The Greatest Love of All Facts for Kids

"The Greatest Love of All" is a very famous song about loving yourself and believing in your own worth. It was written by Michael Masser, who created the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the words.

The song was first recorded in 1977 by George Benson. His version became a big hit, reaching number two on the US Hot Soul Singles chart. This was the first time a song from Arista Records reached the top ten on the R&B chart. The song was made for the 1977 movie The Greatest, which was about the famous boxer Muhammad Ali. You can hear the song at the very beginning of the movie.

George Benson released his original recording in many countries around the world in 1977. He recorded the song four times in total. Besides the studio version, he also recorded three live versions. One special live version was a duet with the famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti in 2001. Many other artists have also recorded this song since 1977, including Shirley Bassey and Oleta Adams.

Eight years after George Benson's original, the song became even more popular because of Whitney Houston's version. Her 1985 cover, called "Greatest Love of All" (without "The"), became a number one hit in the United States, Australia, and Canada in early 1986.

The Story Behind the Song
Whitney Houston's Famous Version
- How Whitney Discovered the Song
- The Music Video
Other Artists Who Sang It
Images for kids
See also

The Story Behind the Song

The music for "The Greatest Love of All" was created by Michael Masser, and the lyrics were written by Linda Creed in 1976. They wrote it for the movie The Greatest.

Michael Masser shared that he felt a special connection to Jerusalem when he was asked to write the song for the movie. He wanted to get deep feelings for the song. He also felt strongly about Muhammad Ali, the boxer the movie was about. Ali wanted to change his name and religion. He refused to fight in the Vietnam War because of his beliefs. Even though he lost his boxing title, he kept his dignity. Masser felt Ali represented a great athlete who faced unfairness but never gave up on what he believed.

Masser also said the song had a personal meaning for him. He gave up a career in law to follow his dream of writing music. People thought he was crazy, and he struggled a lot, but he had to follow his passion. When he returned from Jerusalem, he worked with Linda Creed on the lyrics. Creed found inspiration from her own family. Then, George Benson performed the song for the movie's soundtrack. Masser said the song became a special theme for many people.

George Benson's recording of "The Greatest Love of All" was released as a single in 1977. It was a big hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. This was the first time a song from Arista Records made it into the R&B Top Ten. The song also did well on other charts in the US, UK, and Canada. It is one of George Benson's most successful songs.

Whitney Houston's Famous Version

"Greatest Love of All"

Single by Whitney Houston

from the album Whitney Houston

B-side

"Thinking About You"

Released

March 18, 1986

Recorded

December 1984

Genre

R&B
soul

Length

4:51 (album version)
4:56 (deluxe version)

Label

Arista

Songwriter(s)

Michael Masser
Linda Creed

Producer(s)

Michael Masser

Whitney Houston singles chronology

"How Will I Know"
(1985)

"Greatest Love of All"
(1986)

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
(1987)

The song became even more popular when American singer Whitney Houston recorded her version. She called it "Greatest Love of All", leaving out the word "The". She recorded it in December 1984 for her first album, Whitney Houston, which came out in 1985.

Whitney's version became a huge hit! It topped the music charts in Australia, Canada, and the US. It also reached the top 20 in many other countries like Italy, Sweden, and the UK. It is still one of her biggest hits in the US, after "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". After Whitney Houston passed away in 2012, these three songs became popular again on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

At first, Clive Davis, who founded Whitney's record label Arista Records, didn't want her to record the song for her first album. But Whitney and Michael Masser convinced him. The song was first released as the B-side (the other side of a single record) to Whitney's earlier hit, "You Give Good Love". Later, "Greatest Love of All" was released as its own single on March 18, 1986. It spent three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May of that year.

Whitney Houston's live performance of the song in 1990 was included in special anniversary editions of her album. This performance was from a concert celebrating 15 years of Arista Records at Radio City Music Hall.

How Whitney Discovered the Song

Michael Masser shared how he first met Whitney Houston. He said that around 1981 or 1982, when Whitney was about 19 or 20 years old and not yet famous, he walked into a club called Sweetwater's. He heard someone singing "The Greatest Love of All" and couldn't believe it was his song. It meant a lot to him. A few years later, when he was working on a duet for Teddy Pendergrass, everyone wanted him to use a famous singer. But because he had heard Whitney singing his song, he chose her instead.

The Music Video

The music video for Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" was filmed at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City. In the video, Whitney is a successful singer getting ready to perform for a crowd. She remembers when she was a child performing in a talent show and how her mother encouraged her. The video even features Whitney's real mother, Cissy Houston, playing herself. She supports a young Whitney and hugs the adult Whitney at the end of the video. The video was directed by Peter Israelson. In February 2020, the music video was updated to a super clear 4K resolution.

Other Artists Who Sang It

Many other artists have recorded this song. Some of them include Shirley Bassey, Oleta Adams, Alexandra Burke, Deborah Cox, Lea Salonga, and Kevin Rowland.

On May 29, 2001, the famous Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti held a concert called "Pavarotti & Friends" in his hometown of Modena, Italy. This concert, called "Pavarotti & Friends for Afghanistan," raised money for refugees from Afghanistan. Many guest artists performed, including George Benson, who was a friend of Pavarotti. They sang "The Greatest Love of All" together as a duet. George Benson sang his parts in English, and Pavarotti sang his parts in Italian. This concert raised $3.3 million for the cause. The performance was recorded and released on a CD in 2001.