“Where Do Broken Hearts Go” – Single by Whitney Houston from the album Whitney
B-side “Where You Are” / “If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful”
Released February 15, 1988
Label Arista
Songwriters Frank Wildhorn and Chuck Jackson
Producer Narada Michael Walden
Charted No.1 in US; No.14 in UK; No.2 in Ireland; No.6 in Canada; No.4 in Netherlands; No.32 in Spain.
Written by Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde) and ’60s R&B singer Chuck Jackson, this ballad was the last in a string of seven consecutive #1 hits for Houston, smashing the 6-hit record held by The Beatles and The Bee Gees.
Wildhorn had been itching to write a song for Houston ever since he heard her duet with Teddy Pendergrass, “Hold Me,” four years earlier. When Jackson called him with the song title, the rest came together quickly. “I sat there at the piano,” Wildhorn told Billboard, “and in about 40 minutes, 90 percent of the sketch of the song was done. I called (Jackson) back and said, ‘You gotta come over here tonight because I think we’ve got something.'” The duo finished the song that night.
Houston didn’t think a song about a woman trying to convince her boyfriend to come back to her had enough depth, but Arista Records president Clive Davis assured her it would be a hit. Not only did it top the Hot 100, but the song was also #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart and #2 on the R&B chart.
The song helped Houston to set an all-time chart record on the Billboard Hot 100, in which it became Houston’s seventh consecutive number one single on the chart, beating the record of six, previously held by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. As of March 2025, the record still holds.
It also made Houston just the second artist to land four number one singles off one album after Michael Jackson had set the record with his Bad album and made her the first female artist to do so. The single helped cement Houston’s status as a pop culture icon.
Houston first performed “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” at Montreux Golden Rose Rock Festival on May 15, 1987. The performance was broadcast later in the US, as well as on various European TV channels. Houston sang the song at the 15th American Music Awards, held on January 25, 1988. She performed the song on the UK BBC1 TV show Wogan, which was hosted by Terry Wogan in 1988. “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” was one of the songs performed on Houston’s set list during Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Celebration concert, televised live worldwide via BBC, at Wembley Stadium in London on June 11, 1988. In the US, the edit version of the concert was broadcast later on Fox TV network.
