I Have Nothing

In 1993, Whitney Houston released a song that became her third consecutive hit from the album The Bodyguard: I Have Nothing. Recorded in November 1991 at Encore Studios in Los Angeles, the song was created as part of an agreement between the singer, her label Arista Records, and the producers of the film The Bodyguard. Clive Davis, then head of Arista, convinced the film’s team — including Kevin Costner — that Houston’s character, a diva with bodyguards, needed a powerful ballad to reinforce her presence in the storyline. Thus, the song was recorded with a duration of nearly five minutes, a steady rhythm, and a vocal crescendo that set it apart from other tracks of the era. Its structure, featuring a bridge that breaks the tension before the climax, demands precise control of dynamics from the singer, a skill Houston mastered like few others.

The song quickly climbed the charts: it reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Cash Box Top 100, in addition to certifying four platinum discs in the United States. Internationally, it reached number one in Canada and the top five in the United Kingdom and Ireland, solidifying Houston as a global icon. In 1993, the Academy nominated it for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the following year it received a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Song Written for Visual Media. Its impact was so profound that, decades later, it remains the most covered song on American Idol, with fourteen recorded performances by 2026. The music video, with over one billion views on YouTube, also made history: it was the second 90s video to surpass that milestone, alongside I Will Always Love You.