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)
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Whitney Houston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appears
Rejoice, rejoice
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
Ah well, ooh
(Bumm, bumm, bumm)
O come, desire of nations, bind
Bind as one the hearts of all mankind
Bid thou our sad divisions cease
And be thyself our king of peace
(Rejoice) rejoice (rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
(Israel, come to thee)
Rejoice (rejoice) rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
(O Israel, come to thee)
Rejoice (Rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
(O Israel, come to thee)
Rejoice (Rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall
(Shall come)
He's gonna come o Israel
(Shall come)
Don't you worry, God's gonna be there
(Emanuel shall come)
Emanuel, He's gonna come
O Israel
Ooh yeah
The lyrics of Whitney Houston's song O Come O Come Emanuel speak of longing and hope for the coming of Emanuel, or Jesus Christ, to save the captive Israelites. The first stanza speaks of Israel being in exile and mourning until the son of God appears to ransom them. This is a reference to the biblical story of the Israelites being taken captive by the Babylonians and being in a state of despair until they were eventually redeemed by God. The second stanza talks about Jesus as the desired one of all nations, and that his coming will unite mankind and put an end to divisions and conflicts. Christians believe that the birth of Jesus brought peace and salvation to humanity, and these lyrics reflect that hope and anticipation.
The singer's soulful and melodic voice adds to the emotional weight of the song, and the chorus of "Rejoice, rejoice, Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel" is a call to celebrate the coming of Jesus and the redemption he brings. This song is often sung during Advent, the Christian season leading up to Christmas, as a reminder of the hope and joy that the birth of Jesus brings.
Line by Line Meaning
O come o come Emanuel
Come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
Pay the price for the release of Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Israel is in exile and is lonely and sad
Until the son of God appears
Until the arrival of the Messiah
Rejoice, rejoice
Be happy
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
The Messiah will come to Israel
(Bumm, bumm, bumm, bumm)
Instrumental interlude
O come, desire of nations, bind
Come, unify the nations
Bind as one the hearts of all mankind
Join the hearts of all humanity
Bid thou our sad divisions cease
Put an end to our sad separations
And be thyself our king of peace
Be our leader of peace
(Rejoice) rejoice (rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Be joyful
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
The Messiah will come to Israel
(Israel, come to thee)
The people of Israel will be reunited
Rejoice (rejoice) rejoice (Ooh)
Be happy
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
The Messiah will come to Israel
(O Israel, come to thee)
The people of Israel will be reunited
Rejoice (Rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Be happy
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
The Messiah will come to Israel
(O Israel, come to thee)
The people of Israel will be reunited
Rejoice (Rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Be happy
Emanuel shall
(Shall come)
The Messiah will come
He's gonna come o Israel
(Shall come)
The Messiah will come to Israel
Don't you worry, God's gonna be there
(Emanuel shall come)
Do not worry, God will be present when the Messiah comes
Emanuel, He's gonna come
O Israel
Ooh yeah
The Messiah, He will come to Israel
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, DECEMBERGIRL MUSIC
Written by: Mervyn Edwin Warren
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
JeJe Palmer
O come o come Emanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appears
Rejoice, rejoice
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
Ah well, ooh
(Bumm, bumm, bumm)
O come, desire of nations, bind
Bind as one the hearts of all mankind
Bid thou our sad divisions cease
And be thyself our king of peace
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
(Israel, come to thee)
Rejoice (rejoice) rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
(O Israel, come to thee)
Rejoice (Rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall come to thee, o Israel
(O Israel, come to thee)
Rejoice (Rejoice) Rejoice (Ooh)
Emanuel shall
(Shall come)
He's gonna come o Israel
(Shall come)
Don't you worry, God's gonna be there
(Emanuel shall come)
Emanuel, He's gonna come
O Israel
Ooh yeah
Omar Dia
This is THE BEST placement and redition of pure runs of an entire song ive ever heard! Of course she is WHITNEY.... the GREATEST singer that ever lived period.
Klion39
@Keir Lennon Take 6 harmony is flawless along with Nippy's sick vocals. Nippy could do anything vocally extremely vocally agile.
Keir Lennon
Exactly! Same goes for Take 6 on the background vocal arrangements.
timmy841212
Whitney BEASTED on this entire song. Oh my God... those RUNS!!!
Lucky 🍀 Chucky
That run at 2:49 sent chills down my spine Jesus!! I love You Whitney! You will always be the Voice!! 🤗😍😘
Autumn Rose
You can't learn runs like that. I've heard the use of melisma time and time again, but her rendition of this song shows what sets her apart. Her runs are complex and flow out of her so fast and smooth and effortlessly. She's so natural with it, even without her full voice potential. This is why she's the queen of runs.
E W
Whitney could do what Kim could do but could Kim or anyone truly replicate Whitney?....I think we all know the answer to that....this ending made me stop in my tracks, Whitney just quietly blowing my mind yet again
ogkush1916
+antionette davis if you listen to both you can see why Whitney love Kim's voice they do similar runs n have similar approaches to singing
Autumn Rose
+antionette davis Yes, Whitney loved Kim. I think Kim is great too. As far as runs, you can probably lend the title "Queen of Runs" to a number of gospel singers. However, outside of the gospel realm, I give it to Whitney. I also prefer the sound of Whitney's.
antionette davis
+Autumn Rose Kim Burrell is the master and queen of runs...and Whitney looked p to her