Higher Love
"Higher Love" | ||||
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Single by Steve Winwood | ||||
from the album Back in the High Life | ||||
B-side | "And I Go" | |||
Released | 20 June 1986 | |||
Recorded |
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Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Island – IS 288 | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Russ Titelman | |||
Steve Winwood singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"Higher Love" |
"Higher Love" is a 1986 song by English singer Steve Winwood.[1] It was the first single released from his fourth solo LP, Back in the High Life. It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings, and produced by Russ Titelman and Winwood. The female vocals on the song were performed by Chaka Khan, who also appeared in the promotional music video.
"Higher Love" was Winwood's first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, topping the chart for one week. It was preceded by Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" and followed by "Venus" by Bananarama. The song also spent four weeks atop the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and earned two Grammy Awards, for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. It also peaked at number 13 in the United Kingdom, Winwood's highest charting solo hit there, and reached number one in Canada for a week.
Whitney Houston covered the song in 1990 and it was included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of her third studio album I'm Your Baby Tonight. James Vincent McMorrow covered the song in 2011, on his first album "Early in the Morning". In June 2019, Norwegian DJ Kygo reworked Houston's cover into a tropical house track and it was released as a single worldwide,[2] and on August 21, 2019, their version hit number one on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Songs chart, making it Houston's highest-charting posthumous release to date.
Music video
The music video, which uses the shorter single version, was shot in June 1986 by directors Peter Kagan and Paula Greif. The same duo shot an almost identical video for Duran Duran's "Notorious" in November of that year; coincidentally, both videos were nominated for several awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards though neither won. Chaka Khan appears in the video, as does Nile Rodgers, who plays guitar with the backing band.
Track listings
7": Island / IS 288 United Kingdom
7": Island / 7-28710 United States
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12": Island / 12 IS 288 United Kingdom
12": Island / PRO-A-2507 United States
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Personnel
- Steve Winwood – lead and backing vocals, synthesizer, sequencer programming and drum machine programming
- Robbie Kilgore – synthesizer and sequencer programming
- Andrew Thomas – PPG Waveterm synthesizer programming
- David Frank – synthesizer horns and synth horn arrangement
- Philippe Saisse – synthesizer bass
- Eddie Martinez – lead guitar
- Nile Rodgers – rhythm guitar
- John Robinson – drums
- Jimmy Bralower – Oberheim DMX programming
- Carole Steele – congas, tambourine
- Chaka Khan – backing vocals
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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Kygo and Whitney Houston version
"Higher Love" | ||||
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Single by Kygo and Whitney Houston | ||||
Released | 28 June 2019 | |||
Recorded |
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Genre | Tropical house[19] | |||
Length | 3:48 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | ||||
Kygo singles chronology | ||||
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Whitney Houston singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Higher Love" on YouTube |
A cover of "Higher Love" was released as a single by Norwegian DJ and record producer Kygo and late American pop/R&B singer Whitney Houston in June 2019. The song was released to streaming and digital download formats on 28 June 2019 by the label RCA Records. The song marks Houston's first posthumous release in two and a half years, following the song "Memories", which was released as a duet with Malaysian singer Siti Nurhaliza in December 2016.
Houston's cover of the Winwood track was originally featured on the Japanese edition of her third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990). This version of the track was produced by American musician Narada Michael Walden, and therefore Walden is credited as a producer of "Higher Love" alongside Kygo.[20][21] Houston performed her rendition of "Higher Love" at the 14 dates of her 1990 Feels So Right Tour in Japan.
In the UK, "Higher Love" was a commercial success, surpassing the Winwood version in terms of chart performance. It peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart, behind Ed Sheeran and Stormzy's "Take Me Back to London", making it Kygo's third top ten hit and first top five hit there, and Houston's eighteenth top ten hit. It is also Houston's first posthumous top 10 hit. She had last reached the top ten with the number five hit "Million Dollar Bill" in October 2009. Therefore, "Higher Love" became her highest-charting single in the UK since 1999 when "My Love Is Your Love" peaked at number 2. In Scotland, the song peaked at number one.
