I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)

This article is about the song by Whitney Houston. For the film, see Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody. For the song by Mando Diao, see Dance with Somebody.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her second studio album, Whitney (1987). It was released as the lead single from the album on April 28, 1987, by Arista Records. It was produced by Narada Michael Walden, and written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, of the band Boy Meets Girl, who had previously collaborated with Houston on "How Will I Know". At the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, marking Houston's second win in the category.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album Whitney
B-side	"Moment of Truth"
Released	April 28, 1987[1]
Recorded	September 1986
Genre	Pop[2] dance-pop[3] R&B[4]
Length	4:51
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	George Merrill Shannon Rubicam
Producer(s)	Narada Michael Walden
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"Greatest Love of All" (1986) "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (1987) "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (1987)
Music video
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" on YouTube

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" received mixed reviews from music critics, who praised Houston's vocal performance but critiqued its musical arrangement, comparing it to "How Will I Know" and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Despite the mixed critical response, the song became a worldwide success, topping the charts in eighteen countries including Australia, Italy, Germany and the UK. In the US, it became Houston's fourth consecutive chart topper and is certified seven times platinum with sales of over seven million equivalent copies.^[5]

Background

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who wrote Houston's 1985 song "How Will I Know," which became successful, and as a result, they were asked to come up with another song for Houston's then-new album. Originally the song that gave Merrill and Rubicam their US/UK top ten success as Boy Meets Girl, "Waiting for a Star to Fall" was intended by the duo to be a song for Houston.^[6] The duo sent it to Arista Records, but they passed on it, believing it was not suitable for Houston.^[6] Undeterred by this minor setback, the pair continued working on finding a song that would be ideal for Houston and was inspired to come up with "I Wanna Dance with Somebody."^[6] Later on, Rubicam explained the idea behind the song:

I pictured somebody single wishing that they could find that special person for themselves. It wasn't, 'I wanna go down the disco and dance,' really. It was, 'I wanna do that dance of life with somebody.' That was the thought behind the song. So we sent our demo version off to Clive Davis and he loved it.^[6]

The song failed to impress producer Narada Michael Walden, who had produced "How Will I Know."^[6] He took a little more persuading with regard to the song's potential, and at first was not too keen on having Houston record it, as he felt it was too "country and western sounding."^[6] He said of it,

[It] reminded me of a rodeo song with Olivia Newton-John singing. I love Olivia Newton-John, but for Whitney Houston, it didn't seem right. I felt the song needed a much funkier feel. I slept, dreaming about it, woke up in the morning thinking about it, wondering what am I gonna do with this dance song. So, we just jumped in the water and lo and behold a magic record was born, Houston just knocked it out and then I knew we had a good record.^[6]

For the song's production, a Roland TR-808 was used to produce the drum machine percussion.^[7]

Critical reception

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" received mixed reviews from critics.^[8] Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone magazine, in a review of the album Whitney, criticized the song, commenting that "not taking any chances, the songwriters [Merill Griffith and Shannon Rubicam] have simply come up with a clever anagram of their original hit [How Will I Know], and [Narada Michael] Walden has glossed it over in an identically perky style. The strategy is not so different from that behind Hollywood's blockbuster sequels: this is 'How Will I Know II'."^[9] Los Angeles Times's pop music critic, Robert Hilburn described the song as "a deliciously raucous tune with a bit of the synthesizer underpinning and giddy zest of Cyndi Lauper's 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun.'"^[10]

In his review of Whitney, Jon Pareles of The New York Times gave a negative comment, writing that listening to "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "You're Still My Man," another track on the album was like "watching television while someone fiddles with color controls."^[11] In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song at #88 in their 100 Greatest Dance Songs, commenting that "with its parenthetical title, gummy bassline, schmaltzy horns, tinkling keyboards, and half-step key changes,^[12] [the song] is definitive '80s dance-pop."^[3] By 2020, the publication's staff had reranked it to #58.^[13]

