"One Moment in Time" is a

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

by American singer

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

, written by

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarians, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John B ...

and

John Bettis John Gregory Bettis (born October 24, 1946) is an American lyricist and songwriter whose songs have sold more than 250 million records worldwide, recorded by some of the most prominent artists of the late twentieth century. His work crosses man ...

, and produced by

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

as a promotional song for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It was released by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

on August 27, 1988 as the first single from the compilation album '' 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time'', produced in conjunction with

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

' coverage of the games. The song was Houston's third number one in the UK Singles Chart and reached number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was later included on the second disc of her first greatest hits '' Whitney: The Greatest Hits''; it is also on '' The Ultimate Collection'' and on the second disc of '' I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston''.

History

The song's melody was inspired by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, with Hammond imagining it as being sung by Presley "in lavish style" at the Olympics' opening ceremony. It appeared on the aforementioned '' 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time'' compilation album, which (in addition to Houston) also featured artists such as

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

The Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

Eric Carmen Eric Howard Carmen (August 11, 1949 – March 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit " Go All the Way" and four albums. He embarked on a so ...

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer who rose to fame after her first two albums ('' Tell It to My Heart'' and '' Can't Fight Fate'') were both certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of ...

and film composer

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

. The track is an anthem for believing in yourself against all odds as Houston asks for "One moment in time/when I'm racing with destiny/Then, in that one moment of time, I will feel eternity." Houston recorded the song in May 1988 while in London for nine consecutive sold-out concerts at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

during her

Moment of Truth World Tour The Moment of Truth World Tour was the second worldwide tour by American recording artist Whitney Houston and supported her multi-platinum hit album '' Whitney''. The trek started on July 4, 1987 in North America and continued overseas during 1988 ...

. Houston's vocals and orchestral backing by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

were recorded at the AIR Studios complex owned by former Beatles producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

, with additional backing recorded at Walden'
Tarpan Studios
in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

. At

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

's request, Houston recorded a final set of vocals at her home studio in

Mendham Township, New Jersey Mendham Township is a township in southwestern Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located more than due west of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 6,016, an increase of 147 (+2.5%) ...

in July 1988. According to Walden, Houston resented that Davis had interrupted her brief rest at home during a year-long world tour but agreed to make the final recording.

Chart performance

"One Moment in Time" was released by

on August 27, 1988, as the first single from ''1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time'', the soundtrack for the Games in

. The song debuted at number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the issue dated September 10, 1988. Nine weeks later, it peaked at number five on the chart, the issue date of November 12, 1988, becoming Houston's tenth top 10 hit on the Hot 100, and spent 17 weeks on the chart, including ten weeks inside the top 40 and four weeks inside the top ten. It also debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (formerly "Hot Black Singles") at number 78, the issue dated September 17, 1988, and six weeks later reached a peak of 22, her lowest position on the R&B chart at the time. On the issue date of November 5, 1988, the single peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Adult Contemporary chart, making it her seventh number-one single on the chart, and stayed on the top for two weeks. It ranked number 89 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Year-End chart of 1988. Worldwide, it was a big hit. In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 24, the week ending date of September 24, 1988, and within four weeks of its release reached the top position, a peak it maintained for two weeks, becoming Houston's third UK number-one single. The single was certified

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI) for shipments of 200,000 copies on October 1, 1988. According to

The Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

, the single has sold 400,000 copies in the country. In West Germany, it debuted at number 58 on the Media Control Top 100 Singles chart, the week dated September 26, 1988, and the following week went straight into the top ten. On October 24, 1988, the fifth week of its release, the song reached number one on the chart and stayed there for two weeks, making it her second West German number-one hit. The single was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for shipments of 250,000 copies or more by the

Bundesverband Musikindustrie The ( English: Federal Music Industry Association), or simply BVMI, represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 280 labels and music industry related enterprises, which comprise 90% of the music i ...

