I'm Your Baby Tonight

''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' is the third studio album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released on November 6, 1990, by Arista Records. The album was a response to music critics in the black music community, who accused Houston of neglecting her R&B and soul music roots following the release of the pop-heavy sound of her eponymous sophomore album, '' Whitney'' three years before. The album also signaled a change in Houston's musical direction as she attained creative control for the first time in her career and became the first album where she attained executive producer credits. The record incorporated the then-current popular sound of new jack swing music while keeping an R&B sound on the majority of the tracks, along with elements of hip-hop, funk and dance music which helped to shift Houston's focus from love ballads and occasional dance songs to creating a "firmer dance record". The album was further credited later as a "turning point" in Houston's career and which helped to cement her legacy in popular music.

Its themes also took a more mature direction than in Houston's previous albums with songs such as the title track, "My Name Is Not Susan" and " I Belong to You" taking on a more sexually aggressive approach. It was the first album to feature production from the team of Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who would produce four of the album's songs including the title track, "Miracle" and "My Name Is Not Susan", while Houston maintained her previous producers Narada Michael Walden and Michael Masser on several other tracks, with smaller contributions from Houston's musical heroes, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder, the latter of whom Houston sung with on the album's only duet track, " We Didn't Know". In addition to vocally arranging every track, Houston also added to the production on the record on at least one track, the album closer, "I'm Knockin'".

Upon its release, ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, some of who complimented Houston's ability to adapt to singing harder forms of black music while others complained that her move to an urban direction was "superficial". The album became a global commercial success upon its release, reaching number three on the ''Billboard'' 200, whilst staying inside the top ten of that chart for 22 weeks. The same album topped the Top R&B Albums chart, Houston's first album to reach the pole position on that chart since her groundbreaking self-titled debut album, accumulating eight cumulative weeks atop the chart, outperforming the six-week run from her debut. Houston became the first female artist to have their first three albums reach the top three of the ''Billboard'' 200 as well as the R&B Albums chart. Her record on the pop charts was later broken by singer Britney Spears, who became the first female artist to send her first three albums to number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 after her album, '' Britney'', topped the chart.

The album would go on to win four Billboard Music Awards, including Top R&B Album, at the second annual ceremony and earned the American Music Award nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B Album as well as the Soul Train Music Award nomination for Best Female R&B/Soul Album in 1992. With worldwide sales of over 10 million copies, ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' is one of the best-selling female albums of all time and has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' produced six singles. Its lead single, the title track, hit number one in four countries, including the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top ten in 13 other countries and earning a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1991. " All the Man That I Need" followed the title track to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and helped to establish a chart record for Houston being the first woman to have multiple chart-toppers off three or more albums while also achieving international success, topping the Canadian ''RPM'' chart and hitting the top 20 in the UK; it would be nominated for the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1992. "Miracle also achieved US success, peaking inside the top ten, while "My Name Is Not Susan" reached the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The remaining two singles — "I Belong to You" and "We Didn't Know" — was only released to R&B retail and radio where it found R&B chart success, both peaking inside the top 20 while the former reached the R&B top ten and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. To further promote the album, Houston embarked on her third concert tour, titled the I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, from March 1991 until October 1991. During promotion of the album, Houston's status was raised by her Super Bowl XXV appearance where she performed her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the HBO-TV special, ''Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston'', which included songs from the album performed and viewed by over 50 million viewers.

Background

In 1987, Houston released her sophomore album, '' Whitney'', which was aimed to give her a more accessible pop audience in contrast to the R&B and love ballad material composed on Houston's self-titled debut (1985). The record made history for Houston as she became the first female artist to debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 and produced four consecutive number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 — a record at a time for a female artist. The album also cemented her reputation as a global superstar, with her two albums selling a combined thirty million units by 1989. Her successful crossover blend of pop, R&B and gospel helped Houston to break racial barriers on pop radio stations and MTV, which along with the commercial breakthrough of Michael Jackson, led to the music industry enjoying "the best time for crossover artists since the height of disco in the mid-to-late '70s", according to journalist Frank Rizzo in 1987.

