In 1990, Arista Records turned 15 years old and celebrated the occasion with a Radio City anniversary concert named for Dionne & Friends’ chart-topping “That’s What Friends Are For.” Performers and guests included Hall & Oates, Patti Smith, Carly Simon, Whoopi Goldberg and Exposé, but one of the highlights came when Whitney Houston jogged to the stage for a glorious, effortless take on her 1987 hit “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
The show originally aired on CBS and has long been bootlegged, but here, watch the proper, high-quality version of Houston’s spectacular performance – the version that will appear on the forthcoming Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances compilation. Out November 10th, the two-disc set spans from “Home” (recorded on The Merv Griffin Show in 1983) to “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” (recorded on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009), and also includes three songs from her “Welcome Home Heroes” special and her Super Bowl XXV “Star Spangled Banner.” The full tracklist –and a pre-order link – is available here.
Watch the video and read more at Rolling Stone.
