The Bodyguard: World’s Biggest Selling Soundtrack
by Sheldon Rocha Leal
Sometimes an album performs well on the charts and ships millions of units worldwide, but the tracks fail to gain traction and sometimes the reverse is true. It is rare when both the album and singles, from an album, are equally successful and that is when an artist has a mega hit on their hands, with the success some recording artists experience in a career, off one project. “Thriller” by Michael Jackson is a case in point, having shipped over 100million records (singles and albums) worldwide and “The Bodyguard” soundtrack by Whitney Houston is another. Prior to the release of “The Bodyguard”, the album that held the record for the biggest selling soundtrack of all-time was “Saturday Night Fever” by The Bee Gees. Released in 1977 it shipped over 40million units worldwide, generated 4 No1 singles in the USA and held the record for 15 years. It is still the second biggest selling soundtrack of all-time.
Whitney Houston passed away 9 years ago, on this day, and I thought it appropriate to reflect on one of her biggest successes, “The Bodyguard”, and associated releases from that album. Today, 29 years after its initial release it still holds the records for the biggest selling soundtrack and album by a solo female artist of all-time. “The Bodyguard” was to Whitney’s career what “Thriller” was to Michael’s 10 years earlier. It was a record breaking and music industry defining soundtrack and album. With rumours circulating that Channing Tatum and Cardi B will be reprising the lead roles in a remake of the movie, it will be interesting to witness the direction this new interpretation will take.
The movie was originally written in 1975 by Laurence Kasdan, initially an advertising copywriter wanting to break into movies, as a vehicle for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross. He was able to secure an agent, based on the strength of the script, who managed to sell it to John Calley, a movie executive, for $20,000 and two years later (1978) Ryan O’Neal and Diana Ross were on board as the leads. Diana Ross, however, pulled out and the movie went into development hell until Kevin Costner read the script whilst shooting “Silverado” in 1984, another Kasdan motion picture. With a superstar actor and powerbroker on Kasdan’s side, the two men decided to procure funding for the movie and Kevin Costner assumed the role intended for McQueen/O’Neal. All they now needed was a female lead, who could sing, as Kasdan’s original intention had been to have a singer in the female lead.
By the time Whitney was approached to appear in the movie she had established herself as an international superstar, having shipped over 50million albums worldwide and scored 9 No1s on the US single’s chart. She was ripe for a new challenge, and had been looking at various scripts with the intention of diversifying her entertainment career into acting. The problem was that she had no track record as an actress and when Costner insisted she take the lead role, executives were sceptical, preferring an experienced actress in the lead. But Costner, as one of the producers, was enamoured with the star, insistent that she be cast and was even willing to wait a year for her schedule to clear up so she could appear in the movie. Because of his star power Whitney was cast in the role of a lifetime, a role she didn’t really want as she was hoping to start her acting career in a smaller role and eventually move into a starring performance.
The movie’s budget was $25million and although it was slated by critics earned $411million at the box office, making it an international smash hit. There was even a sequel planned with Princess Diana taking the lead female role and Costner reprising his role as “The Bodyguard”. In 2012, a year after Whitney’s passing, a musical based on the movie was premiered on the West End, with Heather Headley playing the lead role. Since then other female singers have taken the lead in the musical: Deborah Cox, Beverley Knight and Alexandra Burke.
We now know the movie was a success, but how successful was the soundtrack?
The Soundtrack
Through what I’m sure would have been very clever negotiating on Clive Davis’ behalf, Whitney Houston and himself were given the role of Executive Producers of the Soundtrack and it was released on Arista Records. Whitney was highly involved in the selection of all the songs and although she does not perform them all, she does perform on the majority, 6 out of 13. The album is, therefore, credited to Whitney even though there are other stars featured on the remaining 7 tracks.
Whitney utilised her contacts and friends, in the business, to assist in the construction of the album. She approached LA Reid & Babyface to write “Queen of the Night”, her gospel friend BeBe Winans to compose a new arrangement for the traditional gospel song “Jesus Loves Me”. She was also insistent on covering Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” and David Foster produced “Run To You”, “I Have Nothing” and “I Will Always Love You”. In actual fact she had the least input on the album’s greatest hit, “I Will Always Love You”. The original love theme was meant to be “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted”. It was, however, decided not to record the song after a Paul Young version charted from the “Fried Green Tomatoes” soundtrack, whilst “The Bodyguard” was in production.
This saw Kevin Costner and David Foster clamouring for a replacement song. After a Linda Ronstadt interpretation of “I Will Always Love You” was presented to Costner by the album’s music supervisor, Maureen Crowe, he decided it was the right theme for the movie. He believed that Whitney would be able to add her own unique flare to the song, a thought echoed by David Foster. Whitney was never entirely convinced about “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted” but when she heard Foster’s arrangement of “I Will Always Love You” she was sold. The acapella intro was Kevin Costner’s idea, which Foster initially resisted, but ultimately agreed was the right call.
