Houston began singing at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, as a child and became a background vocalist while in high school. She was one of the first black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. With the guidance of Arista Records chairman Clive Davis, Houston signed to the label at age 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. Hit singles from the albums, including "How Will I Know", "Greatest Love of All" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", established her as a catalyst in the acceptance of black female artists on MTV. Her third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, the title track and "All the Man That I Need". Houston's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 received widespread media coverage.
Houston made her acting debut with the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992), which despite its mixed reviews became the tenth highest-grossing film to that date. Its soundtrack won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and remains the bestselling soundtrack album of all time. It generated multiple hit singles, including "I Have Nothing", "I'm Every Woman" and "I Will Always Love You"; the latter won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, spent a then-record 14 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. Subsequently, she went on to star in the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), and she recorded their respective soundtracks; the former scored her last Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", while the latter, produced by Houston herself, became the bestselling gospel album of all time. As a film producer, she produced multicultural movies and series such as Cinderella (1997) and The Princess Diaries and The Cheetah Girls.
Houston's first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love (1998), spawned several hit singles, including the title track, "Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right but It's Okay" and the Academy Award-winning Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe". Following the success, she renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million in 2001, one of the biggest recording deals of all time. However, her personal problems began to overshadow her career. Her 2002 studio album, Just Whitney, received mixed reviews, while her drug use and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown received widespread media coverage. After divorcing Brown, Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 chart with her final studio album, I Look to You (2009). In February 2012, Houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards, which took place the day following her death, and was covered internationally. Her life and career were dramatized in the 2022 biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Her assets amounted to $250 million, earned over a 25-year career.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston
Discography
Whitney Houston (1985)
Whitney (1987)
I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)
My Love Is Your Love (1998)
Just Whitney (2002)
One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003)
I Look to You (2009)
Joy
Whitney Houston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Joy, joy, down in my soul
Sweet (sweet), beautiful, soul saving joy
Oh, joy, joy in my soul
Listen to the music, the sound of the angels
Come and see the child who can make you whole
Lying in a manger away from harm and danger
Oh, joy, joy in my soul
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (get some joy)
Joy, joy, God's great joy (joy, joy, joy)
Joy, joy, down in my soul (in my soul)
Sweet, beautiful, soul saving joy (joy)
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (oh, joy, get some joy)
He's sent from up above
This special gift of love
More precious than silver or goal
He was sent this Holy day
To take all our pain away
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (oh, joy, joy, joy in my soul)
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (joy, joy)
Go and tell it on the mountain
Shout it from the valley
Tell them of a baby in swaddling clothes
Mender of a nation, You're the celebration
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (joy, joy, joy, joy, joy)
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (joy, joy, way deep down in my soul)
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (joy, joy, joy, joy, my joy)
Oh, joy, joy in my soul (I've got joy)
Oh, joy (all the way down, deep joy, joy, joy, joy, joy)
Oh, joy (I've got joy, way down deep joy, unspeakable joy)
Oh, joy (joy, joy, in my soul)
"Joy to the World" is a classic Christmas carol that was first published in 1719 by Isaac Watts. The song celebrates the birth of Jesus and the joy that he brings to the world. Whitney Houston's rendition of the song follows the traditional lyrics, with a few additional layers of vocals and instrumentation.
The first verse of the song focuses on the arrival of the Lord, and encourages all of creation to prepare for his arrival. The second verse moves on to the celebration of the savior's birth, with a call to share the good news with the world. The chorus repeats the joyous message that the savior has come and encourages everyone to sing with joy. The third verse calls on all of creation to join in the celebration, with even the rocks and hills singing out their praise. The song concludes with a final chorus that emphasizes the joy that Jesus brings to the world.
Overall, "Joy to the World" is a widely recognized and beloved Christmas carol that captures the essence of the holiday season: joy, celebration, and togetherness.
Line by Line Meaning
Joy to the world the Lord is come
Let us all rejoice and celebrate because the savior has come to the world
Let earth receive her king
Let the world open up and welcome the king of kings
Let every heart prepare him room
Let every individual set their heart straight and be ready to receive the savior
And heaven, let heaven, heaven and nature
All of nature, as well as the heavens, should proclaim the arrival of the savior
Heaven and nature sing
All of nature and heaven should rejoice and sing in tendem for the arrival of the savior
Everybody sing joy to the world
Let everyone join in the celebration and sing praises for the savior
Go tell it, go tell it his glory
Spread the news and tell the world about the glory of the savior
Shout out the story
Proclaim the good news with excitement and joy
That the savior is born
Rejoice because a savior has been born for all of humanity
Let fields and flocks
Let the fields and the flocks of the creatures of the earth
Rocks hills and plains
The mountains, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy (repeat the sounding joy) repeat the sounding joy
let them echo with the joy of the arrival of the savior
Shout out the new story (go shout the new story)
Proclaim the good news, the story of the savior, with excitement and enthusiasm
Sing joy to the world For the savior reigns
Let us sing praises for the savior because he now reigns over us all
Joyful all ye nations rise
Let every nation rejoice and celebrate the arrival of the savior
Join the triumph of the skies With angelic hosts proclaim Glory to the king
The angels who live in the skies should join the chorus and declare praises and glory to the king
While the angels sing
While the angels sing, we should join them in unison and sing praises to the savior
All over the world
All around the globe
Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy
The feeling of joy should abound in every corner of the world
Sing joy, joy to the world
Let us continually keep singing praises and joy for the savior continuously reigns
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Kirk Franklin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind