Whitney Houston, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (1987) is a dance-pop anthem and one of Whitney Houston’s first mega-hits. It was released as the lead single from her second album, Whitney, and became her biggest record until her once-in-a-lifetime performance of “I Will Always Love You”. The lyrics depict a woman distracted by work during the day but consumed by loneliness at night, longing to dance with a lover.

Notably, the first stanza never specifies the gender of the desired dance partner (though later verses clarify). This ambiguity feels deliberate, especially considering the 1980s musical landscape, where rampant homophobia and the AIDS crisis made overt queer expression risky. Many artists, like Yazoo in “Only You” (1982), hinted at queerness through subtext rather than direct statements, making Houston’s lyrical vagueness a plausible nod to queer coding.

The song was penned by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, the same writers behind Houston’s earlier hit “How Will I Know?” (1985). After revisions, her longtime collaborator Clive Davis deemed it perfect for her.

The music video itself also can be seen to have bi or coming-out tones. It opens with Houston in monochrome, clad in conservative attire, before transitioning to a rainbow-drenched dreamscape where she dances freely. Her transformation includes vibrant clothing and a voluminous, crimped blonde wig reminiscent of Tina Turner.

While Houston never publicly identified as bi, those closest to her confirmed her orientation. Robyn Crawford, her childhood friend and former girlfriend, detailed their romantic relationship in her 2019 memoir A Song for You: My Life With Whitney Houston. In 2016, ex-husband Bobby Brown also affirmed Houston’s bisexuality in interviews with Us Weekly and his memoir, noting she hid her relationship with Crawford due to fear of judgment from her mother, gospel legend Cissy Houston, and her family. Brown went into more detail about it in an interview with Us Magazine.

Houston’s life was dramatized in the 2022 biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which includes a scene where she finds solace in the song’s initial gender-neutral lyrics, allowing her to project her feelings for Robyn onto the music.

Decades later, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” remains one of Houston’s most iconic hits. The music video has approached half a billion views in YouTube, and the track boasts nearly 1.5 billion Spotify streams. Beyond its infectious energy, the song stands as a subtle bi anthem — a euphoric yet yearning ode to being seen by someone you love. Its legacy cements it as a radiant milestone for bi representation in pop music.