Despite this, however, some black critics began to voice their disapproval of Houston's music, especially with her sophomore release, ''Whitney'', which included the number-one hits, the dance-pop hit "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and, in particular, the rock song, " So Emotional". These critics accused the singer of "selling out" by neglecting black musical influences in favor of music intended to appeal to white audiences. They also felt that her records lacked the soul of her live performances of the same songs. Houston's name was jeered by some in the audience at the Soul Train Music Awards ceremonies of 1988 and 1989 after her name was announced as nominee in several categories. Houston defended herself against the criticism telling ''Essence'' magazine in 1990, "If you're gonna have a long career, there's a certain way to do it and I did it that way. I'm not ashamed of it." Later on, Houston steadfastly denied claims that her R&B base had deserted her to ''Billboard'' magazine.

Contrary to popular belief, Houston and label head Clive Davis had discussed plans to go into a more urban direction as early as the spring of 1988 as popular music was starting to embrace a new urban pop genre called new jack swing. Even as her sophomore album '' Whitney'' was blanketing airwaves that year, music industry insiders were speculating that " ere is talk her next album will have a 'black direction'." Houston decided to assert more creative control of her music and became an executive producer for the first time on an album. Houston convinced Davis to hire the new jack swing production team of L.A. Reid and Babyface, citing their work on artists such as Karyn White and The Whispers among others.

Music and production

Following the end of her second world tour in November 1988, Houston took a break from recording. The singer's label began assembling new material during this period. In Houston's previous album, ''Whitney'', producer Narada Michael Walden had been given the bulk of the material to produce since Walden's productions were quick. In addition to Houston's music, Walden had also been behind the production of fellow label mate Aretha Franklin's two commercially successful albums, ''Who's Zoomin' Who'' (1985) and '' Aretha'' (1986). In the meantime, Houston had begun a friendship with Detroit-based gospel sibling duo BeBe & CeCe Winans. Houston had collaborated on the duo's breakthrough album, ''Heaven'' (1988), which she was featured on the songs "Hold Up the Light" and "Celebrate New Life" and helped to promote the album on programs such as the NAACP Image Awards and ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. It would be around this time that Houston met fellow R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. Brown had found success with Reid and Babyface on his breakthrough second album, ''Don't Be Cruel'' (1988).

Encouraged by Winans after some hesitation, Houston composed her first song, an uptempo pop-R&B song called " Takin' a Chance", which was released as a Japan-only single in October 1989, with Houston using the song in a Sanyo ad there. The song became a chart hit in Japan and was performed on Houston's Japanese tour, ''The Feels So Right Tour'', in January 1990. As a result of the song, Houston soon took up record production on a composition by her musical director Rickey Minor, Rhett Lawrence and Winans himself titled "I'm Knockin'", a funk-inspired song that includes horns, bass guitar and organ and one in which Houston used gospel vocal inflections that were only hinted at in previous songs. With Walden, Houston worked on a variety of R&B songs between October 1989 and March 1990. The sessions, mostly held at the Right Track studio in Manhattan, included a Sam Dees jazz-inflected song "Lover for Life", a Franne Golde and Derek Bramble tune " I Belong to You" and the Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore ballad " All the Man That I Need", originally recorded by Linda Clifford seven years before and made into a minor R&B hit by Sister Sledge. Additional Walden productions included a collaborative track with previous Houston composer Michael Masser and artist Leon Ware called "Far Enough for Love", a David Lasley and Robbie Long composition called "Dancin' on the Smooth Edge", the Bryan Loren composition "Feels So Good" and a gospel-inflected cover of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love". When Houston took the stage for the 14-date ''Feels So Right Tour'' in Japan, Houston would perform "Takin' a Chance", "All the Man That I Need" and "Higher Love" alongside her previous hits.

Around this time, Walden was also hard at work at Mariah Carey's debut, eventually helping to produce three songs — "Vision of Love", "I Don't Wanna Cry" and " There's Got to Be a Way" — for Carey. In the middle of the Carey production, the young artist asked the producer to play her some of the stuff he was working on with Houston prior to recording. Walden eventually played her two of the songs — "Feels So Good" and "I Belong to You" — which Carey was blown away by and, Walden admitted, a bit intimidated. Walden later wrote that he and frequent collaborator Preston Glass had presented five other unnamed songs for the project to Davis, who instantly rejected them, desiring a more R&B sound than Walden's previous songs in past projects. On the album's final track listing, "Far Enough", "Higher Love", "Feels So Good" and "Dancin' on the Smooth Edge" were discarded, though the latter two would be later featured as b-sides on the singles released from the album. Around the same time she worked with Walden, the singer requested to work with longtime buddies and musical heroes Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross. Vandross would end up producing and co-writing the uptempo R&B number, "Who Do You Love", while Wonder offered her the song " We Didn't Know", which the pair recorded as a duet.

