Уитни Хьюстон: Лучшие хиты

Whitney: The Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released on May 5, 2000, by Arista Records. Anticipation over a greatest hits album from Houston arose as far as 1995, when Billboard first announced the album's release. However, it was continuously postponed as Houston focused on film projects, before deciding to record several new tracks for the belated collection in 1998. The effort was quickly expanded into her fourth studio album My Love Is Your Love, released in November 1998 to widespread success, which effectively postponed Whitney: The Greatest Hits again. A two disc collection, Whitney: The Greatest Hits comprises Houston's ballads on its first disc, titled Cool Down, while replacing most of the original versions of her up tempo hits with corresponding dance remixes on the second disc, titled Throw Down. Therefore, numerous publications rejected the compilation's classification as a greatest hits album, despite its title and marketing. Whitney: The Greatest Hits also includes four previously unreleased tracks—"Same Script, Different Cast", a duet with Deborah Cox; "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", a duet with Enrique Iglesias; "If I Told You That", a duet with George Michael; and "Fine"—all of which were released as singles to varying levels of success. Whitney: The Greatest Hits was met with mixed responses from music critics, who praised Houston for her expansive catalog and career longevity, but criticized the album's inclusion of remixes rather than original versions for a majority of Houston's hits; the new tracks elicited polarity among reviewers. A commercial success, Whitney: The Greatest Hits debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 158,000 units, and reached the top 10 in 20 additional countries. By February 2012, it had sold over 10 million copies worldwide. That June, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the compilation quintuple platinum for double disc shipments of 2.5 million units in the US. Although Houston did not promote Whitney: The Greatest Hits as extensively as her previous albums, she embarked on a four date concert residency from June to November 2000. Furthermore, the compilation was accompanied by the simultaneously released video collection of the same title. In January 2011, Legacy Recordings reissued the album as a part of their Essential album series, retitling it The Essential Whitney Houston. Following Houston's death on February 11, 2012, Whitney: The Greatest Hits registered a significant resurgence of sales, attaining a new peak of number two on the Billboard 200, and new top 10 peaks—either in its original format, or as The Essential Whitney Houston—in numerous countries worldwide.

In November 1995, Houston's song "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"—the lead single from the soundtrack for the 1995 film Waiting to Exhale, starring Houston in a leading role—became the third song in history to debut atop the US Billboard Hot 100. It became Houston's 11th and final number one single on the chart; with 11 singles, Houston is sixth among artists with most Billboard Hot 100 number ones of all time, as of 2023. Furthermore, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" contributed to Houston becoming the best selling physical singles female artist in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That August, Billboard had disclosed Houston's first greatest hits album would be released on October 10, which ultimately did not come to fruition. The publication referred to the "long promised" album again in July 1996, announcing it for that fall. After the release was postponed again, speculation on its timing continued into 1997, with Houston commenting: "Oh, Clive is on my case about this greatest hits album. He's like, Whitney, we have to do a greatest hits album, I mean you're far long overdue." Intent on releasing the highly anticipated collection, Houston began recording new material, originally intended for a greatest hits album which would include several new tracks, in August 1998. However, she and Clive Davis soon decided to reconstruct the project into Houston's fourth studio album, titled My Love Is Your Love, her first such effort in eight years. Houston finished recording My Love Is Your Love within six weeks; it was released on November 17. Despite her immense commercial success during the extensive promotional cycle for My Love Is Your Love, Houston's "erratic" behavior overshadowed her professional endeavors, as she became notorious for numerous live performance cancellations and alleged drug use.

In addition to Houston's prior hits, including all of her 11 US Billboard Hot 100 number one singles—either in their original or remixed forms—Whitney: The Greatest Hits included two newly recorded songs and two re recordings. Shep Crawford written and produced "Same Script, Different Cast" is a duet with Deborah Cox, which sees Houston portraying a former lover of Cox's current partner, and warning Cox of his deceitful and disregarding demeanor. The harp string and piano driven ballad is built upon a sample of Ludwig van Beethoven's Für Elise, and is infused with "dramatic" key changes. A multitude of critics have compared the song to Brandy and Monica's 1998 duet "The Boy Is Mine". Raphael Saadiq and Q Tip wrote and produced "Fine", a "sultry, soulful" track arranged with "languid retro funk" guitars. The song was originally recorded for Iglesias' English language debut Enrique (1999), and was subsequently re recorded—and remixed by Brian Rawling and Mark Taylor—for inclusion on Whitney: The Greatest Hits. Rodney Jerkins, who produced the original version, reprised his role for the re recording. In an interview for MTV News at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards (2000), Jerkins revealed that Michael Jackson was the initial choice for the duet but could not schedule recording with Houston. "Same Script, Different Cast" and "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" appear at the end the album's first disc, titled Cool Down, which comprises R&B, pop and, to a lesser extent, gospel ballads.

+ Release dates and formats for Whitney: The Greatest Hits Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref. (Reference(s)) France May 5, 2000 Double CD Arista Germany May 15, 2000 BMG United States May 16, 2000 Japan May 20, 2000 Double CD France June 14, 2000 Japan July 7, 2000 DVD
+ Release dates and formats for The Essential Whitney Houston Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref. (Reference(s)) Australia January 10, 2011 Double CD Legacy Recordings, Legacy, Sony Music United Kingdom Poland January 14, 2011 Taiwan Canada January 18, 2011 France February 14, 2011 Germany January 6, 2012