# Higher Love
"Higher Love" is a pop song written by [Steve Winwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-winwood) and Will Jennings, released in 1986 as the lead single from Winwood's album *Back in the High Life*. It reached Number 1 in the United States and Canada and topped the US Mainstream Rock chart for four weeks, while peaking at Number 13 in Winwood's home country, the United Kingdom.[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) A 1990 cover by [Whitney Houston](https://www.edgepedia.org/whitney-houston), unreleased outside Japan until the Norwegian producer Kygo remixed it in 2019, became an international hit in its own right.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Writers | Steve Winwood and Will Jennings[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) |
| Original release | Lead single from *Back in the High Life*, Island Records, 1986[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) • [3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-higher-love/) |
| Original chart peak | Number 1 in the US and Canada; Number 13 in the UK[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) • [3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-higher-love/) |
| Houston cover | Recorded 1990 with producer Narada Michael Walden; bonus track on the Japanese edition of *I'm Your Baby Tonight*[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html) |
| Kygo remix | Released June 28, 2019; UK peak Number 2; Number 1 on Billboard Dance Club Songs[4](https://www.whitneyhouston.com/en-ca/news/whitney-x-kygo-higher-love-released-this-day-in-2019/) • [5](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/higher-love-is-now-whitney-houstons-longest-running-single-ever-on-the-top-100-official-uk-singles-chart__28910/) |
## The Winwood original
Winwood co-wrote the song with Will Jennings, who later composed "My Heart Will Go On", and released it in 1986 as the first single from *Back in the High Life*.[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) The single topped the US and Canadian charts, Winwood's first Number 1 across the Atlantic, and spent four weeks at the top of the US Mainstream Rock chart; in the UK it stalled at Number 13.[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) On the Official UK Singles Chart it entered at Number 80 on 21 June 1986, peaked at Number 13 on 26 July 1986, and spent 10 weeks in the Top 100.[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-higher-love/) [Island Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-records) released it in the UK on 7-inch single with catalog number IS288.[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-higher-love/)
**Session musicians.** The recording drew on a prominent group of players. [Chaka Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/chaka-khan) sang the euphoric backing vocals, a contribution the critic Tom Breihan at Stereogum described as essential to the record's impact, without a featured-artist credit.[6](https://stereogum.com/2111723/the-number-ones-steve-winwoods-higher-love/columns/the-number-ones) [Nile Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/nile-rodgers), the Chic leader and hitmaking producer, played rhythm guitar; Eddie Martinez played lead; David Frank, of the duo the System, provided the synth-horns; and Khan brought in her drummer [John Robinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-robinson). Robinson's busy, syncopated break at the end of the song so pleased Winwood and producer Russ Titelman that they moved it to the front of the record as the intro.[6](https://stereogum.com/2111723/the-number-ones-steve-winwoods-higher-love/columns/the-number-ones) The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's induction essay for Chaka Khan also notes her backing Steve Winwood on "Higher Love" among her hits.[7](https://rockhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Chaka_Khan_Induction_Essay.pdf)
*Back in the High Life* went on to sell more than three million copies in the United States, one of two million-selling albums Winwood had there in the 1980s.[1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/)
## Whitney Houston's 1990 cover
Whitney Houston (1964–2012) recorded "Higher Love" in 1990 for her third studio album, *I'm Your Baby Tonight*, produced by [Narada Michael Walden](https://www.edgepedia.org/narada-michael-walden).[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html) She had shifted the album in a more R&B direction, and the cover was released only as a bonus track on the album's Japanese edition.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html) She performed it live only during her month-long 1990 concert tour of Japan.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html)
## The Kygo remix, 2019
On June 28, 2019, the Norwegian producer Kygo (Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll) released his remix of Houston's cover as a digital single credited to Kygo and Whitney Houston.[4](https://www.whitneyhouston.com/en-ca/news/whitney-x-kygo-higher-love-released-this-day-in-2019/) • [1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) It was the first archival Houston music released since her death in February 2012, and the release was endorsed by her long-time manager [Clive Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/clive-davis) and by the Whitney Houston estate.[2](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html) • [5](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/higher-love-is-now-whitney-houstons-longest-running-single-ever-on-the-top-100-official-uk-singles-chart__28910/) According to [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine), Primary Wave and Houston's estate selected "Higher Love" and hand-picked Kygo, who was an immediate choice because "he has a history of rebooting classic vocals"; Kygo said he "wanted to be respectful to the original song and let her vocals shine, while still adding my touches".[8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2019/Billboard-2019-07-27.pdf)
