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The song was written by Michael Masser and the late Linda Creed in 1976 for The Greatest, a film based on the life of former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.[1] According to Los Angeles Times, after being asked to write the song for the movie, Masser felt drawn to Jerusalem―even though he wasn't a religious man―"to get the feelings―not just my own." Masser also told L.A. Times his special feelings about Ali:
Here was a man who wanted to change his name and religion. That's all. Ali hadn't believed in the war in Vietnam and had refused to fight in it. He won that battle through the legal system. Still, he lost everything―including his title. But Ali retained the most important thing of all―his dignity.[1]
In an interview with Ocala Star-Banner in 1988, similarly, Masser said that "He[Ali] represented to me a tremendous athlete who suffered prejudice from the white man's world. He didn't give up what he believed even though he lost his title."[2] Masser also told L.A. Times that the song had another personal meaning for him to give up a legal career to pursue his interest in music, adding "People thought I was crazy. I had to starve. Had no money. Marriage broke up. But I had to do what I'd wanted to do since I was 6... write music." Upon his return from Jerusalem, he contracted with Creed to work on the song and wrote it right from the heart. Then Masser had George Benson perform the song for the soundtrack. He said, "The record came out and the song became an underground theme for black people."[1][2]
Whitney Houston was still an unknown hopeful when then the president of Arista Records, Clive Davis, and Masser heard her sing "Greatest Love" in a New York club on Amsterdam Avenue at about 68th St. a few years before her debut. Davis later described the first time he heard Houston sing:
I went down there[Sweetwater's club] instead of having her audition in a studio; I was seeing her before an audience. She did backup singing and you could see she was a beautiful young girl. But then she stepped out and she did two solo numbers, one of which was the song "The Greatest Love of All." Whitney sang the song with such fervor, with such a natural vocal gift, with such passion, that I was stunned. I knew really right then and there that this was a special talent and I was blown away by her. As I reflect back on this, I can relive the exprience for the very first time. There was no hesitation. I wanted to sign Whitney.
Masser said, "When I first met Whitney, she was about 19 and unknown. I went into Sweetwater's, and I thought I must be totally out of it ― I said, 'I must be going crazy, I think I'm hearing one of my songs.' She was singing 'The Greatest Love of All' just as I walked in, and that meant something to me. Two and a half years later when I was doing Teddy Pendergrass there was a duet and everybody wanted me to use this or that known person. Only because I had heard Whitney singing 'The Greatest Love of All', I chose her."[2]
Houston, in an interview with Ebony in July 1986, commented on what song lyrics means that "Our young people need to hear that song and realize that it's about loving yourself. If you can love yourself through all your rights and wrongs and faults, then that's the greatest love of all. That's the message."[3]
"...Because the greatest love of all is happening to me
I've found the greatest love of all inside of me
The Greatest love of all is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all..."
—A part of "Greatest Love of All" lyrics written by Linda Creed
A consultant Robert White, in his book titled Living an Extraordinary Life, said about the lyrics of the song as follows: "What a great song. It speaks to the heart, and deeply. It powerfully affirms the human spirit, the quest for self-love and self-esteem, the pride in being alive that each of us is entitled to experience simply by being born a human being."[4] An Indian psychologist and writer Monica Fernandes commented on the song's lyrics that "When Whitney belted out the words of 'The Greatest Love of All,' she was not singing about the narcissist who spends the major part of the day admiring himself or herself. Nor was she referring to that great 'I' specialist, the egoist, whose self-absorption sometimes hides a poor self-image. Rather, she was referring to an individual with a healthy self-respect who is well aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses and of the blessings showered on him/her."[5]
I think I was most gratified about "The Greatest Love of All" because I'd had apprehension. Would the magic of the first song I ever saw her sing, "Greatest Love of All," come out as a record? Would it stir me the same way that the live performance did? Could that magic be harnessed in the bottle? And I remember hearing it and feeling those proverbial tingles up and down my spine as it's like with all great songs. If you play a great song, usually the female will be the first to shed the tears. And I remember hearing "The Greatest Love of All" and just seeing the impact, particularly with women I was playing it for, and the tears that it evoked because it was that inspiring and touching and affecting.
In Brooklyn, a classroom of black elementary school children sing "The Greatest Love of All" daily as their personal anthem. In Encino, a psychological therapist specializing in incest uses the song as part of a program for her patients. The tune also has been used for inspirational purposes and fund-raising by youth groups and organizations for the disabled. The Dance Theatre of Harlem has choreographed a ballet for the music and it's been utilized by the YMCA and self-help groups such as Life Spring and Insight Transformational Seminars. Encino therapist Farzaneh Baroumian of Susan Forward & Associates also sensed the universality of the song. "When I first heard the song, I knew every one of my patients could benefit from the message of those words. I tell them to buy the record or cassette and listen to the song several times a day . . . to listen to the words."