(BVMI) in 1988. Across Europe, "One Moment in Time" was successful, topping the

European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

chart for five weeks. It peaked inside the top five in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, and reached top ten in France and the Netherlands. But the single became a minor hit in Oceania region, peaking at number 53 and 34 on the singles chart, in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart for week ending February 18, 2012, following Houston's death.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' described "One Moment in Time" as "a grand ballad in a pompous production by

." Following Houston's death, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' published a list of her 25 best songs and ranked it #14 because: "The

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

needed an anthem, and Houston rose to meet the challenge with this majestic carpe diem chest-thumper. The song, a staple of sports montages, yielded one of Houston's all-time best performances at the 1989 Grammys ceremony."

Live performances

*1989: Houston performed the song at the opening of the

31st Grammy Awards The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. This also the first Grammy Awards Ceremony with a separate rap section. Album ...

on February 22, 1989, where she was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. This performance was broadcast live on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and released on the videos and CD: ''Grammy's Greatest Moments, Vol II'' (1994), and '' Whitney: The Greatest Hits'' (2000). It also appears on the CD/DVD '' Live: Her Greatest Performances''. *1989: Houston performed the song during

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

's 60th Anniversary Celebration in Show Business, taped at the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, an ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on November 13, 1989 and broadcast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on February 4, 1990. *1992: Houston performed the song at the 1992 Olympic Flag Jam at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a Stadium#Types, domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown Atlanta, downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of th ...

on September 17, 1992. The concert, which Houston co-hosted with Dick Clark, was organized to welcome the Olympic flag to Atlanta ahead of the city hosting the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. *1997: Houston performed the song again at the US Open Tennis Championships: the

Arthur Ashe Stadium Arthur Ashe Stadium is a tennis arena at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament and has a capacity of 23,771, ma ...

Inauguration Ceremonies on August 25, 1997.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song does not show Houston performing the song but is a basic collage of clips from the

. It opens from a clip of the Olympic torch in Seoul as a black and white video until the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremony is shown, during which it fades to color. As the song plays throughout, more scenes from the games are shown. When the chorus is sung for the last time, midway through it, scenes of the awarding of winners are depicted. The video ends with the aforementioned games' cauldron blazing. The featured athletes include

Florence Griffith Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded. She was married to Al Joyner, a 198 ...

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic Diving (sport), diver who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second ...

Janet Evans Janet Beth Evans (born August 28, 1971) is an American former competition swimmer who swam from 1989 to 1992 for Stanford University and specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a to ...

Kennedy McKinney Kennedy McKinney (born January 10, 1966) is an American former professional boxer, who won the bantamweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he won the IBF and WBO super bantamweight titles. Military service McKinne ...

Matt Biondi Matthew Nicholas Biondi (born October 8, 1965) is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Oly ...

, Phoebe Mills,

Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (; born 29 June 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win ...

, John Smith, and

Sergey Bubka Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (; ''Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka''; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by '' Track & Field News ...

Track listing and formats

*West Germany 12" maxi-vinyl/Maxi-CD single/UK 12" vinyl single (Version 1) # "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston ― 4:42 # "Midnight Wind" by Tony Carey ― 5:03 # "Olympic Joy" (Instrumental) by Kashif ― 4:03 *UK 12" vinyl single (Version 2) # "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston ― 4:42 # "Olympic Joy" (Instrumental) by Kashif ― 4:03 # "Rise to the Occasion" by Jermaine Jackson & Lala ― 4:43 *UK 12" vinyl single (Version 3) # "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston ― 4:42 # "Love Will Save the Day" (Jellybean Remix) # "Olympic Joy" (Instrumental) by Kashif ― 4:03 *UK / Europe 7" vinyl single # "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston ― 4:42 # "Olympic Joy" (Instrumental) by Kashif ― 4:03 *US 7" vinyl single # "One Moment in Time" ― 4:42 # "Love Is a Contact Sport" ― 4:16 *West Germany 5" maxi-CD single #"One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston ― 4:42 #"Olympic Joy" (Instrumental) by Kashif ― 4:03 #"Rise to the Occasion" by Jermaine Jackson & Lala ― 4:43 #"One Moment in Time" (Instrumental) ― 4:42 *JPN 3" CD single # "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston ― 4:42 # "Olympic Joy" (Instrumental) by Kashif ― 4:03

