"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" is a song recorded by American singer
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...
for her second studio album, ''
Whitney Whitney may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta
* ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston
* ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...
'' (1987). It was released as the fourth
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
from the album on February 25, 1988. The song was written by
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitne ...
and
Chuck Jackson
Chuck Jackson (born July 22, 1937) is an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He has performed with moderate success since 1961. His hits include "I Don't Want to ...
and produced by
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy.
He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...
. Due to Wildhorn's previous working relationship with
Arista Records
Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...
CEO
Clive Davis
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000.
From 1967 to 1 ...
, he had been approached about potentially writing for Houston. He contacted Jackson, who came up with the title, after which Wildhorn completed the music and lyrics for the song. Smokey Robinson originally wanted to record the song; however, Wildhorn and Jackson held the song for Houston.
Wildhorn recalls about the song's selection for the album:
"From what I understand, it was one of the first songs chosen for the album. Knowing t was forWhitney's project, there must have been 50,000 songs submitted after (ours). So every week it was, 'Do we still have it?' We were going through hell."
Initially, Houston did not want to record the song, feeling there was no special message to convey. In a 2000 interview, Houston reminisced that she "hated the song". However, Davis believed the song would go to number one if she recorded it, so she agreed. It indeed became a number one, Houston's seventh consecutive number-one single in the United States—a record for consecutive number-one singles that still stands to this day.
Critical reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's
Ron Wynn
Ron Wynn is a music critic, author, and AllMusic editor. Wynn was the editor of the first edition of '' The All Music Guide to Jazz'' (1994), and from 1993 to 1994 served as the jazz and rap editor of the ''All Music Guide''. Wynn is the former e ...
highlighted the track in his review of the ''
Whitney Whitney may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta
* ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston
* ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...
'' album.
Robert Hilburn
Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' described it as a
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
"that raises questions without making you care about the answers." ''
People Magazine
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...
'' said that songs like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" "have some substance". Pop Rescue noted it as a "classic big 80s
power ballad
A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...
", adding it as "the perfect ending to a school
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
."
Chart performance
"Where Do Broken Hearts Go", released off ''Whitney'' as the fourth single in February 1988, debuted at number 47 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 Singles chart in the issue dated February 27, 1988. Within four weeks of its release the single reached the top ten on the chart, and finally peaked at number one in the issue dated April 23, 1988 after nine weeks on the chart, making Houston the only artist in pop history with seven consecutive number-one hits. In addition, she became the first female artist to achieve four number-one singles from one album, ''Whitney''.
To date, only four other albums by women have yielded four Hot 100 number-one hits;
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...
's ''
Forever Your Girl
''Forever Your Girl'' is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile art ...
'' in 1988,
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
's ''
Rhythm Nation 1814
''Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson, released on September 19, 1989, by A&M Records. Although label executives wanted material similar to her previous album, ''Control'' (19 ...
'' in 1989,
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
's
self-titled debut in 1990 and
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
's ''
Teenage Dream'' in 2010. Houston also had the most number-one hits (7) by a female artist in the 1980s, a feat equaled only by
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
. The song topped the chart for two weeks, and spent 18 weeks on the chart. It entered the
''Billboard'' R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (formerly "Hot Black Singles") at number 60, the issue date of March 5, 1988 and nine weeks later reached a peak of number two (behind "
Nite and Day
"Nite and Day" is the debut single by Al B. Sure! from his debut album ''In Effect Mode'' (1988). It reached number seven on the US '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Black Singles chart. The B-side of the record is th ...
" by
Al B. Sure!
Albert Joseph Brown III (born June 4, 1968), known professionally as Al B. Sure!, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, radio host and former record executive. He was born in Boston and raised in Mount Vernon, New York. During the ...
), becoming Houston's ninth R&B top five hit.
On the
''Billboard'' Hot Adult Contemporary chart, the single peaked at number one, the issue dated April 2, 1988, and remained there for three weeks, making it her sixth No. 1 single on the chart.
It was ranked number 33 and 47, on the ''Billboard'' Top Pop and Top Black Singles year-end charts for 1988, respectively.
The single also placed at number two on the Top Adult Contemporary Singles year-end chart of the same year.
