Hand signed in blue ink to the front cover; signature obtained in Los Angeles in 2008.  Whitney Houston is the self-titled debut album of American R&B and pop singer Whitney Houston, released February 14, 1985 on Arista Records. The album initially had a slow commercial response but began getting more popular in the summer of 1985. Eventually it topped the Billboard 200 chart for 14 weeks in 1986 and generated three number-one singles—”Saving All My Love for You”, “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All”—on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the first debut album and the first album by a female artist to achieve that feat.

The album was one of those very rare cases that enjoyed global success by a new black female artist, topping the albums chart in many countries such as Canada, Australia, Norway and Sweden, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. The album was certified diamond for shipments of 10 million units or more on March 16, 1999, and later 13× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 29, 1999. It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.At the 28th Grammy Awards in 1986, Whitney Houston received four nominations including Album of the Year and won one of which, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “Saving All My Love for You”.

For the 29th Grammy Awards of 1987, the album earned one nomination for Record of the Year for “Greatest Love of All”. In 2003, the album was ranked number 254 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.