Queen of the Night (song)

"Queen of the Night" is a song co-written and performed by American singer and actress Whitney Houston. It was the fifth and final single released from the soundtrack album The Bodyguard (1992), 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.

Not to be confused with Queen of the Night aria.
"Queen of the Night"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album
ReleasedOctober 13, 1993
RecordedNovember 9, 1991[1]
StudioLarrabee Sound Studios, West Hollywood, California
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 an uptempo hard rock number, with Houston expressing how she "rules the club scene", proclaiming herself "queen of the night". It was released to US radio in November 1993 and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart, number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, and number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, becoming Houston's fifth number one 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. In the UK, it peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number nine on the UK Dance Singles Chart.

Critical reception

A reviewer from AllMusic complimented "Queen of the Night" as "a first-rate urban pop song that skillfully captures Houston at her best."[2] 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."[3] Troy J. Augusto from Cashbox named it Pick of the Week, writing 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."[4] A reviewer from CD Universe felt 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."[5]

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."[6] Howard Cohen from The Miami Herald said the singer "slips into a downright funky mode on the R&B workout".[7] Dave Piccioni from Music Week's RM Dance Update stated that Houston "returns to the pure house sound with this wonderful CJ Mackintosh collaboration", remarking that she "is in as full vocal form as ever and the gospelled vocal harmonies are sweet and strong."[8] Another editor, James Hamilton, called it a "CJ Mackintosh remixed pleasant but bland jiggly garage-style loper".[9] Stephen Holden from The New York Times deemed it a "run-of-the-mill dance tune".[10] Popdose compared its production to Janet Jackson's "Black Cat."[11] Arion Berger from Rolling Stone said that "on "Queen of the Night", L.A. and Babyface start out stomping and never stop, letting Houston belt riotously along until she drops or they do. (They do.)"[12] USA Today writer James T. Jones IV. described it as a surprise, "rocking" tune.[13] James Hunter from Vibe noted that it lets the remixer replace the producer'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."[14]

Music video

The accompanying 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. The video features footage from the 1927 film Metropolis and was later published on Houston's official YouTube channel in 2009. It had generated more than 17 million views as of January 2023.[15]

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

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.[38] 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.[39] 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.

Kelly Clarkson covers

Singer Kelly Clarkson recorded covers of Queen of the Night on two occasions. First was on Clarkson's original demo tape recorded in 2001.[40] The second was for the album, Kellyoke[41]

References
  1. "Queen of the Night (Film Version) * Whitney Houston Official Site".
  2. AllMusic review
  3. Flick, Larry (December 18, 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 99. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  4. Augusto, Troy J. (December 18, 1993). "Pop Singles: Reviews – Pick Of The Week" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 11. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  5. CD Universe review
  6. L.A. Times review
  7. Cohen, Howard (November 24, 1992). "Houston hits overdrive on sound track". p. 7E. The Miami Herald.
  8. Piccioni, Dave (October 23, 1993). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  9. Hamilton, James (October 23, 1993). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  10. The New York Times review
  11. "'Face Time: Whitney Houston, "Queen of the Night"". Cass, Giles, Heyliger. Popdose.com. April 29, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  12. Berger, Arion (February 18, 1993). "Recordings". Rolling Stone. Issue 650.
  13. Jones IV, James T. "Whitney-Fan.com: Whitney Houston's Music Reviews". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  14. Hunter, James (April 1, 1994). "Single File". Vibe. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  15. "Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night (Official Video)". YouTube. November 14, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  16. "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.
  17. "Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  18. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2408." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  19. Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. p. 135. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
  20. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2389." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  21. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. November 20, 1993. p. 19. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  22. "Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  23. "Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  24. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (13 January 1994 – 19 January 1994)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir – Tónlist. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  25. The Irish Charts Archived January 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  26. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Whitney Houston" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  27. "Whitney Houston – Queen of the Night" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  28. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. December 4, 1993. p. 12. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  29. "Whitney Houston – Queen Of The Night". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  30. "Whitney Houston: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  31. "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. November 6, 1993. p. 24. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  32. "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). November 6, 1993. p. 4. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  33. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  34. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  35. "Whitney Houston Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  36. "Jaarlijsten 1993" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  37. 1994 The Year in Music: Hot Dance Music Club Play Singles. December 24, 1994. Retrieved March 7, 2011. {{cite book}}: |magazine= ignored (help)
  38. "QUEEN OF THE NIGHT | Futret". Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  39. ""Eurovizijos" atranką paliko pirmieji dalyviai". LRT (in Lithuanian). January 10, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  40. "Why Kelly Clarkson put a song she's never sung on her show on new 'Kellyoke' EP". WRMF.com. 9 June 2022.
  41. "Kelly Clarkson Shares 'Queen of the Night' From 'Kellyoke' EP". Broadway.com.
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