Peak
4
Weeks
20
Score
4,207
Chart Year
1993
A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by S. A. Baron. It depicts Houston performing the song to an audience in a dining room hall. The video is intercut with scenes from the film (The Bodyguard, the same thing for I Will Always Love You). It was later published on Houston's official YouTube channel in November 2009. The video has amassed more than 600 million views as of February 2022.
Whitney Houston performs "I Have Nothing" early in the movie The Bodyguard, which she stars in alongside Kevin Costner. It's a stunning performance, as we hear her rise into the chorus ("Don't make me close one more door...") and captivate the audience. Later in the film, she performs "I Will Always Love You," the first single from the soundtrack and what would become her signature song. "I Have Nothing" was the third single, released after "I'm Every Woman." Those first two singles were covers (originally by Dolly Parton and Chaka Khan, respectively), but "I Have Nothing" was an original song written specifically for the film. The hit-maker David Foster produced this song and wrote it along with Linda Thompson. Foster also produced Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" and another song on the soundtrack, "Run To You." Foster found his groove in the late '70s, co-writing "Got To Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn and "After The Love Has Gone" by Earth, Wind & Fire. Linda Thompson is best known as an actress, with roles on Fantasy Island and Beverly Hills, 90210. She and Foster were married at the time and would often collaborate on songs, with Thompson contributing lyrics. Their co-writes include "Voices That Care" and "So In Love With You" (by U.N.V.). Linda Thompson dated Elvis Presley in his later years, from 1972-1976. He inspired the lyric to "I Have Nothing." "I knew what it was like to live with the biggest male diva of all time," she told the Daily Express. "I had to write this lyric around Whitney Houston, who was the female diva in The Bodyguard, so I took some of the happenings and some of my feelings about having lived with Elvis and wrote about it." Note that Thompson wrote the lyric from the perspective of Elvis, channeled through Whitney Houston's character in the film. In the song, Houston asks her man to stay, pleading that she has nothing without him. But she also says she won't change for him, leaving the guy a choice: share her life on her terms, or leave and break her heart. Seems selfish, but superstars have certain obligations and can get trapped in their bubbles. Thompson chose to leave, even though she still loved Elvis. "I wanted more for my life," she wrote in her autobiography. "I wanted to be a mother. Live a more normal life." The Bodyguard soundtrack went on to sell over 18 million copies just in America. The movie was also a big earner, taking in over $400 million worldwide at the box office. It was Whitney Houston's first role; she went on to star in Waiting To Exhale and The Preacher's Wife. Along with The Bodyguard song "Run To You," "I Have Nothing" earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The winner was "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, which also beat it for the Grammy Award in the Best Song Written For Visual Media category. This is a great song to show off your vocal prowess if you can pull it off. Many American Idol contestants have tried over the years, including Katharine McPhee in 2006. She was mentored before her performance by the song's co-writer, David Foster, who produced her first single, a cover of "Over The Rainbow." They started dating in 2017 and got married in 2019 when Foster was 69 and McPhee 35.
Share my life Take me for what I am 'Cause I'll never change All my colors for you Take my love I'll never ask for too much Just all that you are And everything that you do I don't really need to look Very much further I don't wanna have to go Where you don't follow I will hold it back again This passion inside Can't run from myself There's nowhere to hide Don't make me close one more door I don't wanna hurt anymore Stay in my arms if you dare Or must I imagine you there Don't walk away from me I have nothing, nothing, nothing If I don't have you, you, you, you, you You see through Right to the heart of me You break down my walls With the strength of your love I never knew Love like I've known it with you Will a memory survive One I can hold on to? I don't really need to look Very much further I don't wanna have to go Where you don't follow I will hold it back again This passion inside I can't run from myself There's nowhere to hide Your love I'll remember forever Don't make me close one more door I don't want to hurt anymore Stay in my arms if you dare Or must I imagine you there Don't walk away from me I have nothing, nothing, nothing Don't make me close one more door I don't wanna hurt anymore Stay in my arms if you dare Or must I imagine you there Don't walk away from me No, don't walk away from me Don't you dare walk away from me I have nothing, nothing, nothing If I don't have you, you If I don't have you, oh, oh Writer/s: David Foster, Linda Thompson
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 27, 1993 | 42 | 84 |
| 2 | Mar 6, 1993 | 23 | 103 |
| 3 | Mar 13, 1993 | 11 | 115 |
| 4 | Mar 20, 1993 | 9 | 117 |
| 5 | Mar 27, 1993 | 6 | 120 |
| 6 | Apr 3, 1993 | 4 | 122 |
| 7 | Apr 10, 1993 | 4 | 122 |
| 8 | Apr 17, 1993 | 4 | 122 |
| 9 | Apr 24, 1993 | 4 | 122 |
| 10 | May 1, 1993 | 4 | 122 |
| 11 | May 8, 1993 | 5 | 121 |
| 12 | May 15, 1993 | 5 | 121 |
| 13 | May 22, 1993 | 9 | 117 |
| 14 | May 29, 1993 | 9 | 117 |
| 15 | Jun 5, 1993 | 16 | 110 |
| 16 | Jun 12, 1993 | 26 | 100 |
| 17 | Jun 19, 1993 | 33 | 93 |
| 18 | Jun 26, 1993 | 42 | 84 |
| 19 | Jul 3, 1993 | 51 | 75 |
| 20 | Jul 10, 1993 | 53 | 73 |