Song · Whitney Houston
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston
From the album Whitney (1987)
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston appears on 8 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1987 and 2026. It was first released in 1987 on the album Whitney. Its best result is #11 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1987. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #121 alternative song of 1987.
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"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" led off Whitney, Whitney Houston's second album, in 1987, and it was built to lift her off the ballad pedestal of her debut and onto the dance floor. George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of Boy Meets Girl, the pair behind "How Will I Know", wrote it about a woman hunting for someone to share her life's dance with, and Houston slipped in uncredited lyrics of her own.
Narada Michael Walden produced, arranged and played drums. Critics loved the voice but carped that it was "How Will I Know" redux with a dash of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". The public didn't care, sending it to number one in 17 countries and past 18 million copies sold, and it won her the 1988 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 11 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1987 | 29 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 179 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 1288 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 134 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2023 | 201 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
| 2023 | 54 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time | 909 |
| 2024 | 464 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2026 | 21 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s | 498 |
Also listed as: I Wanna Dance With Somebody; I Wanna Dance with Somebody; I Wanna Dance with Somebody Who Loves Me.
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