1987 Pop Album Became the First by a Female Artist to Reach No. 1
Whitney by Whitney Houston was released 39 years ago today!
On June 2, 1987, the pop icon released her sophomore album, which features several of her most popular tracks and produced an unprecedented four consecutive No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart-"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go."
This made Houston the first female artist to earn four No. 1 singles from a single album and helped her set an all-time record of seven consecutive No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, a record she still holds today.
Whitney also made history as the first album by a female artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
The album earned Houston four Grammy Award nominations at the 30th annual ceremony, including Album of the Year, while "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance-Female. Rolling Stone also ranked the hit No. 231 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."
However, it took some time for Whitney to receive its well-deserved accolades. At the time of its release, critics were harsh on the album, saying Houston had a repetitive sound and failed to distinguish herself from other artists.
"Whitney plays everything safe. It uses three of the debut album's producers," wroteJon Pareles of The New York Times. "There are bouncy, tinkly songs aimed at teenagers … and slow tunes aimed at sentimental adults, as before. Even the album title fits in with an Arista Records custom of separating female singers-Dionne, Aretha, Carly-from their last names."
Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone echoed these sentiments, writing, "The formula is more rigorously locked in than before, and the range so tightly circumscribed that Houston's potential seems to have shrunk rather than expanded."
Despite the unfavorable reviews, the album was still a smash hit. To date, Whitney has sold an estimated 20 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling albums of all time.
In October 2020, Houston hit another milestone when the album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 10 million in the United States, making her the first Black artist to earn three Diamond albums in the U.S.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 1:14 AM.