Accolades

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won the award for "Favorite Pop/Rock Single" at the 15th American Music Awards on January 25, 1988.^[14] Additionally, Houston won the Grammy award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female" with the song at its 30th ceremony on March 2, 1988, where she received a total of three nominations.^[15][16] The music video for the song was nominated for "Best Music Video" at the 2nd Soul Train Music Awards on March 30, 1988.^[17] Houston won the award for "Best Music Video" for the video at the 1st Garden State Music Awards.^[18] In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's fifth favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.^[19] In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" at number 231 on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[20] In 2023, Billboard ranked the song number one on their list of the 500 Best Pop Songs of All Time.^[21]

Awards and nominations

Organization	Year	Award	Result	Ref.
American Music Awards	1988	Favorite Pop/Rock Single	Won	[22]
Billboard Year-End Awards	1987	Top Pop Singles	4th place	[23]
		Top Black Singles	Included
		Top Dance Sales 12-Inch Singles	Included
		Top Dance Club Play Singles	Included
		Top Adult Contemporary Singles	Included
Cash Box Awards	1987	Top 100 Pop Singles	2nd place	[24]
		Top Black/Contemporary Singles	Included
Garden State Music Awards	1988	Best Music Video	Won	[18]
Grammy Awards	1988	Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female	Won	[25]
Music & Media Year-End Awards	1987	Single of the Year	Won	[26]
Official Charts Pop Gem Hall of Fame	2014	Hall of Fame Inductee No. 80	Inducted	[27]
Radio & Records	1987	CHR Record of the Year	Won	[28]
Soul Train Music Awards	1988	Best Music Video	Nominated	[17]

Critic lists

Publisher/critic	Year	Listicle	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	2021	Greatest of All Time Songs of the Summer	104	[29]
	2023	The 500 Best Pop Songs of All Time	1	[21]
Pitchfork	2015	The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s	20	[30]
Rolling Stone	2019	20 Biggest Songs of the Summer: The 1980s	8	[31]
	2021	The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time	231	[20]
Slant Magazine	2006	100 Greatest Dance Songs	88	[3]
	2020		58	[13]
VH1	2000	VH1's 100 Greatest Dance Songs	86	[32]

Chart performance

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was released as the first single from Houston's second studio album on radio stations at the end of April 1987. It entered the Billboard Hot 100, the issue dated May 16, 1987, at number 38, her highest debut in the 1980s.^[33] Six weeks later, it reached the top spot of the chart, making it Houston's fourth number-one single in the United States, the issue date of June 27, 1987 ― the same day that Houston's album Whitney debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 (known at the time as "Top Pop Albums") the first time ever by a female artist.^[34] It remained there for two weeks, spent nine weeks in the top ten (more than any other song that year) and spent 18 weeks on the chart.^[35]

The song reached number one on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart for two weeks, and on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for three weeks, her longest run at that time. The single also peaked at number one on the Hot Adult Contemporary and the remixed dance / club version by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero became Houston's first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play Songs, staying on the top position of the charts for three weeks and two weeks, respectively.^[36][37] In addition, it reached a peak of two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (known then as "Hot Black Singles"), the issue date of July 4, 1987.^[38] It remained at that position for two weeks, behind "I Feel Good All Over" by Stephanie Mills (which never appeared on the Hot 100 at all), and spent 15 weeks on the R&B chart.

On July 28, 1987, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipment of 1,000,000 copies of the single, and re-certified Platinum, making it Houston's first single to achieve that feat, for the same shipment on February 13, 1989, with the change of the RIAA certification criteria for singles.^[39] (The number of sales required to qualify for gold and platinum discs was higher prior to January 1, 1989. The thresholds were 1,000,000 units (gold) and 2,000,000 units (platinum), reflecting a decrease in sales of singles.^[40] It placed at number four on the Billboard Year-End Top Pop Singles chart for 1987.^[41] In Canada, the song debuted at 74 on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart, the issue dated May 9, 1987,^[42] and reached the top of the chart on July 4, 1987.^[43] It was ranked second on the RPM Year-End Top 100 Singles chart for 1987.^[44] The single was later certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) on February 29, 1988.^[45]