Beginning in March 1990, Houston worked with Reid and Babyface at Elumba Studios in Hollywood. The offer to work with Houston came with an offer by Davis to distribute the records that were to be recorded under the duo's recently formed record label LaFace Records, which had formed in late 1989 by Reid and Babyface and soon became a joint venture between the duo and Clive Davis. The musicians first presented Houston with the song that would be the album's title track, " I'm Your Baby Tonight", and arranged in a way that was similar to a jazz vocalist. The producers admitted to being blown away by Houston's vocal performance on the song as she did it in a single take and, after overdubbing her background vocals, only took about a couple of hours. Afterwards, Houston went to a Hollywood shopping mall to find a pair of high-heeled shoes Houston had seen earlier that day. The duo and Houston further collaborated on three more songs — two other hip-hop influenced "My Name Is Not Susan" and "Anymore" and the soul ballad, "Miracle". Babyface later presented her with a fifth song, " Why Does It Hurt So Bad" but at the time, Houston refused to record it because she hadn't yet to experience the type of relationship described in the song, only for Houston to record it for the ''Waiting to Exhale'' soundtrack five years later. In addition to helping to compose and co-produce "Far Enough (For Love)", Masser presented Houston with the quiet storm ballad, "After We Make Love", written with Gerry Goffin, the same lyricist behind Houston's breakthrough hit "Saving All My Love for You" (1985), while also featuring saxophone work from Tom Scott, who had also performed on "Saving All My Love for You". It would be Masser's final recording with Houston. The album was finished by September and Arista set for a November release for the album.

Critical reception

Upon its release in 1990, the album received mixed reviews from music critics. David Browne of ''Entertainment Weekly'' called the album "the most perfectly realized Houston work to date", comparing it to her first two albums where, Browne argues, were "spoon-fed generic pop-R&B" that were "at best, patchwork quilts juxtaposing bouncy dance tracks and ballads that could have been lifted from late-night help-an-orphan TV ads", while ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' by comparison, "adhere doggedly to one agenda: to prove Houston is a get-down, funky human being who can party with the best of them. The album is relentlessly superficial — and proud of it." Browne compared the title track to Michael Jackson's 1987 hit, " The Way You Make Me Feel", but states the song "has a discernible melody".

In his review for the ''Los Angeles Times'', Chris William raves the title track, writing that it was "a swooning ballad of complete romantic acquiescence, with the beat magnified to dance-floor level--a memorable song charming enough to click arranged in any number of genres, but especially seductive done up with that energy." He further compares the uptempo tracks on the album to the then current work of R&B group En Vogue, while calling the tracks Vandross and Wonder produced for her as "engaging, if far from classic".

By contrast, James Hunter of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that the album was her "... best and most integrated album" and an album that "amounts to a case study in how much oustoncan get out of her luscious and straightforward vocal gifts within a dancepop framework". Hunter also claims that with Walden, Houston "refines two of her signature styles: state-of-the-art dance pop and baroque ballads." In reviewing the second single, "All the Man That I Need", Hunter writes the ballad was "an outsize ballad about poverty and damaged self-regard, so expertly that the song, with its effective whiff of Spanish guitar, stages undeniable pop drama." Of Reid and Babyface, Hunter writes that the pair "take a more youthful tack", stating their "sharp recastings of Seventies black pop and funk bop set against thumping Eighties dance rhythms are lean, mean and virtually invisible compared with Walden's arrangements", further stating that tracks like "My Name Is Not Susan" and "Anymore" have " led her into new, less formal territory, where she sheds her gowns, swings and sounds confident, rhythmically challenged and very much at home."

According to AllMusic's Ashley S. Battel, Houston "attempts to make a larger foray into dance music" with this album, while J. D. Considine wrote that Houston's singing on the album features "sultry moans, note-bending asides, ndwindow-rattling gospel shouts". ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's Jim Macnie said that the album "displayed a slick R&B edge" and features "funk-and-dance-driven pop".

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' debuted at number 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, for the issue dated November 24, 1990. In its second week, it leapt to number five; the following week saw its peak position, at number three behind Vanilla Ice's '' To the Extreme'' and MC Hammer's '' Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em''. The album spent 22 weeks inside the top ten and was on the chart for a total of 51 weeks. It also debuted at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B Albums chart, the issue date of December 1, 1990, and reached the number one position of that chart three weeks later. The record was at the top of the R&B/Hip-Hop chart for eight non-consecutive weeks, and was present on that chart for a total of 53 weeks. Due to its great performance on the chart, it became the #1 R&B album on the ''Billboard'' year-end charts for 1991. The album was certified 4× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on April 5, 1995, and since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in May 1991, it had sold (as of 2009) 1,728,000 copies in the United States; this numerical amount does not include copies sold in the initial months of the album's release or its sales through mail-order sources such as Columbia House or BMG Music Club. This is not its sales total, as the biggest portion of the sales occurred in November 1990, before there was Nielsen SoundScan.

The album was a hit internationally (though its sales didn't reach a level as high as the previous two albums), boosting Houston to global super-stardom. In Britain, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number 6 on November 17, 1990, and peaked at number 4, nine weeks later. The British Phonographic Industry certified the album Platinum, for shipments of 300,000 units, on November 1, 1990. In Germany, the album peaked at number three on the Media Control Albums Chart, receiving Platinum certification (for shipments of 500,000 copies), by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie, in 1991. It also reached the top five in other countries, such as Austria, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. To date, the album has sold approximately 10 million copies worldwide.

Singles

''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' produced six singles between October 1990 and April 1992. The first single, "I'm Your Baby Tonight", peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on December 1, 1990, staying for a week. On the same day, the song also topped the Hot R&B Singles chart for two weeks, marking the first time in four years that Houston topped the chart. It was a top twenty hit on the AC chart, peaking at number 17 and staying on the chart for 28 weeks. The single was certified gold for shipments of 500,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 27, 1990. Nearly 33 years later, in January 2023, the same song was certified platinum for one million equivalent sales and streams. Houston was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female with this track at the 33rd Grammy Awards of 1991. This success was repeated with the follow-up single, "All the Man That I Need", which reached the pole position of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on February 23, 1991, accumulating two weeks atop the chart. The song would reach number one on both the R&B and adult contemporary charts on March 2, marking her first triple-crown ''Billboard'' number one hit since 1986. With this success, Houston made history as the first solo female act to produce multiple number ones off three or more albums. Much like the title track, the single also earned a gold RIAA certification for sales of 500,000 copies in March 1991. In March 2019, the ballad was certified platinum for one million equivalent sales and streams. Houston received a nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 34th Grammy Awards in 1992, which was her fifth nomination in that category.

The third single, "Miracle", became the album's third top ten single on all three ''Billboard'' charts, reaching number nine on the Hot 100 on June 8. It would reach numbers two and four respectively on the R&B and AC charts later that month. The fourth single, "My Name is Not Susan" peaked inside the top 20 of the Hot 100 in September; on the R&B chart, it became a top ten hit, peaking at number eight that same month. The song is notable for including a remix featuring British female rapper Monie Love, marking one of the first times a female rapper guest starred on a remix of a pop song, predating Janet Jackson's future collaboration with female rapper MC Lyte on a remix of her 1994 hit " You Want This". The following two singles - " I Belong to You" and " We Didn't Know" - were only released and promoted to R&B retail and radio, with the former reaching number ten on the R&B singles chart in February 1992 and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The latter peaked inside the top 20 on July 4, 1992. Houston's success with the first four singles resulted in her being ranked the third top pop singles and top R&B singles artist of 1991, according to ''Billboard''. In addition to being the top R&B albums and singles artists of 1991 on ''Cash Box'', Houston was also ranked the top female crossover artist of the year on the same magazine.

Globally, the title track became a smash following European promotion. In Italy, it reached number one on the ''Musica e dischi'' singles chart in November 1990 and remained atop for five weeks. In the United Kingdom, the single entered the UK Singles Chart at number sixteen on October 20, 1990, and peaked at number five two weeks later, becoming her eighth top ten hit. It also reached the top five in many countries such as Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also went top ten in Australia and Ireland. Like the title track, "All the Man That I Need" achieved global success, but on a smaller scale. It reached number one on the Canadian ''RPM'' Top 100 Singles chart for one week and number ten on Belgian VRT Top 30 chart. The ballad reached the top twenty in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Included on the tracklisting of the album's Japanese edition is a cover of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love", which was resurrected by Norwegian DJ Kygo in 2019, and "Takin' a Chance"; the latter became a success in the country.

