So Emotional

"So Emotional" was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who also penned Madonna's "Like a Virgin", Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors", Heart's "Alone", and the Bangles' "Eternal Flame", all of which reached No. 1 on the charts. The song centers on Houston loving being in love, singing: "I get so emotional baby / Every time I think of you / I get so emotional baby / Ain't it shocking what love can do."

"So Emotional" was the final song recorded for the album. Arista President Clive Davis reportedly told Steinberg and Kelly that 10 songs had already been recorded but he was looking for one more uptempo song. The recording was overseen by producer Narada Michael Walden, who asked Houston to record the vocals on a day she was scheduled to make minor changes to existing tracks for the album. Walden asked Houston to record "So Emotional" first, before she had warmed up, resulting in a fresh, edgy sound. The song was Houston's first venture into rock music.

Although the recording became a number-one hit, the production was bittersweet for the songwriters. As Kelly explained in an interview, "If you fall in love with (your) version of the song, and you're used to hearing it the way you conceived it ... it's always hard to get used to."{{Cite book |last=Bronson |first=Fred |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |year=1997 |isbn=0-8230-7641-5 |edition=4th}}

Considered a dance-pop and rock song with R&B and medium funk influences according to Musicnotes.com under Sony Music Publishing, the song is mostly played to the key of E minor, with Houston's vocal range going from B₃ to F{{music|#}}₅.{{cite web |url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0100949&srsltid=AfmBOop0AHF6UDeYKViYxvKiEklwMdFwYADxWcSnRR0i6-wEBf2lQ-RY |title=Whitney Houston "So Emotional" Sheet Music in E Minor |work=Musicnotes.com |access-date=April 28, 2025}}

AllMusic editor Ron Wynn highlighted this track.[http://www.allmusic.com/album/whitney-mw0000190356 Whitney - Whitney Houston | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic] Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone wrote: "Walden covers all these bases, out-hopping Kashif (but not Jellybean) with "So Emotional."[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/whitney-19870813 Whitney | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone] St. Petersburg Times Eric Snider and Annelise Wamsley wrote: "So Emotional," the record's token rock offering, is hollow and contrived, as if the trumped-up power guitars are supposed to give the song some guts."[https://web.archive.org/web/20121113215627/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/50027928.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+14,+1987&author=ERIC+SNIDER%253BANNELISE+WAMSLEY&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=2.E&desc=Whitney+pulls+out+another+bag+of+hits+Series:+RECORDS Whitney pulls out another bag of hits Series: RECORDS] Zodiac Mindwarp of Smash Hits considered "So Emotional" "a good record" that he liked and which was likely to "put [him] in a good mood for the day".{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Smash-Hits/1987/Smash-Hits-1987-11-18.pdf |title=Singles reviewed by Zodiac Mindwarp |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=9 |issue=22 |date=18 November – 1 December 1987 |last=Mindwarp |first=Zodiac |page=79 |issn=0260-3004 |via=World Radio History |access-date=21 November 2023}}

File:Elvis Presley Publicity Photo for The Trouble with Girls 1968.jpg for the most consecutive number one singles by a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100.]]

It made its debut at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 31, 1987. Six weeks later, on December 5, it entered the top ten at number 8.{{cite web |url=https://billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1987-12-05/ |title=Billboard Hot 100 (week of December 5, 1987) |work=Billboard |date=December 5, 1987 |accessdate=April 28, 2025}} Five weeks later, it became the first new number-one single of 1988, reaching the pole position of January 9 replacing George Michael's "Faith" where it stayed for a week, eventually receiving gold certification in the US seven years later in 1995.{{cite web |url=https://billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1988-01-09/ |title=Billboard Hot 100 (week of January 9, 1988) |work=Billboard |date=January 9, 1988 |accessdate=April 28, 2025}} It would spend eight weeks inside the top ten, fourteen weeks inside the top 40 and a cumulative total of nineteen weeks on the chart altogether.

In accomplishing this, Houston broke a 27-year chart record held by Elvis Presley for the most consecutive number-one singles by a solo artist; Presley had held the record with five major singles — "A Big Hunk O' Love", "Stuck On You", "It's Now or Never", "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and "Surrender" — each topping the charts between 1959 and 1961. With six consecutive number one singles at the time, it put her in a three-way tie with the Beatles and the Bee Gees for most consecutive number one singles, a record she'd later break with the ballad, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", on April 23 of the same year. It also put her in another three-way tie with artists Michael Jackson and Madonna for the most number one singles of the 1980s.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1988/BB-1988-01-09.pdf |title=Chart Beat: Houston Scores A Six Pack of No. 1s; Stevie's Wondering About Chart Mishap |author=Paul Grein |page=6 |magazine=Billboard |date=January 9, 1988 |accessdate=April 28, 2025}}

In January 2023, nearly 28 years after its last certification, the song was certified platinum for sales of one million copies in the US alone.{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Whitney+Houston+#search_section |title=RIAA - Gold & Platinum (Whitney Houston) |work=Recording Industry Association of America |access-date=January 30, 2023}} The single also reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart as well as the Crossover Top 30 chart.

