The week of May 10, 1986, found Pet Shop Boys and Robert Palmer atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘West End Girls‘ and ‘Addicted to Love,’ respectively.
At #3, a week away from its own three-week stint at #1, was Whitney Houston’s ‘Greatest Love of All.’ This was Houston’s third straight chart-topping hit from her self-titled debut, making her the first woman to have three #1s on the same album.
‘Greatest Love of All’ is a cover of a George Benson recording that was written for the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of Muhammad Ali.
Arista Records president Clive Davis wasn’t a fan of the track at first, feeling Houston had recorded too many ballads for her debut. Fortunately for all involved, he was persuaded otherwise.
Songwriter Linda Creed wrote this lyric after a two-year battle with breast cancer culminating in a mastectomy. She passed away from the disease nearly a decade later as Houston’s version hit the charts.
Note: Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, especially my own! Now that is the greatest love of all.
I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody’s searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
And so I learned to depend on me
[Pre-Chorus]
I decided long ago
Never to walk in anyone’s shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
[Chorus]
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
[Verse 2]
I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
[Pre-Chorus]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
[Chorus]
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
[Outro]
And if, by chance, that special place
That you’ve been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love
Meet Me In Montauk 