Internationally, the song was a massive hit, becoming her most successful single at the time. It reached number one in fourteen countries. The song debuted at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, the week ending date of May 23, 1987.^[46] Two weeks later, it reached number one on the chart, the week ending June 6, 1987, becoming her second UK number-one single.^[47] The single was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on August 1, 1987, for shipments of 400,000 copies.^[48] According to The Official Charts Company, it has sold 760,000 copies in the United Kingdom^[49] and was the first number one hit to be released with a CD single in the UK.^[50]

The single also topped the singles chart in Belgium for three weeks,^[51] the Netherlands for four weeks,^[52] Germany for five weeks,^[53] Italy for a week,^[54] Norway for seven weeks,^[55] Sweden for six weeks^[56] and Switzerland for six weeks,^[57] and peaked inside top five in Austria^[58] and Ireland.^[59] This popularity of the single across Europe led to the song topping the European Hot 100 Singles chart for eight weeks. It became Houston's second number-one single on the Australian Kent Music Report chart, staying at the top for five weeks.^[60] The song also peaked at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart and remained there for four weeks, making it Houston's first number-one single in the country.^[61]

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" the single sold over 4.2 million copies worldwide in 1987.^[62] After her death, the single returned to the Billboard Hot 100 debuting at number 35 the same week "I Will Always Love You" re-entered at number 7, giving Houston two posthumous Top 40 hits.^[63] The following week, the song reached number 25. With "Greatest Love of All" reaching number 36 and "I Will Always Love You" reaching number three, it made Houston the first posthumous artist to land three top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. In July 2023, the song amassed one billion audio streams on Spotify, the first of Houston's songs to do so. Houston was only the second female artist to reach this feat with a 1980s single after Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill".

Music video

The music video for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was filmed in New York City in March 1987.^[64] It was directed by Brian Grant and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, who also worked with Houston on the music video for "How Will I Know". It played on MTV in heavy rotation, which it premiered on May 30, 1987.^[65] The video features Houston in a purple dress and a continuous shot of a purple backdrop that never changes its angle of vision. In the intro of this video, Houston just finishes a performance onstage. She walks backstage, and the scene is intercut with more vivid, colorful images of her. The song then explodes into its beginning, with myriad locations and various outfits by Houston, as dancers trying to impress her as she dances. Towards the end of the song she manhandles a guy, who has a mixture of a look of shock and surprise asking him "Don't you wanna dance say you wanna dance".^[66] The video was remastered in 4K to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release of the Whitney album and has over 462 million views as of August 2024 on YouTube.

Live performances

Houston performed the song on almost all of her world and regional tours. She premiered its usage during the later shows of The Greatest Love World Tour in 1986, before its official release of the following year, introducing the song, along with "Didn't We Almost Have It All", as new tunes from her upcoming album.^[67] During her European promotion for a new album from April–May 1987, Houston performed the song on various television series such as Domenica In (an Italian entertainment programme), the Montreux Golden Rose Rock Festival: IM&MC Gala (May 15, 1987), and Top of the Pops (May 21, 1987), where she sang live, unlike some other performers who lip-synched on the programme.^{[68][better source needed]}

Houston's Moment of Truth World Tour in 1987–88 had her performing it as the finale song of the tour. She performed it without back-up dancers on the North American leg (1987), and with four dancers on the European leg of the tour (1988). Two different performances of the song were recorded in Saratoga Springs, New York on September 2, 1987, and at Wembley Arena in London, United Kingdom in May 1988; the first was broadcast on MTV, during the 4th MTV Video Music Awards on September 11, 1987.^[69] The second was taken from one night of nine sold-out Wembley Arena concerts, aired by Italian channel Rai Uno on a special program for her in 1988. On March 2, 1988, Houston opened the night of the 30th Annual Grammy Awards singing the song.^[70] During the European leg of the tour, she participated in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert and performed the song in front of about 72,000 people at Wembley Stadium on June 11, 1988.^[71][72]