Two of the remaining songs on the album are performed by the legendary saxophonist Kenny G: “Even If My Heart Would Break” a duet with Aaron Neville, produced by David Foster and Walter Afanasieff and “Waiting For You”. Lisa Stansfield performs “Someday (I’m Coming Back)” and T.H.E. S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. performs a cover of Bill Wither’s “Lovely Day” titled “Its Going To Be A Lovely Day”, which features future RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage. Joe Cocker and Sass Jordan contributed “Trust In Me”, whilst Curtis Steigers covered Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding”. The latter song was originally released in 1974 by Nick Lowe’s band Brinsley Schwarz, but towards the latter part of Lowe’s career he wasn’t generating much money. “The Bodyguard” soundtrack’s success earned him over $2.5million in royalties affording him the opportunity to focus on other projects, whilst not worrying about money. The soundtrack culminates with an instrumental titled “Theme From The Bodyguard” performed by Alan Silverstri, the movie’s score composer.
“I Will Always Love You” was released on the 3rd of November 1992, which was followed by the release of the soundtrack on the 17th of November, culminating in the release of the movie on the 25th of November. This was very clever planning, which contributed to the overall hype of the movie and possibly resulted in its ultimate victory over critics’ negative feedback. The album debuted at No2, having shipped 144,000 units in its opening week, behind Ice Cube’s “The Predator” and topped the chart in its second week, having shipped nearly 300,000 units. It broke the record for the most units sold in a week in US history, since the beginning of the Nielsen SoundScan era, twice during its chart run. Once in its 5th week, when it shipped over 830,000 units and secondly during the 1992 Christmas week when it shipped over 1,060,000 units. Ultimately it remained at No1 for 20 non-consecutive weeks, the 6th longest run at No1 in US history and the longest by a solo female artist, until Adele surpassed it in 2012 with her “21” album, which spent 24 weeks at No1.
The album broke various records including, the first album, since the beginning of the Nielsen SoundScan era, to rank in the top 3 in two consecutive years (No3 in 1992 and No1 in 1993). Whitney also became the only artist in US history to remain at No1 for at least 10 weeks with three different albums: “Whitney Houston” (1985), 14 weeks; “Whitney” (1987) 10 weeks and “The Bodyguard” (1992) 20 weeks. The album is also the world’s biggest selling soundtrack of all-time, as well as the biggest selling album by a solo female artist. Not only did it peak at No1 in the USA it also took pole position in 16 countries, as well as No1 in Europe. No one could talk about anything else in 1992/3 other than this soundtrack and its success. It would eventually go on to ship a total of over 45million units worldwide.
The Singles
In total 6 singles were released from the album, 5 of which were performed by Whitney. The first release was “I Will Always Love You”, Whitney’s cover of the 1974 Dolly Parton classic. When Dolly heard that Foster was using Ronstadt’s version as a reference, she called him and gave him the last verse, which was missing on that version. On release the song peaked at No1 in the USA spending 14 weeks at pole position, making it Whitney’s longest run at No1 and the longest run at No1 for a song from a movie. The song also peaked at No1 on the US Adult Contemporary and R&B single’s charts. In the U.K. it was the No1 single of 1992 and No9 of 1993, the first time a track made the top 10 of two consecutive years. It remained at No1 for 10 weeks in the U.K. making it the longest run at No1 by a female artist, until it was surpassed by Tones & I in 2019 with “Dance Monkey”. It also peaked at No1 in over 20 countries and has to date shipped over 20million units internationally making it the 4th biggest selling single of all-time.
The second single off the album was by British recording artist Lisa Stansfield, released on the 7th of December 1992 and titled “Someday (I’m Coming Back)”. Incidentally it was the only release from the album not performed by Whitney Houston and was only released in Europe and U.K. Remixes of the song were produced by legendary house producers Frankie Knuckles and David Morales. The song peaked at No10 in the UK, Portugal and the Top 40 of 7 countries, mainly in Europe.
“I’m Every Woman”, the third single release from the album was produced by C+C Music Factory, Narada Michael Walden, Louis Biancaniello and was released on the 2nd of January 1993. “I Will Always Love You” was still No1 in the USA when it was released. “I’m Every Woman” was originally released in 1978, performed by Chaka Khan and peaked at No21 USA and No11 U.K. The Whitney version peaked at No4 USA/U.K. and was No1 on the US dance charts. The song also peaked in the Top 10 of 14 countries and shipped over 2million units internationally. The music video featured cameo appearances by the original singer, Chaka Khan, one of the authors of the song, Valerie Simpson, Whitney’s mom, Cissy Houston, and the girl group TLC.