The remix became a worldwide success. It hit Number 1 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, and its music video surpassed 175 million views on YouTube.[4](https://www.whitneyhouston.com/en-ca/news/whitney-x-kygo-higher-love-released-this-day-in-2019/) In the United States it debuted at Number 63 on the Hot 100, Houston's first posthumous entry on that chart.[8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2019/Billboard-2019-07-27.pdf)
**UK chart performance.** On the Official UK Singles Chart the Kygo and Houston version entered at Number 36 on 11 July 2019 and peaked at Number 2 in September 2019, spending 11 weeks in the Top 10 and 25 consecutive weeks in the Top 100 that year.[9](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/kygo-whitney-houston-higher-love/) It became Houston's first UK Top 10 single in a decade, following "Million Dollar Bill" ten years earlier, and charted higher than Winwood's original in the UK.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/higher-love-is-now-whitney-houstons-longest-running-single-ever-on-the-top-100-official-uk-singles-chart__28910/) • [1](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/) By logging 34 weeks inside the UK Top 100, it overtook "I Will Always Love You", which had spent 32 weeks there including ten at Number 1, to become Houston's longest-running single on the chart.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/higher-love-is-now-whitney-houstons-longest-running-single-ever-on-the-top-100-official-uk-singles-chart__28910/) It also re-charted in 2023: on the Official Singles Sales Chart it peaked at Number 18 and on the Downloads Chart at Number 16, both on 18 May 2023.[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-higher-love/)
The song was played immediately following President Joe Biden's victory speech after the 2020 U.S. election.[4](https://www.whitneyhouston.com/en-ca/news/whitney-x-kygo-higher-love-released-this-day-in-2019/)
## Other versions and namesakes
The song has been widely covered: AllMusic's entry lists Houston and Kygo as the best-known among dozens of performers, including Sam Levine, Party Tyme Karaoke, and The Countdown Singers.[10](https://www.allmusic.com/song/higher-love-remix--mt0066556935) MusicBrainz lists additional covers by Mini Pop Kids, Lolo Gervais, and Kingston Sound System, among others.[11](https://musicbrainz.org/work/34abf0f9-fa96-4d34-9d5c-fdbaa6b41315) The title is shared by unrelated works: "Higher Love" is also the closing track of [Depeche Mode](https://www.edgepedia.org/depeche-mode)'s eighth studio album *Songs of Faith and Devotion*, released in March 1993, which keyboardist Andy Fletcher described, humorously, as the band's "Tears for Fears moment" for its epic, synthesizer-based character.[12](https://stag.tul.cz/StagPortletsJSR168/PagesDispatcherServlet?pp_destElement=%23ssSouboryStudentuDivId_2351&pp_locale=en&pp_nameSpace=G233697&pp_page=souboryStudentuDownloadPage&pp_portlet=souboryStudentuPagesPortlet&pp_reqType=render&soubidno=155091) The English singer James Vincent McMorrow has also released a song of the same title.[13](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/james-vincent-mcmorrow-higher-love/)
## References
1. [Cover vs Original: 'Higher Love', Talk About Pop Music](https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2019/08/08/cover-vs-original-higher-love/)
2. [Lost Whitney Houston track remixed and released seven years after her death, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/whitney-houston-new-music-song-higher-love-kygo-steve-winwood-a8978721.html)
3. [Higher Love – Steve Winwood, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/steve-winwood-higher-love/)
4. [Whitney x Kygo 'Higher Love' Released This Day In 2019, Whitney Houston Official Site](https://www.whitneyhouston.com/en-ca/news/whitney-x-kygo-higher-love-released-this-day-in-2019/)
5. [Higher Love is now Whitney Houston's longest-running single ever on the Top 100 Official UK Singles Chart, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/higher-love-is-now-whitney-houstons-longest-running-single-ever-on-the-top-100-official-uk-singles-chart__28910/)
6. [The Number Ones: Steve Winwood's "Higher Love", Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2111723/the-number-ones-steve-winwoods-higher-love/columns/the-number-ones)
7. [Chaka Khan Induction Essay, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame](https://rockhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Chaka_Khan_Induction_Essay.pdf)
8. [Anatomy of a Hit, Billboard, 27 July 2019](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2019/Billboard-2019-07-27.pdf)
9. [Higher Love – Kygo & Whitney Houston, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/kygo-whitney-houston-higher-love/)
10. [Higher Love – Steve Winwood (remix page), AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/song/higher-love-remix--mt0066556935)
11. [Song "Higher Love", MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/work/34abf0f9-fa96-4d34-9d5c-fdbaa6b41315)
12. [4 Songs of Faith and Devotion (student paper on Depeche Mode)](https://stag.tul.cz/StagPortletsJSR168/PagesDispatcherServlet?pp_destElement=%23ssSouboryStudentuDivId_2351&pp_locale=en&pp_nameSpace=G233697&pp_page=souboryStudentuDownloadPage&pp_portlet=souboryStudentuPagesPortlet&pp_reqType=render&soubidno=155091)
13. [Higher Love – James Vincent McMorrow, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/james-vincent-mcmorrow-higher-love/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Discographies and musical catalogues › Production and songwriter credit lists › Songs recorded by lists › Songs recorded by Western rock, pop, and R&B solo performers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license