Promotion and appearances

During the months of November and December 1990, Houston appeared and performed on several European shows to promote the album. Returning home to the United States in December following the album's release, Houston appeared on ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' on December 4 to perform " All the Man That I Need" and " We Didn't Know" with Stevie Wonder. A week later, Houston appeared on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' for the first time since December 1985, with Jay Leno as a guest host. On the show, she performed "All the Man That I Need" along with "Do You Hear What I Hear?". On January 4, 1991, Houston returned to ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' where she performed " I'm Your Baby Tonight". On February 23, Houston made her debut on ''Saturday Night Live'' as the musical guest and performed "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need"; on the same day she performed on the show, the song had hit number one on the pop charts. Following her iconic and memorable rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV, Houston headlined her first HBO-TV concert, ''Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston'', performing for members of the US armed forces returning from the Persian Gulf War. On May 12, while on her tour, a performance of Houston's at Oakland, California was simulcasted on the MTV concert tour, ''The Simple Truth: A Concert for Kurdish Refugees'', a five-hour telethon that broadcast in 36 countries, raising $15 million to aid the Kurds. Houston performed "My Name Is Not Susan", "Miracle" and " Greatest Love of All" during the broadcast. On June 23, 1991, a Houston show at the Greensboro Coliseum of her performing "I'm Your Baby Tonight" was shown on the Fox TV special, ''Coca Cola Pop Music Backstage Pass to Summer'' highlighting several rock concerts of that year, including Houston's.

On December 4, 1991, nearly two months after the end of her world tour to promote the album and while shooting her first film, '' The Bodyguard'', Houston performed at the second annual Billboard Music Awards after being announced by her cousin, American singer Dionne Warwick. There, she performed a medley of "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)", " My Man" and "All the Man That I Need"; afterwards, she received her four Billboard awards for the album. On January 27, 1992, Houston performed a medley of "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "My Name Is Not Susan" and "Who Do You Love" at the 19th American Music Awards, after being introduced by MC Hammer. On February 16, Houston appeared at the taping of the ''Muhammad Ali's 50th Birthday Celebration'' to honor the boxer's 50th birthday where she dedicated "Greatest Love of All" to him; the song had originally been the theme of the 1977 Ali biopic, '' The Greatest''. She later join Diana Ross and other celebrities onstage to sing a duet of "You've Got a Friend" at the end of the show. On May 6, 1992, Houston had her first TV special, ''Whitney Houston: This Is My Life'', which featured eight of her performances at the Coliseum da Coruña in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, taken on September 29, 1991, along with rehearsal performances of the gospel tune "This Day" and "Greatest Love of All".

Tour

On March 14 and 15, 1991, Houston launched what would be a 97-date world tour at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. It would be her only two performances in Asia. On March 31, she took the stage at the Norfolk Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia to perform for over 3,500 American troops returning from the Persian Gulf War for her ''Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston'' HBO concert. At the time, the show was the most watched concert in its history, viewed by over 50 million viewers after the channel agreed to air the concert for free, rather than have it be a pay-per-view concert. The tour was then formally launched at the Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 18.

The show was different from Houston's previous tours where she had performed without many theatrics compared to her contemporaries. For this tour, however, she performed with male backup dancers and was surrounded by pyrotechnics. In addition, Houston began wearing catsuits designed for her by South African fashion designer Marc Bouwer.

The North American leg of the tour was plagued by ticket price rises during the 1991 recession, which led to many pop and rock concerts sometimes performing in front of half-filled arenas and stadiums. Houston would perform 66 dates throughout North America. During the Canadian stops of the tour, Houston had to cancel several dates due to a vocal injury.

After resuming the rest of the tour in the States, she headed off to Europe where she performed six shows at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England between August 27 and September 1. Then, starting from September 3 through September 15, Houston performed a record-setting ten shows at London's Wembley Arena outdoing her previous tour's record of nine. Houston also performed a series of shows at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands where she performed six straight dates, as well as the Coliseum da Coruña in A Coruña, Spain, the Festhalle Frankfurt in Frankfurt, Germany and two shows at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, where she ended the tour on October 2. Unlike the North American leg, Houston's 29 tour dates in Europe were all sold out.

