On this day in 1985, Whitney Houston released her classic hit, ‘How Will I Know’.
The track was initially written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam with Janet Jackson in mind, who was working on her ‘Control’ album, however it was rejected for that project, and ultimately ended up being sent to producer Narada Michael Walden to be re-worked for Whitney.
‘How Will I Know’ became Whitney’s second #1 single in the US, spending two weeks on top of the Hot 100 chart, as well as topping the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. It has since been certified 2x Platinum in the US. It was also a widely successful international hit, becoming her first #1 single in Canada and charting within the Top 10 in numerous countries including Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
The music video became Whitney’s first to be played in heavy rotation on MTV, and was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards, winning the ‘Best Female Video’ category. The video has garnered over 100 million views on YouTube.
There have been numerous re-imaginings of the track, including a slowed-down cover by Sam Smith, a dance track from David Guetta and most recently, a remix by Clean Bandit, which was released as a single this year.
Music Video:
Clean Bandit Remix: