So Emotional

When Whitney Houston released So Emotional, she was already forging a path in music. The song, which was released to the public on October 12, 1987, became the third single from her album Whitney. What's interesting is that, despite Narada Michael Walden's production giving it a different turn, the original idea from songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly had a connection to Prince's musical style, specifically the Minneapolis sound he popularized. The lyrics, meanwhile, focus on the intensity of feelings that arise when reuniting with an old love, even when there's already another commitment. The recording took place in March 1987 at Manhattan's Right Track studios.

The impact of So Emotional on the charts was notable. It reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, thus adding her sixth consecutive number one. With this achievement, she not only surpassed a record that Elvis Presley had set decades earlier for solo artists but also equaled The Beatles and The Bee Gees at that time for the most consecutive number-one singles on the Hot 100. Furthermore, a remix version by Junior Vasquez and Shep Pettibone propelled it to the top of the Dance Club Play chart, marking her second number-one dance hit. The song also performed well on the R&B and adult contemporary charts, solidifying its status as Houston's third single to reach the top ten on four different Billboard charts. It was the sixth best-ranked track of 1988 and fourth on the club charts, and it remains her sixth biggest hit historically on the Hot 100. Its reach was not limited to North America; in the UK, it peaked at number 5, and it also charted in the top ten in Canada, Finland, and Ireland, in addition to topping the charts in Luxembourg and reaching the top 20 in other countries like Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, and South Africa.