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

: vocals, vocal arranger *

: producer, arranger, drums * Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff: keyboards * Randy "The Emperor" Jackson:

Moog Source The Moog Source is a monophonic Z80 microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage. The design was also the first (and only) Moog ...

synth bass * Robert "Bongo Bob" Smith:

SP-12 The E-mu SP-12 is a Sampler (musical instrument), sampling drum machine. Designed in 1984, SP-12 was announced by E-mu Systems in 1985. Expanding on the features of E-mu’s affordable and commercially successful E-mu Drumulator, Drumulator, a prog ...

percussion, drum sampling, programming *

Ren Klyce Ren Klyce is a Japanese-American sound designer and sound mixer. Career He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards; six for Best Sound and three for Best Sound Editing. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director David F ...

: Fairlight synthesizer * Vernon "Ice" Black: guitar * The London Symphony Orchestra: orchestra *

Claytoven Richardson Claytoven Richardson (born May 23, 1956) is an American singer, instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and author. His musical career spans nearly three decades, during which he has been awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. ...

, Jeanie Tracy,

Jim Gilstrap James Gilstrap is an American singer and session musician. He is best known for his 1975 solo hit single " Swing Your Daddy", as well as singing co-lead to the theme from the TV series ''Good Times''. Career Gilstrap was born November 10, 1946 ...

, Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Lynette Stephens,

Rosie Gaines Rosie Gaines (born Rosemary Gaines; June 26, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer from Pittsburg, California. Gaines is a former band member of Prince's group the New Power Generation. She duetted with singer Prince on th ...

, Walter Hawkins: background vocals

Cover versions

"One Moment in Time" was performed live by then-11-year-old Teodora Sava in the auditions of the first edition of the Romanian children's talent show '' Next Star'' in 2013. Her performance gathered praise and positive reactions from all of the judges (who were seeing her for the first time) and online, and had 2.65 million combined

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

views, making her well known to a wider audience in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and abroad. Soon after, she recorded the song in a studio. British instrumental rock group

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

did a version on their 1989 album, ''Steppin' to the Shadows: 16 Great Tracks As Only the Shadows Can Play Them''. In 1998, diva

Jane McDonald Jane Anne McDonald (born 4 April 1963) is an English singer, songwriter and television presenter. Born and raised in Wakefield, McDonald spent much of her early career performing in local clubs and pubs before landing work as a singer on crui ...

did a cover of the song that was included as the first track on her self-titled album. Dana Winner also covered the song; her version has garnered more than 35 million views on YouTube.

In popular culture

Appropriately for the song's origins as an Olympic anthem, British Olympic gold medal-winning heptathlete

Denise Lewis Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports administrator and former sports presenter and athletics athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics ...

selected the song as one of her eight recordings on the BBC's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' in February 2012. That same month, the song was featured at the beginning of the

2012 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2012 was held on 21 February 2012. This was the 32nd edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London for the second time. The ceremony was presented by Jam ...

at London's

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena, London * O2 Arena, Prague *The 3Arena, Dublin, formerly known as The O2 *The Uber Arena, Berlin, formerly known as O2 World *The Barclays Arena Barclays Arena (originally known as the Color Line Arena an ...

in tribute to Houston (who had died earlier in the month), accompanied by a 30-second-video montage of her music videos. The song was featured in the ''Saved by the Bell'' revival episode "Let the Games Begin." It was also included on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 2022 biographical film '' Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody''.

References

External links

One Moment in Time
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:One Moment In Time 1988 songs 1988 singles 1989 singles Whitney Houston songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles UK singles chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Songs written by Albert Hammond Olympic theme songs 1980s ballads 1988 Summer Olympics Summer Olympic official songs and anthems Contemporary R&B ballads Pop ballads Soul ballads Songs with lyrics by John Bettis Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden NBC Sports Arista Records singles Gospel songs