The surprising thing about the song is that it is 10 years old. Its new success is dramatic evidence of how a composition that once seemed to be forgotten can suddenly capture the public's imagination. Composer Michael Masser, who wrote the song with the late lyricist Linda Creed, is thrilled with the song's rebirth. Masser said, "This is a culmination of a 10-year journey, but we did it. We knew it was special."
The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve Learning to love yourself It is the greatest love of all
Masser remembered the voice in 1984 when he needed a female vocalist to sing a song ("Hold Me") with Teddy Pendergrass on Pendergrass' first album after an automobile accident which left him paralyzed. Masser also produced the version of "Greatest Love" that appeared on Houston's debut album.
Creed died of cancer April 10, just before the single's big success. At Creed's funeral, a rabbi recited the words to the song, including these ending lyrics:
And if by chance That special place That you've been dreaming of Leads you to a lonely place Learn your strength in love. [1]
Influence
In October 1993, Stephen Holden, in his review of Mariah Carey's Music Box for Rolling Stone magazine, wrote that "Hero," with its message of self-sufficiency, aims for the inspirational grandeur of "Greatest Love of All," mentioning "Hero" as an instance of songs to be strongly influenced by other hits.[6]
Stephen Holden of The New York Times, in a review of Houston's debut album in 1985, described "Greatest Love of All" as the ballad "with such eloquence that it becomes a moving expression of black pride in the 80's."[7] Holden, in an article of Houston's big success in May 1986, gave the song a positive review, praising her interpretation of the song highly as follows:
"Greatest Love of All" is the album's centerpiece and boasts Houston's stateliest performance. Houston sings it with a forceful directness that gives its message of self-worth an astounding resonance and conviction. "No matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity," goes the lyric's most striking line. Sung by Houston, becomes a compelling assertion of black pride, family royalty and spiritual devotion, all at once.[8][9]
Four years later, Holden commented on the song once again, saying "[Greatest Love of All was] the ode to self-reliance that solidified her popularity, also defined her as a celebrity of discipline, stamina and remoteness."[10] Rolling Stone's Don Shewey, while reviewing Houston's self-titled debut album, wrote that "[a] moving black-pride anthem 'Greatest Love of All' does Houston give a coherent performance. Because she has a technically polished voice,[...] her interpretive approach is what sets her apart. She starts off cautious and contained, singing the song as written and enunciating the words clearly. Then, gradually, as the lyrics repeat, she lets go a little, slowly pours on the soul, slips in some churchy phrasing, holds notes a little longer and shows off her glorious voice."[11] On its review of the single, Billboard stated that "Remake of the George Benson hit benefits from a voice as big as its sentiments."[12] TIME, in their feature article about her then-new album Whitney in July 1987, call the song "[the] anthem of enlightened egotism."[13] A Australian newspaper The Age's Jim Schembri criticized the lyrics of the song, saying "Whitney, you have a better voice that Sade, and you're much more gorgeous than Madonna, but this apparently self-dedicated cover about self love, is a real bottomer."[14] While reviewing of Whitney Houston: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that the showstopping “Greatest Love of All” provided the blueprint for decades of divas.[15]
"Greatest Love of All", initially, was released as the B-side of "You Give Good Love" in February 22, 1985, by Arista Records. Though Houston's debut album began getting popular and then the song was also recognized as big as other hit singles off the album, Arista was so sure that it wouldn't be releasing the song as a single that it stuck it on the B-side of "Good Love."[16] The reason was that one of key elements in Arista's strategy was to avoid flooding the market with Houston's music. According to Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the former Arista senior promotion vice president Don Ienner said:
We made a conscious effort to limit the number of singles on her first album.[...] We're interested in Whitney's long-term career, and I believe we're all too smart and too cautious to put too many singles on the market.[17]
Due to the popularity on radio and request for releasing the song as a single, however, "Greatest Love of All" was released the fourth single from Houston's debut album on March 14, 1986, by Arista Records. Houston's album version features a piano intro, while the single version begins with a keyboard intro. After the single became a success, it replaced the original album version on subsequent pressings of the album. The original version, however, was restored for the 2010 Deluxe Anniversary Edition reissue of the album.
"Greatest Love of All" is also featured as a remix version on Houston's compilation album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000), whereas the original version is featured on The Ultimate Collection (2007).