The 4th single from the album, “I Have Nothing”, was written by husband and wife team Linda Thompson and David Foster and produced by the latter. The song was released on the 20th of February 2020 and peaked at No4 USA, No3 U.K. and peaked in the Top of 5 countries. It also peaked at No1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and shipped over 1.7million units globally. The song was critically acclaimed as a pristine example of an urban pop ballad, showcasing Whitney’s voice at its best.
“Run To You” was the third mega ballad released from the album, written by Jud Friedman and Allan Rich, produced by David Foster and released on the 21st of June 1993. It was originally written as a break-up song, and although the producers loved it, they requested it be re-written as a love song, which it duly was. The song did not gain the traction the previous releases experienced, but, to me, is a much nicer ballad than “I Have Nothing”. It only peaked at No31 USA, No15 U.K. and was Top10 in Portugal, Ireland and Canada. Although a humble success, it managed to ship over 700,000 units in the USA and U.K. alone.
The final and 6th single from the album was the rock tinged “Queen of The Night”, released on the 13th of October 1993, almost a year after “I Will Always Love You”. The song was written by Whitney Houston, Daryl Simmons, LA Reid, Babyface and produced by the latter two R&B icons. The song fared worse than “Run To You” only peaking at No36 USA, No14 U.K. and the Top 40 of three countries. It was, however, No1 on the US dance chart and shipped over 300,000 units.
Accolades
As one can imagine, based on the above successes, the album and associated releases were recognised by multiple bodies.
Although “I Will Always Love You” was exceptionally successful it was not eligible for an Oscar or Golden Globe as it was not written specifically for “The Bodyguard”. “I Have Nothing” and “Run To You” were, however, nominated for the Oscar in the category Best Original Song from a Motion Picture, but lost out to “A Whole New World” by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle from “Aladdin”. None of the songs were nominated at the Golden Globes.
The album and Whitney were nominated for 9 American Music Awards, of which 8 were won including Favourite Pop/Rock, Soul/R&B and Adult Contemporary Albums. Whitney won Favourite R&B/Soul and Pop/Rock female artist and walked away with the Award of Merit. The single “I Will Always Love You” won Favorite Pop/Rock and R&B/Soul Singles.
At the Billboard Music Awards Whitney holds the record for the most awards won in one evening, 11 in total and if one includes the album wins, it the wins total of 14 awards. “I Will Always Love You” won Hot R&B Single Sales and Single; Hot 100 Single Sales and Single; World Single; Special Award: Most Weeks At No1 (14). The album won: Top Billboard 200 Album; Top R&B Album; Top Soundtrack Album and a Special Award for Most Weeks at No1 on the Albums Chart (20). Whitney won: Hot 100 Singles Artist, Female; Hot 100 Singles Artist; World Artist; Hot R&B Singles Artist.
At the Brit Award the album won Best Soundtrack/Cast Recording and at the Juno’s Best Selling Album: Foreign or Domestic. The album took 3 Grammy Awards home: Album of the Year and “I Will Always Love You” won Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. At the MTV Movie Awards “I Will Always Love You” won Best Song From A Movie and at the World Music Awards Whitney took home 5 Awards. In total the project won over 50 awards worldwide.
Conclusion
All-in-all “The Bodyguard” is one of the greatest album releases in music history having broken many world records. The totality of the project shifted over 70million records globally (singles and albums), won over 50 awards internationally and that’s not including streams on music or video platforms. On YouTube “I Will Always Love You” has racked up over 1billion views, “I Have Nothing” 471 million, “Run To You” 174million, “I’m Every Woman” 61million and “Queen of the Night” 13million, for a total nearing 2billion. Similar numbers are reflected on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
The album is still the Biggest Selling Album by a Female Artist, the Biggest Selling Soundtrack and the 5th Biggest Selling Album of All-Time. It also holds the record for the 2nd longest run at No1 by a female artist and the 6th longest overall run at No1 in US history. “I Will Always Love You” is the Biggest Selling Single by a Female Artist and 4th Biggest Selling Single of All-Time. “The Bodyguard” album was also the first album in history to register over 1million units shipped in one week since the beginning of the Nielsen SoundScan era.
In total there were 4 Top 10 and 6 Top 40 tracks from the Soundtrack on the U.K. single’s chart, 3 Top 10 and 5 Top 40 tracks on the US single’s chart. The album, movie and singles were an unmitigated success and although the media tried to cultivate a rivalry between Dolly and Whitney, they had mutual admiration for each other. Whitney acknowledged the fact that Dolly had written an amazing song and Dolly states that she couldn’t believe what Whitney had done with her song, ultimately generating millions for her in the process. This would have probably validated her earlier decision not to sell the rights in the song to Elvis Presley who had shown interest in recording the song in the 1970s. It will be a long time until we see a soundtrack repeat the success of this album and project, but until then we celebrate Whitney Houston’s amazing success on her debut movie, “The Bodyguard” and her career in general. RIP to THE VOICE