In Canada, the song entered
''RPM'' Top 100 Singles chart at number 76, the issue date of March 5, 1988, and peaked at number six on the chart on May 14, 1988, becoming Houston's eighth top ten hit in the country.
Worldwide, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was not as commercially successful as her previous singles from the album ''Whitney''. The single debuted at number 30 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, the week ending date of March 12, 1988, and three weeks later reached a peak of number 14 on the chart.
In Ireland, it peaked at number two, the highest chart position of the song outside the United States.
The song also reached number 48 in Australia,
[ Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting until ]ARIA
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
created their own charts
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...
in mid-1988. number 47 in the Netherlands,
and number 23 in New Zealand.
The song was very popular in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, and it became one of the main focus of the 2014 indie romantic film ''
That Thing Called Tadhana
''That Thing Called Tadhana'' (International title: ''That Thing Called Destiny'') is a 2014 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Antoinette Jadaone who had already worked with Panganiban in the 2014 comedy film, ''Beauty in a Bottle.'' It fo ...
''.
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
(directed by Peter Israelson) features Houston breaking up with a boyfriend and reflecting on happy memories; asking herself the title question, "where do broken hearts go?" At the conclusion of the music video, the couple reunites.
Houston is depicted in various "glamour girl" shots throughout the video; Arista executives reportedly joked at the time, "there's her screen test", referring to rumors about Houston's Hollywood ambitions. In 2002, Israelson told Liquid Assets, a British TV documentary series focused on the net worth of celebrities, that Houston's performance in the video's 1940s-themed train station scene (filmed at Newark Penn Station) convinced Kevin Costner of her acting abilities for ''The Bodyguard''.
The video was moderately controversial since the ambiguous ethnic background of Houston's love interest (reportedly Houston's then real-life love interest, New York restaurateur Brad Johnson) highlighted the racial sensitivities that accompanied Houston's success during the 1980s. The singer had been criticized for "selling out" and "
acting white
In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term, usually applied to black people, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society. ". A mostly-black audience jeered when "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was nominated for an award at the 1989
Soul Train Music Awards
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...
.
Live performances
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 lip-synced to the album version of the song on the UK
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
TV show ''
Wogan
''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...
'', which was hosted by
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...
in 1988. "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was one of the Houston's
set list
A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance.
A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
during ''
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Celebration'' concert, televised live worldwide via
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in London on June 11, 1988. In the US, the edit version of the concert was broadcast later on
network.
Aside from the several live televised performances, the song was included on the set-lists on Houston's four tours, usually serving as part of a love song medley along with her other ballad hits. During her
(1987–88), the performance of the song was a little different to the album version. She started the song to usual tempo and was completed the song in an extended coda vamp, used her
appropriately. On her
in 1991, Houston performed the song as the final part of a love song medley with "
." She sang the additional lyrics such as "take me in your arms" and "say that you love me" extemporaneously at the end of the song. During I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, Houston performed the love song medley with the song at ''
'' concert, dedicated to the US troops, their families in honor of those returning from the Gulf War, which was broadcast live via
on March 31, 1991. Similarly, during
(1993–94), "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was used as the fourth part of a love song medley, which included "Nobody Loves Like You Do" and "
, she also delivered a performance of the song as the final part of a love song medley.
*US, 7" vinyl single
:A1: "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" – 4:37
:B1: "Where You Are" – 4:10
*US, 12" vinyl single
:A: "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" – 4:29
:B1: "Where You Are" – 4:10
:B2: "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (Dub Mix) – 7:45
*US, Cassette single
:A: "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" – 4:37
:B: "Where You Are" – 4:10
*UK, 12" vinyl single
:A: "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" – 4:37
:B1: "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful" (Duet with Jermaine Jackson) – 4:19
:B2: "Where You Are" – 4:10
*Japan, 7" vinyl single
:A: "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" – 4:37
:B: "Where You Are" – 4:10
*Europe, CD single
# "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" – 4:37
# "Where You Are" – 4:10
# "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (Live Version) – 7:45
, Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Niki Haris, Jennifer Hall - background vocals
"If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful"
*Whitney Houston – vocals
*
– vocals
*Elliot Willensky – writer
*Tom Keane – producer
*Jermaine Jackson – producer
"Where You Are"
*Whitney Houston – vocals
*Dyan Humes – writer
*Lemel Humes – writer
*James Calabres – writer
*