"Greatest Love of All" debuted at number fifty-four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the issue dated March 29, 1986.[18] In the same week, the single entered the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart at number thirty-eight.[19] The next week, on the April 5, 1986 issue, the single debuted at number sixty-eight on the Hot Black Singles chart.[20] On its seventh week of Hot 100 release, the single leaped to number three on the chart, becoming the fourth Top 5 single from her debut album. It's only the second time a debut album has spawned four Top 5 hits after Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual in 1984, and overall the third time by a female artist after Lauper's and Madonna's Like a Virgin.[21] In addition, Houston's debut became the third album to generate four consecutive Top 3 hits in chart history behind Saturday Night Fever Origianl Soundtrack Album and Wham!'s Make It Big.[22] "Greatest Love of All" topped the Hot 100 chart on the May 17, 1986 issue, making Whitney Houston the first debut album and the first album by a female artist ever to generate three No.1 singles.[23][24] It stayed on the top position for three consecutive weeks and spent eighteen weeks on the chart.[25] The song also reached number one on both component charts, the Hot 100 Singles Sales and the Hot 100 Airplay, her second consecutive release to do so.[26][27] Additionally, the song reached the number one on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart and stayed there for five consecutive weeks from April 26 to May 24, 1986, becoming Houston's third chart topper and her longest stay at the top of the chart.[28] It peaked at number three on the Black Singles chart, the issue dated May 24, 1986, making Houston to achieve five R&B Top 10 hits from her debut album.[29] "Greatest Love of All" ranked number eleven on the 1986 Billboard year-end Top Pop Singles chart and number forty-six on the year-end Top Black Singles chart.[30][31] The single was certified gold for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 6, 1995.[32]In Canada, it debuted at number eighty-one on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart, the issue dated April 5, 1986.[33] Six weeks later the song reached the Top 10, and finally topped the chart on the June 6, 1986 issue, staying for a week on the pole position.[34][35] The song finished at number twenty on the RPM year-end Top 100 Sinlges chart of 1986.[36]
Houston's single fared well internationally as well. In the United Kingdom, "Greatest Love of All" was released on April 12, 1986. The next week the song debuted at number thirty-three on the UK Singles Chart.[37] It peaked at number eight on the chart, the week ending dated May 17, 1986, becoming Houston's third UK Top 10 hit, and stayed for eleven weeks on the chart.[38] According to MTV UK, the single has sold 210,000 copies in the country.[39] In Australia, the song reached the number one on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart, the issue dated July 17, 1986, and stayed for a week, becoming her first number one single there.[40] In Ireland, it reached its peak position of number four on the Irish Singles Chart, spending a total of seven weeks in the chart.[41] "Greatest Love of All" peaked within the Top 20 of the singles charts in a few other countries: number twelve in New Zealand,[42] fourteen in Sweden,[43] and twenty in Switzerland.[44] Additionally, in some other European countries, the single reached the Top 40 of the singles charts, peaking at number twenty-five in Austria,[45] twenty six in Belgium,[46] thirty in Germany[47] and twenty-four in the Netherlands.[48]
The music video for "Greatest Love of All" was directed by Peter Israelson and produced by Jon Small. James Contner served as director of photography.[49] The video was filmed at Harlem's Apollo Theater in New York City. In the video, she is a successful singer about to perform in front of an audience at the theater. She reminisces about the time when she was a child performing in a talent competition at the very same theater. The video features Houston's mother Cissy Houston playing herself and then 10-year-old girl Keara Janine as a young Whitney who is encouraged and supported by Cissy. Jet magazine commented that "the video[Greatest Love of All] is an example of art imitating life for Cissy encouraged and inspired Whitney."[50] Cissy, in an interview with Jet, described the video which has fast become a favorite on video music shows:
The video is like a dream, it goes back to when she was a little girl. Whitney is part of the "Amateur Hour." She's afraid and I encourage her to go on, "You can do it," that kind of thing. It's really a wonderful concept.[50]
In reference to the concept of the video, Whitney told Jet of her own real experience, "My mom taught me everything that I know about singing, studio work and things like that. I had a song to do in my mother's nightclub act and then as I got a little older, she gave me two songs to do and I went on from there."[50]
- UK 7" Vinyl Single[51]
- A "Greatest Love of All" – 4:49
- B "Thinking About You" – 4:03
Because "Greatest Love of All" is one of Houston's favorite songs and has an inspirational lyrics, the song has become one of the most performed songs on various occasions by Houston throughout her career. Before the release of Houston's debut album, she made a debut live performance at Sweetwater's club in New York, singing songs from the album including "Greatest Love of All" from February 12 to 16, 1985.[52] The most influential and fashionable papers and magazines in the US were invited along to witness the occasion. One of the audience Michael Masser later recalled the performance of the song, one of the undoubted highlights of Houston's live performances at the time, "she was singing my song 'Greatest Love of All' as we walked in and the performance just blew my mind."[53]