Houston also performed "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" as part of her set on fourteen-date Feels So Right Tour in Japan. One performance of the song on the tour was recorded at Yokohama Arena on January 7, 1990, and later broadcast on Japanese television. On March 17, she sang the song live on That's What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary AIDS Benefit Concert, televised on CBS on April 17, 1990.^[73] This performance was included in the 2014 CD/DVD release, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances.^[74]

In 1991, Houston opened her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour with "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". Three different performances of the song were taped and broadcast: the first was in Yokohama, Japan on March 15 and the second was in Norfolk, Virginia, the concert itself entitled Welcome Home Heroes, televised live on HBO on March 31 and later released as the video of the same name; the third was in A Coruña, Spain on September 29, broadcast on a Spanish television channel and later featured on the select set-list on This Is My Life, her first hour-long special which aired on ABC, May 6, 1992.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was also performed during The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–94). On the tour, five different performances of the song were recorded and televised; four were on the South American leg of the tour in 1994 ― Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela ― and one was in Johannesburg, South Africa, broadcast live via satellite on HBO on November 12, 1994, the concert itself entitled The Concert for a New South Africa. Houston also performed the song at a 25-minute pregame show of the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final at Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, broadcast in more than 180 countries on July 17, 1994.^[75]

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was included in the set-list on two regional tours, The Pacific Rim Tour (1997) and The European Tour (1998). During the My Love Is Your Love World Tour of 1999, the remix version of the song was performed as a part of '1980s Dance Medley' along with "How Will I Know". One performance of the song on the tour was recorded in Sopot, Poland and broadcast live on Polish channel TVP1 on August 22, 1999. In 2000, Houston performed the song as a similar version to that of her '99 tour at Arista Records 25th Anniversary Celebration, recorded at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on April 10, and broadcast on May 15 on NBC.^[76]

Track listing and formats

US 12-inch vinyl single (Version 1)[77] "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12-inch Remix) – 8:33 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Single version) – 4:52 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12-inch Remix Radio edit) – 4:51 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Dub Mix) – 6:48 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (A cappella) – 5:18 US 12-inch vinyl single (Version 2)[78] "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12-inch Remix) – 8:33 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Single version) – 4:52 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Dub Mix) – 6:48 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (A cappella Mix) – 5:18 "Moment of Truth" – 4:38

UK 7-inch vinyl single[79] "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" – 4:52 "Moment of Truth" – 4:39 UK promo VHS single[80] "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Music Video) – 5:15 UK 5-inch maxi-CD single[81] "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12-inch Remix) – 8:32 "Moment of Truth" – 4:36 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Dub Mix) – 6:48 US 5-inch promo maxi-CD single[82] "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (Single version) – 4:52 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12-inch Remix Radio edit) – 4:51 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (12-inch Remix) – 8:36

