The Eagles had many great lines and that is certainly one of them.
Although the band was consciously moving in a more Rock direction, their first #1 was one of those great ballads which happened by accident. "I was playing acoustic guitar one afternoon in Laurel Canyon," Frey told Crowe, "and I was trying to figure out a tuning that [then-girlfriend] Joni Mitchell had shown me a couple of days earlier. I got lost and ended up with the guitar tuning for what would later turn out to be 'Best Of My Love'."
But after flying to London to record the song, the group was stuck. "Can you get on a plane?, Henley pleaded to friend J.D. Souther, who had worked with them on "Doolin-Dalton". "Souther wrote the bridge," Henley told Crowe. "And it was perfect."
"Best Of My Love", was a double #1 (#1 on both the Adult and the Popular charts in both the U.S. and Canada in 1975, another of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.
On The Border was a #3 album in the Netherlands, while radio stations everywhere else in the world were behind the times. This solid track resulted after Henley, Frey, Browne and Souther saw Tim Hardin at the Troubadour. When they got home, they picked up their guitars.
"That's when the idea came together about us doing an album of all the angst-meisters," Frey told Crowe in the liner notes for the compilation The Very Best of the Eagles, with a laugh. "It was going to be all of the antiheroes. 'James Dean' was going to be one song, and the Doollin-Dalton gang was going to be another."
"I sat there and listened to the guys talk about James Dean," Henley added. "They had evidently studied him and knew much more about him than I did," he continued. "I had seen most of Dean's movies, but I somehow missed the whole icon thing. The mythology never quite reached my part of East Texas, but I pitched in and ended up with a writing credit--although the song was mostly Jackson's, I think."
When the group came up with Desperado, they decided to make the Wild West the album theme, and "James Dean" was put on the back burner. But when it came time for the On the Border album, the Eagles revived and finished the song.
We also want to feature the group's cover of a Tom Waits song, which label head David Geffen had played for Frey. Frey enthusiastically took it to the group with his plan for the arrangement. "I really liked the song," Frey told Crowe. "It's such a car thing. Your first car is like your first apartment. I loved the idea of driving home at sunrise, thinking about what had happened the night before. Enjoy this outstanding version of "Ol' 55".
The lyrics to the title song are about the concern that the U.S. government (Richard Nixon was president at the time) was violating the privacy of American citizens by spying on them. At the end of the song, you can hear "Say goodnight, Dick," a phrase made popular on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Henley said, "We were addressing Nixon [who left office in disgrace after it was clear he was going to be impeached], because at that time it was pretty clear that he was on his way out, so that was our little kiss-off to Tricky Dick."
In 1974, the Eagles played at the California Jam festival, which attracted over 300,000 fans as well as a nationwide television audience which watched on ABC. Browne filled in for Felder at the festival as Felder was celebrating the birth of his son.
In 1997, the Franklin School in East Orange, New Jersey was renamed The Whitney E. Houston Academy School of Creative and Performing Arts. Houston co-produced and starred in the television movie Cinderella. It enjoyed the highest ratings for ABC-TV in 16 years, with the movie earning seven Emmy nominations. There was no official release of the soundtrack, but Whitney and other artists pushed for it and Houston herself co-produced it.
From that movie, here is Houston's tremendous performance of "There's Music In You".
She performed in the three-night HBO concert Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C., which paid tribute to Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick. The concert series raised $300,000 for the Children's Defense Fund.
Whitney released her first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love in 1998. Meanwhile, her duet with Mariah Carey from "The Prince Of Egypt" Soundtrack, reached #4 in the United Kingdom and #15 in the U.S., one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*. The two superstars traded terrific vocal runs and choruses which combined for an amazing song. "When You Believe" won an Academy Award for Best Original Song from a Motion Picture and was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the Grammys.
