Remember When Whitney Houston Released "I Look to You" 15 Years Ago?

Known as "the Voice," the late Whitney Houston released the title track of her final studio album "I Look to You" on July 23, 2009.  The song was a worldwide promotional single and the first US single from the album of the same name, following highly favorable reviews at the pre-release listening parties held in London, New York and L.A.

Just a week after its premiere, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Chart, becoming Whitney's 30th Top 20 hit. It even charted on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart, reaching #14. 

Houston said that the powerful piano ballad sums up the album and was all she wanted to say at that stage of her life. Billboard's Monica Herrera gave the song a positive review, writing that Houston is "both vulnerable and in control."

She adds that "the minimalist production, which features a lone, sullen piano and soft synths, exists purely to cushion Houston's moving vocal performance". Lastly, she stated that it "stands firmly in the tradition of her most emotive hits ("Greatest Love of All," "I Will Always Love You") and signals the long-awaited return of a true diva." 

The single is one of two songs written by R. Kelly which appear on the album and was produced by Emanuel Kiriakou, Tricky Stewart and Harvey Mason Jr.  The video for "I Look to You" premiered on September 10, 2009 on Whitney Houston's official website and on Entertainment Tonight.

The video, also directed by Melina Matsoukas, features the singer in front of a plain beige and gray backdrop with different angles of her. She is sitting on an applebox with a spotlight focused on her. Toward the end of the video, a shower of flowers are shown falling all around her. Houston is wearing a white dress in mood of the beige and grey background. The significance of the number was her humbleness to the Lord.

Watch the video HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

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