Accolades

Houston received several awards and nominations for her work on the album. For three consecutive Grammy Award ceremonies, three songs — "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "All the Man That I Need" and "I Belong to You" — all received Grammy nominations. The former two won Houston nominations in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1991 and 1992 ceremonies respectively, while the latter ballad earned her a nomination in the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance category in 35th annual ceremony in 1993. At the 1992 American Music Awards, Houston received four nominations including Favorite Soul/R&B Album, while also receiving Favorite Female Artist nods in the pop, R&B and adult contemporary fields.

At the 1992 NAACP Image Awards, Houston received two nominations, including Outstanding Female Artist. Houston received a Brit Award nomination for International Female Artist at the 1991 ceremony. At the 1992 Soul Train Music Awards, Houston won two nominations including Best R&B/Soul Album - Female for the album while "All the Man That I Need" received a nomination for Best R&B/Soul Single - Female. For her performance on the '' Welcome Home Heroes'' concert, Houston won the CableACE Award for Best Performance in a Music Special or Series, while the show itself received the nomination for Best Music Special. In December 1991, Houston won four Billboard Music Awards, including Top R&B Album and Top R&B Artist; while accepting her wins from cousin Dionne Warwick, Houston held one of the trophies and yelled, "yeah, how you like me now?!", probably in response to critics who derided her for "not being black enough". The following month, in January 1992, Houston was the recipient of the Music Award at the American Black Achievement Awards for her accomplishments during 1991, including the release of the ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' album and its subsequent tour as well as Houston's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed at Super Bowl XXV.

On November 27, 1990, just a month after its release, the "I'm Your Baby Tonight" single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Less than two months later, on January 15, 1991, the album received gold, platinum and double-platinum certifications for sales and shipments of two million copies. On March 21, "All the Man That I Need" was certified gold by the same association. On May 2, the album was certified triple-platinum. Less than four years later, on April 5, 1995, it was re-certified four times platinum.

For the 1991 year-end list on ''Billboard'', ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'' was ranked the tenth best-selling album of the year, higher than Houston's last album, ''Whitney'', which ranked as the twelfth best-selling album of 1988. On other pop album fields, Houston was the sixth top selling pop artist, the eleventh top albums artist and third top female albums artist. On pop single fields, she was ranked the third top selling pop artist of the year and the second top selling female singles artist behind Mariah Carey. "All the Man That I Need" was ranked the 18th and 3rd best-selling R&B and adult contemporary single of the year respectively. On the adult contemporary field, Houston was ranked in sixth place.

Legacy

According to Kelly Rowland, the singer got in the group Destiny's Child after auditioning for the group by singing the title track; Rowland revealed this information as a guest advisor on '' The Voice'' in 2017. In addition, the rapid-fire singing approach Houston took with the songs on the album influenced the vocal direction of the group, in particular its lead singer, Beyoncé.

In addition, the title track became the first number one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 to be composed by L.A. Reid and Babyface and, following its peak in December 1990, led to Clive Davis distributing the duo's LaFace Records label, which found success with artists such as Toni Braxton, TLC, Outkast, Pink and Usher.

The album also personally influenced Houston to assert more control of her work. From then on, Houston would serve as executive producer on all of her subsequent albums after ''I'm Your Baby Tonight'', including the soundtracks to '' The Bodyguard'' (1992) and '' The Preacher's Wife'' (1996), as well as the multi-artist soundtrack to ''Waiting to Exhale'' (1995) and other studio albums such as '' My Love Is Your Love'' (1998) and '' I Look to You'' (2009).

According to Matthew Hocter for the site ''Albumism'' in 2020, around the time of the album's 30th anniversary, he stated that the album "shifted her focus from big ballads and the occasional bop to a firm dance pop album, albeit with a few ballads included for good measure," while further declaring that the album had Houston "transition ngfrom brilliant singer to the legend we have come to know."

Track listing

Notes
* In countries outside the US, Canada, and Latin America, the "Yvonne Turner Mix" of "I'm Your Baby Tonight" replaced the L.A. Reid/Babyface original version as track 1.

