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I Have Nothing
"I Have Nothing" is a song by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on February 20, 1993, as the third single from The Bodyguard (1992) by Arista Records. The power ballad was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, and produced by Foster.
After the back-to-back successes of Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and "I'm Every Woman", "I Have Nothing" became yet another hit, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, number one on the US Cash Box Top 100 and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song also became a hit on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, with a number four peak, and number-one peaks on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and Radio Songs chart. Houston established another historic chart milestone in Billboard when the track joined the aforementioned previous two Bodyguard songs simultaneously in the top 11, making her the first artist to have three songs inside the top 20 of the Hot 100 chart in the same week since the chart began using Broadcast Data System and SoundScan data in 1991. Internationally, the song reached number one in Canada, the top five in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the top ten in Denmark and Portugal, and peaked within the top forty in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The song sold over 12 million copies worldwide and received various nominations, including for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, and Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B Single (Female).
The song was promoted by Houston with live performances on her worldwide concert tour, The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–94) only, and also at various awards ceremonies and concerts such as the 4th Billboard Music Awards in 1993, the 21st American Music Awards in 1994, Whitney: The Concert for a New South Africa in 1994, and the 1st BET Awards in 2001. "I Have Nothing" also features on compilations like Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000), I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston (2012) and Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances (2014).
As with much of Houston's material, the song has been an extremely popular choice on many reality television series around the world, in particular American Idol, on which it has become the most performed song in the show's history; as of 2026, it had been covered fourteen times. "I Have Nothing" was also featured on the second half of the trailer, for the estate-approved documentary on Houston's life, Whitney. The power ballad is cited as one of Houston's signature songs. As of February 2026, the music video for "I Have Nothing" has over 1 billion views on YouTube, making Houston the first artist to have two 1990s music videos to reach the milestone, along with "I Will Always Love You". The video for "I Have Nothing" is one of the most watched videos of all time.
In April 1991, Houston announced that she was to begin filming her first movie, The Bodyguard, with Kevin Costner as co-star. After her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour wrapped up in October of the year, producers of the film — including Costner himself — set the date for principal photography on November 25, 1991. Initially, the romance thriller featured no music, which concerned Houston's label head, Clive Davis, who sent a letter to Costner and the film's director Mick Jackson, addressing them of how Houston's character, singing diva Rachel Marron, needed a bodyguard with minimal music. Costner agreed with Davis' concern and, through Warner Bros. Pictures, Houston eventually signed a deal to record content for the film's soundtrack in which she would earn royalties. Houston, along with Davis, would serve as executive producer on the album.
Houston agreed to record six songs, of which, five would be prominently featured in scenes from the film that would then feature Houston's character performing the songs. After recording her composition, the hard rock number "Queen of the Night" with producers Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid on November 9, 1991; Houston headed to Encore Studios in Burbank, California three days later on November 12 to begin working with record producer David Foster on "I Have Nothing", the first of three songs Foster and Houston worked on together.
According to the producer, who was handpicked by Houston and Kevin Costner to be one of the producers on the soundtrack, the singer didn't need any vocal warmup after going over the song, though she initially was concerned about the song's pitch, complaining to Foster that she "couldn't hit the note" and asked if he could drop the pitch down to a lower key. However, Foster told her he wouldn't be able to change the pitch, due to the fact that keyboards at the time didn't have chord progression edits. Afterwards, Houston reportedly sipped green herbal tea before laying down her vocal.
According to Jordin Sparks, while her and Houston worked on the film Sparkle, Houston explained to her that she was "six months pregnant" at the time of the recording and just recorded three takes of the song. Foster was inspired by Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" to compose the song.
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I Have Nothing
"I Have Nothing" is a song by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on February 20, 1993, as the third single from The Bodyguard (1992) by Arista Records. The power ballad was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, and produced by Foster.
After the back-to-back successes of Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and "I'm Every Woman", "I Have Nothing" became yet another hit, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, number one on the US Cash Box Top 100 and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song also became a hit on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, with a number four peak, and number-one peaks on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and Radio Songs chart. Houston established another historic chart milestone in Billboard when the track joined the aforementioned previous two Bodyguard songs simultaneously in the top 11, making her the first artist to have three songs inside the top 20 of the Hot 100 chart in the same week since the chart began using Broadcast Data System and SoundScan data in 1991. Internationally, the song reached number one in Canada, the top five in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the top ten in Denmark and Portugal, and peaked within the top forty in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The song sold over 12 million copies worldwide and received various nominations, including for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, and Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B Single (Female).
The song was promoted by Houston with live performances on her worldwide concert tour, The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–94) only, and also at various awards ceremonies and concerts such as the 4th Billboard Music Awards in 1993, the 21st American Music Awards in 1994, Whitney: The Concert for a New South Africa in 1994, and the 1st BET Awards in 2001. "I Have Nothing" also features on compilations like Whitney: The Greatest Hits (2000), I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston (2012) and Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances (2014).
As with much of Houston's material, the song has been an extremely popular choice on many reality television series around the world, in particular American Idol, on which it has become the most performed song in the show's history; as of 2026, it had been covered fourteen times. "I Have Nothing" was also featured on the second half of the trailer, for the estate-approved documentary on Houston's life, Whitney. The power ballad is cited as one of Houston's signature songs. As of February 2026, the music video for "I Have Nothing" has over 1 billion views on YouTube, making Houston the first artist to have two 1990s music videos to reach the milestone, along with "I Will Always Love You". The video for "I Have Nothing" is one of the most watched videos of all time.
In April 1991, Houston announced that she was to begin filming her first movie, The Bodyguard, with Kevin Costner as co-star. After her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour wrapped up in October of the year, producers of the film — including Costner himself — set the date for principal photography on November 25, 1991. Initially, the romance thriller featured no music, which concerned Houston's label head, Clive Davis, who sent a letter to Costner and the film's director Mick Jackson, addressing them of how Houston's character, singing diva Rachel Marron, needed a bodyguard with minimal music. Costner agreed with Davis' concern and, through Warner Bros. Pictures, Houston eventually signed a deal to record content for the film's soundtrack in which she would earn royalties. Houston, along with Davis, would serve as executive producer on the album.
Houston agreed to record six songs, of which, five would be prominently featured in scenes from the film that would then feature Houston's character performing the songs. After recording her composition, the hard rock number "Queen of the Night" with producers Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid on November 9, 1991; Houston headed to Encore Studios in Burbank, California three days later on November 12 to begin working with record producer David Foster on "I Have Nothing", the first of three songs Foster and Houston worked on together.
According to the producer, who was handpicked by Houston and Kevin Costner to be one of the producers on the soundtrack, the singer didn't need any vocal warmup after going over the song, though she initially was concerned about the song's pitch, complaining to Foster that she "couldn't hit the note" and asked if he could drop the pitch down to a lower key. However, Foster told her he wouldn't be able to change the pitch, due to the fact that keyboards at the time didn't have chord progression edits. Afterwards, Houston reportedly sipped green herbal tea before laying down her vocal.
According to Jordin Sparks, while her and Houston worked on the film Sparkle, Houston explained to her that she was "six months pregnant" at the time of the recording and just recorded three takes of the song. Foster was inspired by Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" to compose the song.