The biggest commercial phenomenon of the 1980s was Whitney Houston (sister of Thelma Houston), who debuted with Material, the group led by Bill Laswell. Born in New Jersey and raised on gospel, Houston renewed the splendor of the soprano love ballad with Saving All My Love (1985), How Will I Know (1985), Greatest Love Of All (1985), taken from the first album Whitney Houston (1985)—the most successful debut album in the history of music—followed by I Wanna Dance With Somebody (1987), Didn't We Almost Have It All (1987), Where Do Broken Hearts Go (1988), One Moment In Time (1988), monumental hits that moved romantic teenage girls. The more pronounced rhythms, the more forceful orchestrations and the colder high notes distinguish her from the great soul singers and make her a product of the post-disco era. Her emotional longing, however, is the same as that of 1950s musicals, as are some of the melodies, in particular Moment and Didn't We, two of the most classic choruses in Black popular music.

The album Whitney Houston (1985) sold 13 million copies, and set the new record for a debut album by a female artist. Whitney (1987) sold ten million copies. I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990) and My Love Is Your Love (1998) sold a lot less, mainly because she sounded less interested in music than in cinema. Nonetheless, I Will Always Love You (1993), a lousy cover of a country song, became the second best-seller of all time (after Elton John's Candle In The Wind).

Whitney Huston died at 48 in 2012: she drowned in the bathtub of her hotel room during a cocaine overdose. Three years later her daughter Bobbi Kristina killed herself.