When Whitney Houston recorded her cover of Steve Winwood's 1986 hit “Higher Love” in 1990, it was meant for her third album I'm Your Baby TonightHigher Love' with the Whitney vocal, we didn't want her being a cover artist at that time,” Clive Davis, the veteran record label impresario who helped discover Houston, recalls. “The only place it was released was as a bonus cut in Japan.”
For many Houston fans, her version of “Higher Love” has been elusive and never heard before. Now seven years after her death, the singer's estate has revived the cover as the first of many forthcoming projects celebrating her musical legacy. According to her sister-in-law Pat Houston, who doubles as the sole executor of Whitney's estate, “Higher Love” felt like a particularly timely release.
“The current cultural environment has been thirsty for something uplifting and inspiring,” Pat Houston tells Rolling Stone. “Who better to inspire than Whitney, the most exhilarating vocalist of all time?” Instead of remastering the original production, the estate and RCA Records targeted superproducer Kygo for a collaboration. Pat felt particularly sold on working with him because of his tasteful trop-house remix of Marvin Gaye's “Sexual Healing.” “Kygo was the first person that was mentioned. He put his spin on it and did a fantastic job,” she adds.
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