New Whitney Houston album set for holiday release

By Antony Bruno

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Whitney Houston will release her first album of original material since 2002 later this year, BMG Label Group chairman/CEO Clive Davis said Thursday.

Four songs have been completed for the as-yet-untitled project, and four more will be put to tape later this month, Davis said during Billboard's Music & Money Symposium at New York's St. Regis Hotel.

"We're on track for a holiday release," he said. "We're not going to compromise who she is to fit into today's hip-hop radio market. The public wants Whitney material."

Tracks earmarked for the album have been produced or written by Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am, producer/songwriter Sean Garrett and R&B singer Akon.

Houston, 44, has been dogged in recent years by drug and health issues -- including rehab stints in 2004 and 2005 -- a legal dispute with her father, John Houston, rumored financial problems and a troubled marriage to fellow singer Bobby Brown that ended in divorce.

Her last album, "Just Whitney," debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 in December 2002, and quickly slipped down the rankings. It was her first release since 1998's "My Love Is Your Love."

Reuters/Billboard