The album reached #1 in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria. The #2 smash "Heartbreak Hotel" (with Faith Evans and Kelly Price) also topped the R&B chart for seven weeks and was nominated for an MTV award for Best R&B Video. The song became fatally ironic as Houston later died in a Los Angeles hotel room on the eve of the Grammy Awards, bringing heartbreak to the entire music world.
My Love Is Your Love has sold over four million copies in the U.S. and 11 million worldwide. Houston earned a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "It's Not Right But It's Okay", which jumped to #1 in Spain, #3 in the U.K. and Canada and #4 in the United States.
Houston was also nominated for Best R&B Album at the Grammys. The title song has now sold over three million copies, and peaked at #1 in New Zealand, #2 in the U.K., Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland and #4 in the United States. It was her final career Top 10.
Houston earned American Music Award nominations for Artist of the Decade (1980's), Favorite Pop (Rock) Female Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. Missy Elliott helped on "In My Business".
Whitney performed in VH-1's Divas Live '99, then toured for 70 concerts, with the European leg finishing as the highest-grossing arena tour of the year.
Houston was named Top-Selling R&B Female Artist of the Century. In 2000, Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released, which reached #1 in the U.K. and #5 in the U.S. A DVD was also released featuring live performances and interviews. The album has sold 16 million worldwide, and 5 million in the United States.
We mentioned that Houston's life and career began a downward spiral when she met Bobby Brown. Though he certainly pulled her down, he brought out the Whitney that the public did not recognize, and she went along with all of it. By this time, she was mysteriously hours late for interviews, photo shoots, and rehearsals, and she canceled concerts and television appearances for no apparent reason. Drug use was suspected, and on January 11, 2000, while with Brown, an ounce of marijuana was found in Houston's handbag at an airport checkpoint in Hawai'i.
Houston was fired from her scheduled performance at the Academy Awards by musical director and good friend Burt Bacharach. Later that year, Robyn Crawford, her executive assistant, resigned and later said she left because Whitney would not seek help for her drug addiction.
In 2001, Houston signed a renewal with Arista Records for $100 million to record six albums. After the 9/11 murders at the World Trade Towers and Pentagon, Whitney's version of the U.S. national anthem was re-released with proceeds going to the New York Firefighters 9/11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police. The song peaked even higher this time at #6.
While interviewing with Diane Sawyer in 2002 to promote her new album, Houston finally admitted to using alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and pills and acknowledged that her mother Cissy had intervened to get help for Whitney.
Houston released the album Just Whitney later in the year, which debuted at #9, but four singles released from the album were not successful. The album managed to sell one million copies in the U.S. and two million across the world. "One Of Those Days" sampled the Isley Brothers song "Between The Sheets".
Carole Bayer Sager, who has written numerous hits ("That's What Friends Are For" for Dionne Warwick and Friends, "Arthur's Theme" for Christopher Cross, "A Groovy Kind of Love", made popular by the Mindbenders and "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "Midnight Blue" for Melissa Manchester, among many others), is just one of the co-writers of "Try It On My Own", along with Babyface and others.
We also want to feature "Dear John Letter" from the album.
The following year, Whitney released the album One Wish: The Holiday Album, which went Gold. There are several noteworthy cuts, the first we'll feature is I'll Be Home For Christmas".
Whitney turned in one of the best versions of "Joy To The World" as well.
And, her version of "Oh Holy Night" stacks up with the best of that reverent song.
But it wasn't Christmas at the Bobby and Whitney house. Brown was charged with battery after assaulting Whitney, with visible injuries to her face when police arrived.
Houston toured Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Russia in 2004 and performed at the World Music Awards in tribute to Clive Davis. Brown starred in the "reality" television show Being Bobby Brown, which showed Houston in less than flattering moments. The Guardian said that Houston had lost "the last remnants of her dignity".
With her life and career already essentially ruined, Whitney finally divorced Brown in 2006. In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Houston admitted to using drugs heavily and that she had attended a 30-day rehabilitation program. She also said her drug use had continued despite that effort.
