I'm Every Woman

Infobox Single
Name = I'm Every Woman


Artist = Chaka Khan
from Album = "Chaka"
Released = 1978
Format = 7" single, 12" maxi single
Recorded = 1978
Genre = Soul/R&B
Length = 4:25
Label = Warner Brothers
Writer = Nickolas Ashford
Valerie Simpson
Producer = Arif Mardin
Certification = Gold (US)
Chart position =

• #1 (U.S. R&B)
• #21 (U.S. Hot 100)

Last single =
This single = "I'm Every Woman"
(1978)
Next single = "Life is a Dance"
(1978)"I'm Every Woman" is a 1978 hit single by Chaka Khan, her first hit outside of her recordings with funk band Rufus, included on her platinum debut solo album "Chaka"(R&B #2), (Pop #12). Produced by Arif Mardin and written by successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the soul/disco song was a number one hit on the R&B singles chart, and is today Khan's signature song.

The track which was written especially for Chaka by Ashford and Simpson. The hit established Chaka's career outside of the confines of the relm of Rufus, whom she would leave after their next album "Masterjam" came out at the end of 1979. "I'm Every Woman" was also one of the first R&B music videos ever made. The video, which features five dancing Chakas dressed in various outfits to represent "every woman," was popular and predated MTV and BET.

Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy sang backup on the music video version. Houston would then cover the song in 1992, turning it into a hit for a new generation. The track was remixed and re-released in 1989 for Chaka's remix album "Life is a Dance - The Remix Project"; this mix reached number eight in the UK.

Infobox Single
Name = I'm Every Woman


Artist = Whitney Houston
from Album =
Released = January 2, 1993 (U.S.)
Format = CD single, cassette single, 7" single, 12" maxi single
Recorded = 1992
Genre = Dance-pop/R&B
Length = 4:10
Label = Arista
Writer = Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
Producer = Narada Michael Walden, David Cole and Robert Clivilles
Certification = Gold (US)
Chart position =

• #4 (U.S., UK)
• #11 (Australia, France)

Last single = "I Will Always Love You"
(1992)
This single = "I'm Every Woman"
(1993)
Next single = "I Have Nothing"
(1993)

Cover versions

Whitney Houston recorded for the soundtrack to the film "The Bodyguard" (1992). Houston's cover was co-produced by Ashford and Simpson, and it was released as the soundtrack's second single in January 1993 (see 1993 in music and ).

When "I'm Every Woman" was released the soundtrack's preceding single, "I Will Always Love You", was still at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (it remained there for eight more weeks). "I'm Every Woman" peaked at number four on the Hot 100 in its seventh and eighth weeks of release, remained in the top forty for nineteen weeks and was ranked thirty-ninth on the Hot 100's year-end chart. As with other Houston singles released during this period, "I'm Every Woman"'s popularity on the radio surpassed its commercial sales. The song became Houston's fourth chart-topper on the Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, reached the top five on the R&B chart and the top forty on the Adult Contemporary chart.

It was well-received outside the U.S., but it did not match the success of "I Will Always Love You". It peaked within the top five in the UK and the top twenty in France, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. The single's video, directed by Randee St. Nicholas, features Houston performing the song and is intercut with scenes from "The Bodyguard" that signify strong female independence. It won an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Music Video", and the song received a 1994 Grammy Award nomination for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance".

Australian singer-songwriter Tina Arena performed a live duet of the song with Natasha St-Pier at "La Fête de la Musique" in Paris in early 2006.

More recently, it was recorded by American Idol 5 finalist Mandisa and put on the album , Girls Aloud & Young Divas member & season 3 of Australian Idol contestant Emily Williams.

*On series 4 of The X Factor, the song was sung by Beverley Trotman.
*On season 2 of American Idol,the song was sung by Trenyce
*On season 4 of American Idol,the song was sung by Vonzell Solomon.
*On season 5 of American Idol,the song was sung by Mandisa

Houston track listing

#"I'm Every Woman" (album version)
#"I'm Every Woman" (radio edit)
#"I'm Every Woman" (Clivilles & Cole mix)
#"I'm Every Woman" (club mix)
#"I'm Every Woman" (C&C dub mix)
#"I'm Every Woman" (a cappella mix)
#"I'm Every Woman" (Every Woman's Beat mix)

Trivia

*There are backing vocals on the track by none other than Chaka Khan, for whom the song was a hit originally, also gospel music legend Cissy Houston, (Whitney's mother). As a tribute to Chaka Khan, Whitney proclaims her name twice towards the end of the song.

*The Music Video Features TLC

In pop culture

*Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has sung the song to describe his wife Michelle in his public rallies.
*Houston's version served as the theme to "The Oprah Winfrey Show" from 1994 to 1996.
*The song was used in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
* This song is featured on "DANCE! Online", a multiplayer online casual rhythm game.

Houston version charts