Since its release, "Higher Love" has reached the top five in Croatia, Flanders, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, and Slovenia, plus the top ten in the Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden and Switzerland. It also hit the top twenty charts in Australia, Austria, China, Czech Republic and Wallonia. In the U.S., "Higher Love" debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 6.6 million US streams in its first week[22]; it was also its peak position. The song topped Billboards Dance Club Songs chart in the US, becoming Kygo's third number one on the chart, and also giving Houston her fourteenth number one on this chart.[23]
Music video
The official video was made available on YouTube on 26 August 2019. It begins with a group of men in modern clothing walking through seemingly abandoned warehouses. They are impressed to see a 1980s aerobics class led by an instructor played by Canadian actress Vanessa Morgan. After initially being shooed away, the male lead walks into the room and his clothes change. He starts dancing with the female lead and is eventually joined by his male companions, whose clothes also magically transforms into 1980s aerobics outfits. The video has brief snippets of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" music video showing on a TV along with posters of her from her 1987 Whitney album era on the wall. In the end, the instructor is kicked in the face by one of the dancers accidentally and wakes up in a present-day restaurant, revealing that the 1980s aerobics class was just a dream and that the male lead is actually the waiter at the restaurant she's in.
Personnel
- Whitney Houston – lead vocals, backing vocals/arrangement, vocal production
- Narada Michael Walden – backing vocals arrangement, producer, arranger
- Kygo – producer, remixer, arranger
- Claytoven Richardson, Cynthia Shiloh, Greg "Gigi" Gonaway, Jeanie Tracy, Larry Batiste
Raz Kennedy, Skyler Jett, Sylvester Jackson, Tina Thompson, Renee Cattaneo – backing vocals
Charts
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA)[65] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA)[66] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada)[67] | Gold | 40,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV)[69] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[70] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[71] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
References
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- ^ White, Jack (27 June 2019). "Whitney Houston's first posthumous release in seven years announced as Kygo collaboration Higher Love". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Steve Winwood – Higher Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0725." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 8279." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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- ^ "SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Songs H-I". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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- ^ "Steve Winwood Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Steve Winwood Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Top 100 Singles of '86". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1986". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "British single certifications – Steve Winwood – Higher Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 May 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Higher Love in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ Lewis, Brandon (28 June 2019). "Kygo Does Whitney Houston Justice on "Higher Love" Remix". When Things Go Pop. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ White, Jack (27 June 2019). "Whitney Houston's first posthumous release in seven years announced as Kygo collaboration Higher Love". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ Østbø, Stein (26 June 2019). "Kygo + Whitney Houston er sant!". VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ "Whitney Houston Earns First Hot 100 Debut in 10 Years With Kygo Collab 'Higher Love'". Billboard. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ Cantor, Brian (16 August 2019). "Kygo & Whitney Houston's "Higher Lover" Reaches #1 On Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart". Headline Planet.
- ^ "Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
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- ^ "Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ "Kygo Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
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- ^ "Croatia ARC TOP 100". HRT. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 48. týden 2019 in the date selector. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 27. týden 2019 in the date selector. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- ^ "Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love". Tracklisten. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
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- ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
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- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 2019" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ "Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
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- ^ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
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- ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
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- ^ "Kygo x Whitney Houston – Higher Love". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
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External links
- Single chart usages for Germany2
- 1986 songs
- 1986 singles
- Steve Winwood songs
- Pop ballads
- Songs about happiness
- Songs about depression
- Songs about loneliness
- Billboard Dance Club Songs number-one singles
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one singles
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- Grammy Award for Record of the Year
- Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
- Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings
- Songs written by Steve Winwood
- Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman
- Island Records singles
- Whitney Houston songs
- Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden
- 2019 singles
- Dance-pop songs
- Electronic songs
- Tropical house songs
- Kygo songs
- RCA Records singles
- Songs released posthumously
- Number-one singles in Scotland