Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” was released as the first single from Houston’s second studio album on radio stations on April 28, 1987. It entered the Billboard Hot 100, the issue dated May 16, 1987, at number 38, her highest chart debut at the time, and her highest of the 1980s. 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. It would top the chart for two weeks in a row and spent a total of eighteen weeks on the chart, including fourteen weeks in the top 40 and nine weeks inside the top ten, which produced the most weeks inside the top ten more than any other song released in 1987.

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. 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. 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. Paul Grein of Billboard noted the success of the song on the adult contemporary and R&B charts despite its accessible dance-pop sound “dramatizes how solidly entrenched Houston is and underscores her mass appeal”.

The single also topped the singles chart in Belgium for three weeks, the Netherlands for four weeks, Germany for five weeks, Italy for a week,Norway for seven weeks, Sweden for six weeks and Switzerland for six weeks, and peaked inside top five in Austria and Ireland. 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. 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.

“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. 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. The music video for the song was nominated for “Best Music Video” at the 2nd Soul Train Music Awards on March 30, 1988. Houston won the award for “Best Music Video” for the video at the 1st Garden State Music Awards. In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation’s fifth favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV. 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. In 2023, Billboard ranked the song number one on their list of the 500 Best Pop Songs of All Time. That same year, American Songwriter ranked the song as the most iconic song of the 1980s. In 2025, Screen Rant ranked the song twice in two lists, ranking it the seventh most defining song of the 1980s and in another list as the most defining pop song of the genre.

Credits on this track are:
Narada Michael Walden: drums
Walter Afanasieff: synths
Randy Jackson: bass synth
Corrado Rustici: guitar synth
Preston Glass: percussion programming
Mark Russo: alto sax
Greg “Gigi” Gonaway, Simmons Sterling: synth horns
Background Vocals: Jim Gilstrap, Kitty Beethoven, Kevin Dorsey, Myrna Matthews, Jennifer Hall, Whitney Houston

This triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston is the untold story of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice. From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, follow the inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before.

June 27, 1987: Whitney Houston charts her fourth #1 on the Hot 100 with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” the debut single from her second album.