Queen of the Night (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Queen of the Night (aria).
"Queen of the Night"
Whitney Houston - Queen of the Night.jpg
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album
ReleasedOctober 13, 1993
Genre
Length3:06
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • L.A. Reid
  • Babyface
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"Run to You"
(1993) 		"Queen of the Night"
(1993) 		"Something in Common"
(1993)
Music video
"Queen of the Night" on YouTube

"Queen of the Night" is a song co-written and performed by American singer Whitney Houston. It was the fifth and final single released from the soundtrack album The Bodyguard, and is played during the closing credits of the film of the same name. The song was released on October 13, 1993 by Arista Records. It was also written by L.A. Reid, Babyface and Daryl Simmons, and produced by Reid and Babyface.

"Queen of the Night" is an uptempo hard rock number, with Houston expressing how she "rules the club scene", proclaiming herself "queen of the night". "Queen of the Night" was released to US radio in November 1993 and peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 Airplay and number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, becoming Houston's fifth number 1 dance single. Due to Billboard's charting requirements at that time, singles without a commercial release were ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was released in several other countries and peaked at number 14 in the UK.

Critical reception[]

A reviewer from AllMusic called it "a first-rate urban pop song that skillfully captures Houston at her best."[1] Larry Flick from Billboard commented, "If anyone can successfully bring house music back to pop radio, it's Houston", describing it as "a wickedly catchy ditty, armed with a chorus that will stick in your mind like sinfully sweet brain candy."[2] Troy J. Augusto from Cashbox wrote that "it's actually one of Houston's least impressive single releases—but its aggressive vocal delivery and En Vogue-like flow will probably make for another chart-topper."[3] A reviewer from CD Universe said that Houston "continues to mine her rich vein of ornate balladry and pop-flavored dance workouts, [like] on her own 'Queen Of The Night,' with its percolating upbeat production a la L.A. Reid & Babyface."[4] Chris Willman of the L.A. Times assessed the song negatively, "The only obvious dud (on the album) is 'Queen of the Night,' a silly stab at hard-rock that's almost a dead ringer for En Vogue's "Free Your Mind", particularly where her vocals are multi tracked."[5] Howard Cohen from The Miami Herald said the singer "slips into a downright funky mode on the R&B workout".[6] Dave Piccioni from Music Week's RM Dance Update stated that Houston "returns to the pure house sound with this wonderful CJ Mackintosh collaboration", noting that she "is in as full vocal form as ever and the gospelled vocal harmonies are sweet and strong."[7] Another editor, James Hamilton called it a "CJ Mackintosh remixed pleasant but bland jiggly garage-style loper".[8] Stephen Holden from The New York Times deemed it a "run-of-the-mill dance tune".[9] Popdose compared its production to Janet Jackson's "Black Cat."[10] USA Today writer James T. Jones IV. described it as a surprise, "rocking" tune.[11] James Hunter from Vibe noted that it lets the remixer "replace LA & Babyface's guitar slams with snare-happy waves of glowing rhythm that add up to disco for a generation that's unsure whether disco is nostalgic or eternal."[12]

Music video[]

The music video for "Queen of the Night" is the full performance Houston gives in the motion picture The Bodyguard. In the film, the performance is interrupted by violence.

Live performances[]

In live performances by Houston, the song's arrangement was faithful to the 1993 CJ Mackintosh remix, which was used during Houston's The Bodyguard World Tour (1993-1994) and also for her performance at the 1994 Soul Train Music Awards.

Track listings and formats[]

Charts[]

Popular culture[]

This song was covered by American Idol contestant Haley Scarnato in 2006. This song was covered during Australian singer Delta Goodrem's Believe Again Tour at various locations throughout Australia in 2009. The 2009 X Factor contestants also performed this song on Sunday, October 18, 2009 as a group performance. Contestant Stacey Solomon, who came third, performed this song on The X Factor Live Tour 2010. The independent, web-based, electronic/dubstep artist known as Futret released a remix/crossover-cover of the song in early February 2012.[31] The song is also mentioned in the show Bob's Burgers, the episode "O.T.: The Outside Toilet" in which the character Gene talks to an expensive talking toilet, who can answer any of your questions. Gene asks "Who is the queen of the night?" and the toilet responds saying "Whitney Houston." The song was covered by Monika Linkytė in week two of "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka.[32] Ariana Grande performed this song and "How Will I Know" as a tribute to Whitney Houston in the ABC series finale of Greatest Hits. Madame Tussauds Hollywood's wax figure of Houston depicts her performance of the song in The Bodyguard.

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-bodyguard-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000180918
  2. ^ Flick, Larry (1993-12-18). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 99. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  3. ^ Augusto, Troy J. (1993-12-18). "Pop Singles: Reviews - Pick Of The Week" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  4. ^ http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1110178&style=music&fulldesc=T
  5. ^ https://articles.latimes.com/1992-11-22/entertainment/ca-1891_1_whitney-houston
  6. ^ Cohen, Howard (1992-11-24). "Houston hits overdrive on sound track". p. 7E. The Miami Herald.
  7. ^ Piccioni, Dave (1993-10-23). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  8. ^ Hamilton, James (1993-10-23). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
  9. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/20/arts/record-brief-944292.html
  10. ^ "'Face Time: Whitney Houston, "Queen of the Night"". Cass, Giles, Heyliger. Popdose.com. 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2010-09-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "Single File". Vibe. 1994-04-01. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  13. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 30 Jan 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved July 3, 2018. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
  14. ^ Belgian Singles Chart Archived February 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Ultratop.be. Retrieved on 2012-02-16.
  15. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. November 20, 1993. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  16. ^ "Lescharts.com – Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  18. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (13.01.1994 - 19.01.1994)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir - Tónlist. Retrieved 2018-02-04.[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ The Irish Charts Archived 2010-02-01 at WebCite
  20. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Whitney Houston" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  21. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Whitney Houston – Queen of the Night" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. ^ "Top 10 Portugal" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  23. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  24. ^ "Whitney Houston: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  25. ^ "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. November 6, 1993. p. 24. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  26. ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  27. ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  28. ^ "Whitney Houston Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  29. ^ "Jaarlijsten 1993" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  30. ^ Billboard.BIZ. Billboard.BIZ (1994-12-31). Retrieved on 2012-02-16.
  31. ^ QUEEN OF THE NIGHT | Futret at the Wayback Machine (archived August 1, 2012)
  32. ^ ""Eurovizijos" atranką paliko pirmieji dalyviai". LRT (in Lithuanian). 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.

External links[]

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