Due to Houston's crossover appeal, the dance-rock track reached number eight on the adult contemporary chart and number five on the Hot Black Singles chart. It was Houston's third single to reach the top ten on four major Billboard charts after "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". "So Emotional" was ranked sixth on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end charts as well as the fourth best-selling song on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play year-end charts (1988). The song has sold more than 1.7 million copies worldwide.

In the United Kingdom and France the song was remixed by Shep Pettibone when released as a single and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart in November 1987, remaining on the chart for 11 weeks. Elsewhere the single performed moderately well, reaching number 21 in France, 26 in Australia and 30 in Switzerland. It reached number 20 on the Eurochart Hot 100.

The music video for "So Emotional", directed by Wayne Isham, features Houston on tour and preparing for the night's concert. It was filmed at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania between dates of her 1987-1988 Moment of Truth Tour.

• US 7" single

1. "So Emotional" – 4:36
2. "For the Love of You" – 4:29

• UK 7" single

1. "So Emotional" (Edited remix) – 4:20
2. "For the Love of You" – 4:32

• UK CD single

1. "So Emotional" (Extended remix) – 7:51
2. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (live) – 6:28
3. "For the Love of You" – 4:32

• Narada Michael Walden – drums
• Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff – keyboards and synth bass
• Corrado Rustici – guitar synth
• Robert "Bongo Bob" Smith – drum sampling and percussion programming
• Background vocals – Whitney Houston
• Produced and arranged by Narada Michael Walden
• Recorded and mixed by David Frazer
• Assistant engineer – Dana Jon Chappelle
• Additional engineers – Lincoln Clapp, Gordon Lyon, Jay Rifkin, Ken Kessie, Maureen Droney
• Additional assistant engineers – Gordon Lyon, Stuart Hirotsu, Paul "Goatee" Hamingson, Noah Baron, Bill "Sweet William" Miranda, Ross Williams, Rob Beaton

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Allison Shoemaker of The A.V. Club named eventual season winner Sasha Velour's lipsync to Whitney Houston's "So Emotional" in the season nine finale of RuPaul's Drag Race as the best TV performance of 2017.{{Cite web|title=Looking for the performance of the year? Watch 2 minutes of RuPaul's Drag Race|url=https://www.avclub.com/looking-for-the-performance-of-the-year-watch-2-minute-1821318303/amp|access-date=2020-08-03|website=www.avclub.com|date=26 December 2017 }}

In the music video for Childish Gambino's 2018 promo single, "Feels Like Summer", Houston depicted in animated form - appears along with several other famous and iconic figures/people. Her look is based on the single cover for the 1987 single.{{Citation|title=Childish Gambino - Feels Like Summer|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1B9Fk_SgI0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/F1B9Fk_SgI0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-02-26}}{{cbignore}}

In S1 E2-E3 of the 2020 Netflix show Julie and the Phantoms, the character Alex Mercer (Owen Joyner) wears a "So Emotional" t-shirt. This is a play on his character being the emotional, sensitive one of the group. They were not allowed to use Whitney Houston's image.{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurengarafano/julie-and-the-phantoms-interview-soyon-an|access-date=2021-02-21|title=29 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets About "Julie and the Phantoms" That You Probably Didn't Know, but 100% Should|website=BuzzFeed |date=3 October 2020 }}

The poster for the 2022 biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, was revealed with actress Naomi Ackie depicted as Houston in her “So Emotional” look. Much like the single cover/video Ackie is donning a leather jacket, tank top, jeans & boots with socks.{{Cite web |date=April 26, 2022 |first=Natasha |last=Dado |title=See Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston in First Look at I Wanna Dance with Somebody Biopic |url=https://people.com/movies/naomi-ackie-whitney-houston-i-wanna-dance-with-somebody-poster-first-look/ |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=PEOPLE.com |language=en}}

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1988 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1987 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1988 (U.S.)
• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1988

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• [http://www.discogs.com/Whitney-Houston-So-Emotional-Edited-Remix/master/51627 So Emotional] at Discogs

{{Whitney Houston}}

{{Whitney Houston Singles}}

Category:1987 singles

Category:1987 songs

Category:1988 singles

Category:American dance-pop songs

Category:Arista Records singles

Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

Category:Music videos directed by Wayne Isham

Category:Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden

Category:Songs written by Billy Steinberg

Category:Songs written by Tom Kelly (musician)

Category:Whitney Houston songs

Category:American rock songs