Houston appeared on the Dutch TV show Show Van de Maand and performed "Greatest Love of All" after an interview with the show host, Liesbeth List, on April 19, 1985.[54]
Houston performed "Greatest Love of All" to the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by John Williams during Americana Music Conert at Liberty State Park in New Jersey on July 4, 1986.[55][56] Michael Masser later told Ocala Star-Banner about the meaning of her performance that day: "Whitney insisted on singing that song from America to the world and I felt the whole journey that led up to it represented America as a place of peace. It's the first time that a complicated song with positive lyrics sold not only to young people but to everybody and it became like an anthem."[2]
Houston sang the song along with "How Will I Know" at the 3rd MTV Video Music Awards, where she won the Best Female Video award.[57]
Houston delivered a performance of the song backed by Vincent Montana, Jr. and The MFSB Orchestra at 'A Tribute To The Greatest Love' concert to honor the memory of the late Linda Creed, died of breast cancer one month before the song hit the number one by Houston, held at the Pennsylvania Hall of the Civic Center on May 10, 1987.[58]
, nominated for Record of the Year, and received a standing ovation at the 29th annual Grammy Awards, held on February 24, 1987.[59]
Houston delighted the crowd with a charged rendition of "Greatest Love of All" at the concert, entitled 'That's What Friends Are For' serves a dual purpose, as both a salute to the 15th anniversary of Arista Records and a fundraiser for AIDS research, at Radio City Music Hall on March 9, 1990.[60] CBS aired a two-hour version of the concert on April 17, 1990.[61] The performance was released later on CD and 12" vinyl maxi single of "All the Man That I Need" in Germany and the United Kingdom in December 1990.[62] The performance of the song is also featured as a bonus track on Whitney Houston: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition in honor of its 25th anniversary for the 1985 original release.[63]
On March 31, 1991, Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston, her first-ever solo televised concert, performed for the troops, their families and military and government dignitaries in honor of those returning from the Gulf War
Boxing great Muhammad Ali treated to a serenade, "Greatest Love of All," by Houston at the benefit concert to raise money for the United Negro College Fund and to celebrate Ali's 50th birthday on February 16, 1992. The concert, titled Muhammad Ali's 50th Birthday Celebration, was taped and later broadcast on ABC on March 1, 1992.[64]
Houston gave a moving rendition of the song for the finale on her first hourlong TV special Whitney Houston: This Is My Life, aired on ABC, May 6, 1992.[65][66]
On May 12, 1991, during her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, the May 11 Oakland Coliseum performance of the song along with "My Name Is Not Susan" and "Miracle," was broadcast on The Simple Truth: A Concert for Kurdish Refugees, which was a five-hour telethon to help the Red Cross provide aid to Kurdish refugees and aired on MTV in the United States on May 12, 1991.[67][68]
During the closing ceremonies of 1994 FIFA World Cup Final at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on July 17, Houston performed a six-song set-list including the song as a closing number for about 25 minutes.[69][70]
Houston dedicated the song to Nelson Mandela, the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, during The White House State Dinner for Mandela in the Rose Garden on October 4, 1994.[71]
On June 21, 1999, Houston first showcased her new wardrobe designed by Dolce & Gabbana on The Oprah Winfrey Show prior to the My Love Is Your Love World Tour opening at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago, and delivered a performance of the song as a closing number of the show in a costume for the tour.[72]
The performance of the song was the grand finale of the show on her Moment of Truth World Tour (1987-88). An Italian newspaper La Repubblica, in its review of her concert at the Palaeur in Rome on June 8, 1988, wrote that the performance of "Greatest Love of All" was "an impressive vocal test" because it was a closing number in nearly two hours of concert, but it was "sung with great feeling and skill."[73] tour performance Moment of truth
Houston also sang the song as a closing number during her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour in 1990. Clarence Waldron of Jet, in a review of the tour, praised her performance of the song highly:
[Houston's] live performances sparkle even more than her records, critics and fans are saying. [...] Take, for instance, the way she delivers "The Greatest Love of All." She goes far beyond the album version. She sings it in concert with such soul, sass and conviction, that her audiences understand exactly what it means to learn how to love yourself.[74]
On The Bodyguard World Tour (1993-94), Houston made a entrance performing a snippet of "Greatest Love of All." At the beginning of the concert, the song's verse, "Because the greatest love of all is happening to me, I found the greatest love of all inside of me," was sung by Houston and followed by "Love Will Save the Day" or "So Emotional."[75]
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