Whitney Houston Net Worth

How much was Whitney Houston worth?

About Whitney Houston

From singing in church in her child years, Whitney Houston amazed record company chairmen at such a young age and since then has had a storied career full of hits and classic albums. Though her career was unfortunately cut short due to her untimely passing in 2012, Houston was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s, and was undoubtedly the most famous and successful female singer of her time.

After being nominated for and winning over 400 awards, Houston has reached legend status with songs such as “I Will Always Love You” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”, and has influenced a lot of today’s most well-known singers, including Beyoncé and Rihanna.

Whitney Houston was in debt when she died with an estimated net worth of -$20 million dollars, in 2012. The year following her death saw her records experience massive volumes of sales generating as much as an estimated $40 million dollars by 2013. As of 2023, the estate of Whitney Houston sits at about $25 million dollars.

Being one of the best selling artists of all time, all of Houston’s seven albums and movie soundtracks have been certified at least gold by the recording Industry Association of America, and many reaching double platinum. Houston’s first two albums, Whitney Houston and Whitney, both reached the top spot on the Billboard 200, and the two albums sold more than 30 million copies combined.

Whitney is one of the best selling albums of all time, solely selling 20 million copies, and in total, Houston has sold over 200 million records. After the success of her Moment of Truth world tour in 1987, she became the highest earning black woman of the year, and third highest overall behind Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy.

Being a woman of many talents, the singer also found success in acting. Houston famously starred in The Preacher’s Wife, alongside Denzel Washington, and Waiting to Exhale, but she is most famous for her role in The Bodyguard, the romantic thriller co-starring Kevin Costner.

Being released in 1992, it was one of the most successful movies of the year, and at the time of its release, was one of the highest grossing films of all time. The movie made over $400 million worldwide, which is now worth a lot more adjusted for inflation.

The success of the movie is largely thanks to Houston, but not due to her acting chops. Houston recorded the soundtrack for the movie, which included “I Will Always Love You”, one of the best selling singles of all time. The song staid at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks, and for the past 28 years it has continued to consistently chart.

Along with breaking records and becoming the biggest female singer in the world, Houston was an inspiration to millions of young people despite her personal struggles, and that is why her devastating death was one of the biggest moments in music.

Houston’s death followed in a string of high profile deaths of musicians that were taken way too early, including Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. People across the world paid their respects and artists such as Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Oprah Winfrey, and dozens more paid tribute to her. In the aftermath of her death, Houston’s music re-entered the charts and her greatest hits album sold over 60,000 copies within 24 hours.

Few other female singers have achieved close to the financial success that Houston did at her peak. When Houston renegotiated her contract with BMG, she resigned for a massive $100 million. At the time of signing, it was the biggest record deal in music history.

Thanks to improving on Dolly Parton’s original version, Houston’s take on the now iconic cover version of “I Will Always Love You” has earned her more money than anything else in her career. It is the best selling record by a female musician in history. Along with that song, the singer earned an estimated $30 million for The Bodyguard soundtrack, and that isn’t including the salary for her leading role in the movie.

Forbes estimates that of her 200 million albums sold, Houston would have seen roughly $250 million dollars from their sales. And for a musician that didn’t receive any publishing royalties, that figure for album sales alone is unrivaled by any other female musician. Since her death, the sales of her music has continued to sell well and her estate is now worth tens of millions, much more than it was at the time of her death.

It was commonly talked about that Houston had not just one of the greatest voices in the industry, but the greatest voice of all time. She is well regarded for having perfect pitch, which is when a person has the ability to perfectly replicate any musical note.

Houston was able to put out singles that were just a Capella and they would still chart well. The best example of this was the singer’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 25^th Super Bowl, and is known as the best half-time show in the Super Bowl’s history.

Going hand in hand with her pitch perfect singing voice is her relationship with Clive Davis, who was the chief creative officer at Sony. With this partnership, Clive Davis had the faith in Houston and put a lot of money behind her for album productions and promotion. Without the help and financial backing of Davis, it is unlikely that Houston would have seen the fame that she did, despite her voice being as perfect as it is. Davis also executive produced the singers first three albums, which were some of her best and most commercially successful pieces of work.

Summing-Up

Though she died in debt, her estate is incredibly lucrative and her legacy lives on through her beautiful music regardless of tabloid headlines. She is as popular as ever as she currently has over 20 million monthly Spotify listeners, and the net worth of her estate currently sits at $25 million. As a hologram of her likeness has been created, she is still selling out tours despite having passed away eight years ago.