Credits and personnel

• George Merrill – writer
• Shannon Rubicam – writer
• Narada Michael Walden – producer, arranger
• Whitney Houston – vocal arrangement, background vocals
• Narada Michael Walden – drums
• Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff – synths
• Randy "The King" Jackson – bass synth
• Corrado Rustici – guitar synth
• Preston "Tiger Head" Glass – percussion programming
• Marc Russo – alto sax
• Greg "Gigi" Gonaway – Simmons
• Sterling Smith – synth horns
• Jim Gilstrap ― background vocals
• Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington ― background vocals
• Kevin Dorsey ― background vocals
• Myrna Matthews ― background vocals
• Jennifer Hall ― background vocals
• David Fraser – recording, mixing
• Dana Jon Chappelle – assistant engineer
• Lincoln Clapp – additional engineer
• Gordon Lyon – additional engineer, additional assistant engineer
• Jay Rifkin – additional engineer
• Ken Kessie – additional engineer
• Maureen Droney – additional engineer
• Stuart Hirotsu – additional assistant engineer
• Paul "Goatee" Hamingson – additional assistant engineer
• Noah Baron – additional assistant engineer
• Bill "Sweet Wil liam" Miranda – additional assistant engineer
• Ross Williams – additional assistant engineer
• Rob Beaton – additional assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1987) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[60] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[83] 3 Belgium (VRT Top 30)[51] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[43] 1 Canada Retail Singles (The Record)[84] 1 Denmark (IFPI)[85] 1 European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[86] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[87] 1 France (SNEP)[88] 15 Greece (IFPI)[89] 1 Iceland (RÚV)[90] 3 Ireland (IRMA)[91] 2 Italy (FIMI)[92] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[93] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[94] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[95] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[96] 1 Poland (LP3)[97] 4 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[98] 1 Spain (AFYVE)[99] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[100] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[101] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[102] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[103] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[104] 1 US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[105] 2 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[106] 1 West Germany (GfK)[107] 1 Chart (2012–2013) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[108] 25 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[83] 70 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[109] 33 France (SNEP)[88] 31 Ireland (IRMA)[110] 32 Israel (Media Forest)[111] 7 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[94] 42 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[95] 17 Scotland (OCC)[112] 18 Slovenia (SloTop50)[113] 17 South Korea International (Gaon)[114] 193 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[115] 28 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[101] 28 UK Singles (OCC)[116] 20 UK Dance (OCC)[117] 8 US Billboard Hot 100[118] 25 Chart (2017–2023) Peak position Finland Airplay (Radiosoittolista)[119] 79 Global 200 (Billboard)[120] P2J Remix 190 Ireland (IRMA)[121] 70 Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard Japan)[122] 10 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[123] 47 South Africa Radio (RISA)[124] 38 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[100] 54 UK Singles (OCC)[125] 70 US R&B Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[126] P2J Remix 6 US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[127] P2J Remix 11 Chart (2024) Peak position Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[128] 45 UK Singles (OCC)[129] 72

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Australia (Australian Music Report)[130] 11 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[131] 14 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[132] 2 European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[133] 2 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[134] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[135] 4 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[136] 9 Norway Spring Period (VG-lista)[137] 4 South Africa (Top 40)[138] 4 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[139] 3 UK Singles (OCC)[140] 3 US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[141] 4 US Top Adult Contemporary Singles (Billboard)[142] 9 US Top Black Singles (Billboard)[143] 24 US Top Dance Club Play Singles (Billboard)[144] 14 US Top Hot Crossover Singles (Billboard)[145] 4 Decade-end charts Chart (1980–1989) Position Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[146] 43 UK Singles (OCC) 81 All-time charts Chart (1958–2018) Position US Billboard Hot 100[147] 264

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[148]	8× Platinum	560,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[149]	Gold	30,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[150]	Gold	50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[151]	2× Platinum	180,000‡
France (SNEP)[152] 2017 release	Gold	100,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[153]	Gold	250,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[154]	Platinum	70,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[155]	Gold	75,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[156]	Platinum	60,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[157]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[158] Physical single	Gold	598,000[159]
United Kingdom (BPI)[160] Digital single	4× Platinum	2,400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[161]	7× Platinum	7,000,000‡
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of best-selling singles
• List of best-selling singles in the United States
• List of number-one singles in Australia in 1987
• List of Top 25 singles for 1987 in Australia
• Nummer 1-hits in de BRT Top 30 in 1987
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1987
• Dutch Top 40 number-one hits of 1987
• List of European number-one hits of 1987
• List of number-one hits of 1987 (Finland) (in Finnish)
• Number-one hits of 1987 (Germany)
• List of number-one hits of 1987 (Italy)
• List of number-one singles in 1987 (New Zealand)
• List of number-one hits 1987 (Norway)
• List of Swedish number-one hits
• List of number-one hits of 1987 (Switzerland)
• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1987
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1987 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1987 (U.S.)

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Bibliography

• Seal, Richard (1994), One Moment in Time: Whitney Houston, Britannia Press Publishing, ISBN 0-9519937-8-X

External links

• I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) at Discogs