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Arista Queen Houston re-ups in over $100M deal submitted by: Lisa D. source: The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, E! Online Date: August 3, 2001 By Chris Marlowe LOS ANGELES -- Whitney Houston has signed a new exclusive long-term recording agreement with Arista Records, label president and CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid said Thursday. The deal is valued at more than $100 million, with $25 million of it paid upfront. Exact details are difficult to ascertain because the deal Houston had with Arista before Thursday's signing still has her committed to at least six albums of new material plus two compilation albums. "It's a combination of things," Reid said of the deal. "First off, Whitney Houston is the queen of Arista Records. She really has earned this deal. But this wasn't an exchange of money for guaranteed anything." Asked why he would sign a new contract while the last one was still valid, Reid said, "Because she deserved it. I want her to feel very inspired, very committed and very happy to remain in her home." Despite Houston's long relationship with Arista, there had been some question as to whether she would stay with the label or join her mentor Clive Davis at his new label, J Records. Reid took control of Arista from Davis in a very public and prolonged power struggle slightly in May 2000. Davis, then 67, had been ousted after Arista's parent company, Bertelsmann AG, opted to enforce its mandate to retire top executives by age 60 amid strong disagreements over the corporate heir to the label Davis had run for 25 years. Reid strongly denied that there had ever been any doubt about Houston staying with the label. "There has never, ever been a question of her leaving Arista," he said. "The day it was announced that I would even potentially be coming in, Whitney Houston was the first Arista artist to reach out to me and be supportive. Even when the gossipmongers were saying the label was doomed, there was never any discussions of her leaving. Not between myself and her, or her lawyers, or her representatives or her husband or anyone." The deal is the largest that Arista has entered into, but Reid said there is no doubt in his mind that Houston is worth it. "We're happy," he said. "We're very, very happy. It's a wonderful feeling." Reid added that the deal also was better for Houston in many respects other than the purely financial, but he declined to elaborate. He also declined to compare Houston's deal with those signed by such other female stars as Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. "It's competitive with the best deals out there for recording artists of her caliber," was all Reid would say on the subject. "And for us, it's a renewed commitment from an artist that is the voice of her time." Houston has been a hugely successful artist since shortly after she initially joined Arista in 1983. Her second album, "Whitney," made her the first female artist to enter the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 1 when it was released in 1987. Her most recent album, "Whitney: The Greatest Hits," was released just as Davis was being removed from Arista. The 36-track retrospective also included three newly recorded duet singles that paired Houston with Enrique Iglesias on "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" and with Deborah Cox and George Michael on two less successful tracks. Including the best-of package, Houston is the only artist able to claim eight consecutive multiplatinum albums. She also has won six Grammy Awards, 21 American Music Awards, 15 Billboard Music Awards, 11 NAACP Image Awards and numerous other recognitions of her work. Besides her music renown, 1992's "The Bodyguard" brought Houston to movie-star status. It also featured a soundtrack that sold 37 million units, making it the biggest-selling motion picture soundtrack album of all time and which included the massively successful single "I Will Always Love You." Houston's film career has continued with 1995's "Waiting to Exhale" and 1996's "The Preacher's Wife." Other hit singles include "Saving All My Love for You," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "It's Not Right But It's Okay." Reid said he and Houston were beginning work on her new album immediately but had no time frame for its completion. "We're having creative discussions about the direction of the record now," he said. "We're going to work on the record for as long as it takes to make it wonderful, so I'm not going to schedule it and put that kind of pressure on Whitney." Pop diva Houston in new $100 mln deal with Arista NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pop diva Whitney Houston has signed a new, $100 million-plus contract with her longtime label Arista Records in a deal that is among the biggest in the history of the music business. ``I couldn't be more thrilled that Whitney has decided to continue her career here at Arista,'' said the company's President and CEO Antonio ``L.A.'' Reid. ``No one in the world can sing like Whitney, which is why she is regarded as the cornerstone of not only Arista, but the entire music business.'' The deal calls for the six-time Grammy award winner to cut six albums and two greatest-hits compilations for the label, where she has been since the start of her career. Houston said in a statement that she was ``excited with this new deal and I'm looking forward to going into the studio soon to start work on my next album.'' She is expected to begin work on her first LP within weeks, expected out within six months. Speculation was widespread that Houston might move over to J Records, which was founded by her mentor, Arista founder Clive Davis, who was ousted from the company and replaced by Reid in May 2000. But Reid said Houston, who he called ``the queen of Arista,'' was committed to staying with the label all along, and Arista ''didn't have to fight for it.'' The deal reportedly exceeded the recent $80 million-plus offer used by EMI's Virgin Records to win Mariah Carey from Sony Music in April. Carey, whose first release under the deal is the soundtrack to her upcoming film ``Glitter'' due out on Aug. 21, suffered a physical and emotional breakdown a week ago and is being treated in a New York-area hospital. Houston has been dogged by reports of erratic behavior in recent years. In January 2000, she was allegedly caught with marijuana at an airport in Hawaii, but a judge dismissed the charges. ``We all have good times and bad. I looked at Whitney Houston and saw a woman dedicated to her career,'' Reid said in Friday's Daily News. Houston is one of the biggest-selling solo artists of all time with sales of over 140 million albums, singles and videos over 15 years. Her most recent release, a double-CD greatest-hits compilation that came out in April 2000, has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. Arista is owned by BMG Entertainment, a unit of Bertelsmann AG. Arista is facing a $150 million loss for the year and planning to lay off hundreds of employees worldwide, according to the entertainment trade magazine Variety. Reuters/Variety REUTERS Whitney: The Greatest Deal of All by Mark Armstrong Whitney Houston is every woman. And now, she's making their combined salaries. The Grammy-winning diva has signed a record $100 million deal to remain with Arista Records, the label she's been with since Clive Davis first signed her nearly two decades ago. Houston's megabucks contract is said to be the music industry's biggest ever, topping even the $80 million deal signed by troubled songbird Mariah Carey in April. But unlike Carey's new multi-album deal with Virgin Records, Houston still owes six new albums to Arista under her current contract. "Whitney Houston is the queen of Arista Records," Arista president Antonio "L.A." Reid tells the Hollywood Reporter. "She really has earned this deal. But this wasn't an exchange of money for guaranteed anything." Some previously speculated that Houston might jump ship and join her mentor Davis, who started J Records after Arista sent him packing in a power struggle last May. But Reid insists "there has never, ever been a question of her leaving Arista." Under terms of the deal, Houston, 37, will get $25 million up front. In return, she'll fulfill her commitment to release six new albums and two greatest-hits compilations for Arista. "I am so excited with this new deal and I'm looking forward to going into the studio soon to start work on my next album," Houston said in a statement. "Arista Records has been my home since the beginning of my career. I am happy to be continuing the relationship and I look forward to working with L.A. Reid and the new Arista family." Since her smash 1985 debut Whitney Houston, the pop queen became one of the biggest-selling female artists of all time, selling more than 140 million albums worldwide, winning six Grammys and turning out classics like "The Greatest Love of All" and "I Will Always Love You." Her 1987 sophomore album, Whitney, made her the first female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard album charts, and generated seven consecutive number-one singles. Her last album, 2000's Whitney: The Greatest Hits, handed Houston her eighth consecutive multiplatinum album. But recently, Houston was making news more for her bizarre behavior than her music. In January 2000, she was stopped at a Hawaiian airport by security guards after they allegedly found half an ounce of marijuana in her carry-on bag. The drug charges were later dropped after Houston pleaded no contest and agreed to pay several fines. Still, the Hawaii incident sparked what would become a tabloid-fueled frenzy over Houston's state of health. The pot bust--followed by a series of strange incidents and a no-show at the Oscars--led some to speculate that Houston was battling a drug problem. "We all have good times and bad," Reid told the New York Daily News. "I looked at Whitney Houston and saw a woman dedicated to her career." Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2001