On August 31 , Whitney Houston
returned to the music world as
her first album debuted at no. 1 on
the U.S. pop album charts. “I
Look To You” is Houston’s first
album in seven years.
The album became Houston’s
fourth no. 1 album on the Billboard
200 charts, as 304,801
copies were sold in the week of
Sept. 6, according to Neilson
SoundScan (a music data corporation).
“I Look to You” is Houston’s
first chart-topping album since the
“The Body Guard” soundtrack,
which spent 20 weeks at no. 1 in
1992 – 1993. These two albums
are joined by her self -titled set in
1986, and her 1987 set, ” Whitney.”
Early chart data shows that “I
Look To You” did not just top the
U.S. music charts. The album
also debuted at no. 1 in Canada ,
Germany , Italy and Switzerland ,
according to Houston’s Arista
Record label.
Before the release of ” I Look
To You,” Arista Records told
MSNBC that this could lead to a
comeback by Houston.
Arista records decided to release
the album in time for
Grammy contention. They also
made a point of trying to attract a
younger audience by bringing in
Akon,Alicia Keys and R Kelly as
collaborators on the album.
Music media predicts Houston’s
comeback success will be based
on how she performs in the coming
months leading up to
Grammy night on Jan. 31,
2010. In Houston’s
song titled “Salute” she
sings, ” I don’t call it
a comeback, no I been
here for years.”
Houston has
not released a
record since her
Christmas album six years
ago, which was labeled
“unremarkable” by the
Billboard 100.
Many music critics say Houston
needs to shake off the
troubled, bizarre image
she acquired in recent years,
the result of admitted drug
use and her rocky marriage
to Bobby Brown.
For instance, Houston told
Diane Sawyer in a 2002 interview
she didn’t do crack because it was
cheap. “I make too much money
to ever smoke crack,” Houston
said .
In a recent interview with
Oprah Winfrey, Houston admitted
she had been addicted to marijuana
laced with rock cocaine
and emotionally battered by
Brown until she gathered
the strength to leave him
in 2006 following stints
in rehab. She said her
mother had to call the
authorities in order
to get her into rehab.
“Now looking at it, I see the
love and passion that my
mother had for me and she
has for me,” Houston told
Winfrey. She said, “I have a
court [injunction] here.
Either you do it my way, or
we’re just not going to do this
at all. We are both going to
go on TV, and you’re going to
retire.'”
Houston’s mother also made
sure Brown stayed away.
Houston said her mother coaxed
her to get help, saying, ” It’s not
worth it. I’m not losing you to the
world. I’m not losing you to Satan.
I’m not doing this. I want my
daughter. I want you back. I want
to see that glow in your eyes. That
light in your eye.’ ”
“We did want to go the route of
any-press-is-good-press way of
thinking here,” said one Houston
handler, speaking of Houston’s interviews.
“We wanted her (Houston) to
have the chance to answer questions,
but be comfortable. Sometimes
we used pre-taped
interviews to bring out the best results.”