Houston released the album I Look to You, which debuted at #1, her first since 1987. The album reached #5 and has sold over one million copies. The title song is inspirational and one of her best performances.
"I Didn't Know My Own Strength" was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster.
"Million Dollar Bill" was co-written by another of The Top 100 Artists* (Alicia Keys).
Houston joined Akon for "Like I Never Left". She enjoyed working with him--"He's a gentleman," she told MTV News. "He did his work very well. We did it very quickly, very diligently, and I'm very proud of that record."
Akon also collaborated on another song on the album, "I Got You". Whitney toured the world for the first time in 10 years, and many fans were disappointed in the quality of her voice and performance. After years of drug and alcohol abuse, that voice wasn't the same as it was. In 2011, she went back to a rehabilitation center. She signed a contract to star and serve as executive producer in the movie Sparkle, which was released in August of 2012.
In public appearances, however, Houston seemed "disheveled" and "erratic". On February 9, 2012, Whitney went to the rehearsals for Brandy and Monica, who were practicing for the pre-Grammy Awards party hosted by Clive Davis. She then appeared with Kelly Price on stage in Hollywood singing "Jesus Loves Me".
On February 11, Whitney was found unconscious, submerged in her bathtub at her room in the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Paramedics found Houston unresponsive at about 3:30 p.m. and after unsuccessful attempts to revive her, pronounced her dead at 3:55 p.m. The coroner's report said that her death was caused by drowning after the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use. Toxicology reports indicated that the drugs Benadryl, Xanax, cannabis, and Flexeril were found.
Flowers left by fans near the Beverly Hilton Hotel
Houston's memorial service was February 18 at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark. Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly, and CeCe Winans were among the performers. Whitney Houston was laid to rest February 19 in Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey.
The Davis Grammy party, as well as the Grammy Awards presentation, became a tribute to Houston.
Opening the party prior to the awards ceremony, Davis said:
By now you have all learned of the unspeakably tragic news of our beloved Whitney's passing. I don't have to mask my emotion in front of a room full of so many dear friends. I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years. Whitney was so full of life. She was so looking forward to tonight even though she wasn't scheduled to perform. Whitney was a beautiful person and a talent beyond compare. She graced this stage with her regal presence and gave so many memorable performances here over the years. Simply put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked that we carry on.
Tony Bennett said at the party:
"First, it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now, the magnificent Whitney Houston." Bennett sang "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" and said of Houston, "When I first heard her, I called Clive Davis and said, 'You finally found the greatest singer I've ever heard in my life."
At the start of the awards ceremony, footage of Houston performing "I Will Always Love You" from the 1994 Grammys was shown. Jennifer Hudson paid tribute to Houston and the other artists who had passed away during the year by performing "I Will Always Love You". The tribute led to the Grammys telecast getting its second highest ratings in history.
Flags were flown at half-mast throughout New Jersey to honor Houston.
In 2012, the compilation album I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston was released, which went Gold. Whitney won a Billboard Millennium Award posthumously at the Billboard Music Awards.
In 2013, Whitney was inducted into the R&B Music Hall of Fame and her debut album was accepted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2020, Houston was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and her signature song, "I Will Always Love You", was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
Whitney has provided inspiration to thousands of singers, including Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Pink, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Jessica Simpson, Nelly Furtado, Brandy, Ashanti, and Jennifer Hudson. Brandy said "Without Whitney, half of this generation of singers wouldn't be singing." Hudson said Houston is her greatest musical influence, saying to Newsday that she learned from Whitney "the difference between being able to sing and knowing how to sing."
Houston is the most honored female artist of all-time, winning 22 American Music Awards (more than any other female solo singer), 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and two Emmys. She has won 194 total awards out of 322 nominations.
Houston scored 41 career hits, with an impressive 23 of those going Top 10 and 11 #1 songs. An incredible 26 of her 34 career Adult Contemporary hits reached the Top 10 and 9 of those rose to #1. She has sold over 175 million albums worldwide.