Personnel

*Whitney Houston – vocals, background vocals, vocal arrangements
* Walter Afanasieff – keyboards, Moog bass, synthesizers
*Tawatha Agee – background vocals
*Gerald Albright – saxophone
*Skip Anderson – drums, keyboards
* Babyface – keyboards, Memorymoog bass, vocals, background vocals
*Kitty Beethoven – background vocals
*Louis Biancaniello – synthesizer, keyboards
*Gary Bias – alto saxophone
*Vernon "Ice" Black – guitar
*Kimberly Brewer – background vocals
* Ray Brown – trumpet
*Chris Camozzi – guitar
*Francisco Centeno – bass
*Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
* Hubert Eaves III – synthesizer, drums, keyboards
*Steve Ferrone – drums
*Lynn Fiddmont – background vocals
*Kenny G – saxophone
*Jerry Hey – strings
*Dorian Holley – background vocals
* Cissy Houston – background vocals
*Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
* Skyler Jett – background vocals
*Keith John – background vocals
*Melisa Kary – background vocals
*Kayo – Fender bass, Moog bass
* Randy Kerber – strings, keyboards
*Ren Klyce – Fairlight synthesizer

*Robbie Kondor – strings, keyboards, rhythm
*Neil Larsen – Hammond organ
*Ricky Lawson – synthesizer, percussion, drums
*Wayne Linsey – piano
*Frank Martin – piano, keyboards, vibraphone
*Paulette McWilliams – background vocals
*Jason Miles – synthesizer
* Ricky Minor – synthesizer, bass, horn, background vocals, rhythm, synthesized bass
*Billy Myers – horn
*Rafael Padilla – percussion
*Donald Parks – Fairlight synthesizer
*L.A. Reid – percussion, drums
*Claytoven Richardson – background vocals
* Tom Scott – saxophone
*Michael "Patches" Stewart – trumpet
*Annie Stocking – background vocals
*Steve Tavaglione – horn, tenor saxophone
*Jeanie Tracy – background vocals
*Luther Vandross – vocals
*Narada Michael Walden – synthesized bass, percussion
*David Ward II – synthesizer
*Bill Washer – guitar
* Kirk Whalum – saxophone, tenor saxophone
*Brenda White-King – background vocals
* BeBe Winans – background vocals
*CeCe Winans – background vocals
*Stevie Wonder – vocals, multiple instruments, performer
*Reggie C. Young – trombone

Production

*L.A. Reid - producer, arranger
*Babyface - producer, arranger
*Jon Gass - recording
*Barney Perkins - recording
*Donnell Sullivan - engineer
*Ryan Dorn - engineer
*Jim Zumpano - engineer
*Cynthia Ahiloh - production coordination
*Marsha Burns - production coordination
*Susanne Edgren - production coordination
*Janice Lee - production coordination
*Cynthia Shiloh - production coordination
*Kevin Walden - production coordination
*Gar Wood - production coordination
*Stephanie Andrews - project coordinator
*Robert A. Arbittier - sound design
*Louis Biancaniello - drum programming, additional programming
*Walter Afanasieff - drum programming
*Ren Klyce - programming
*Ricky Lawson - programming
*Jason Miles - programming
*David Ward II - programming
*Hubert Eaves III - drum programming
*Skip Anderson - keyboard programming
*Donald Parks - keyboard programming
*John Anderson - arranger
*Hubert Eaves III - keyboard programming, arranger
*Whitney Houston - arranger, vocal arrangement, producer
*Randy Kerber - arranger
*Robbie Kondor - arranger
*Ricky Minor - arranger, horn arrangements
*Billy Myers - arranger, horn arrangements
*Steve Tavaglione - arranger, horn arrangements
*Luther Vandross - arranger
*Narada Michael Walden - arranger
*BeBe Winans - arranger
*CeCe Winans - arranger
*Stevie Wonder - arranger
*Jerry Hey - string arrangements
*Susan Mendola - art direction
*Andrea Blanch - photography
*Tim White - photography
*Bernard Maisner - lettering
*Kevyn Aucoin - make-u
*Patrick Poussard - make-up
*Barbara Dente - stylist
*Ellen La Var - hair stylist
*George Marino - mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

*
I'm Your Baby Tonight
' at AllMusic
*
I'm Your Baby Tonight
' at Discogs
*
I'm Your Baby Tonight
' at Whitney Houston's Official Website

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Whitney Houston albums
1990 albums
Albums produced by Narada Michael Walden
Albums produced by Michael Masser
Albums produced by Luther Vandross
Albums produced by L.A. Reid
Albums produced by Babyface (musician)
Albums produced by Stevie Wonder
Albums produced by Clive Davis
Albums produced by Whitney Houston
Arista Records albums
Funk albums by American artists
Pop albums by American artists
New jack swing albums