Where Do Broken Hearts Go

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"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"
Single by Whitney Houston
from the album Whitney
Released	March 9, 1988
Format	CD single Cassette single 7" single
Recorded	1987
Genre	R&B
Length	4:38
Label	Arista Records
Writer(s)	Frank Wildhorn Chuck Jackson
Producer	Narada Michael Walden
Whitney Houston singles chronology
"So Emotional" (1987) "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (1988) "Love Will Save the Day" (1988)

"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" is the fourth single from Whitney Houston's second album, Whitney. The ballad was released in March 1988. The song was written by Frank Wildhorn and Chuck Jackson.

Initially, Houston did not want to record the song, feeling there was no special message to convey. However, Arista Records CEO Clive Davis believed the song would go to number one if she recorded it, so she agreed. The single became Houston's seventh consecutive number one.

Chart information

Houston was already in a three-way tie with The Beatles and the Bee Gees; all three acts with six consecutive number-one singles in the U.S. "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" gave her a record-breaking seven consecutive number-one singles, holding down the top spot for two weeks from April 23 to May 7, 1988.

The song also topped both component charts, the Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales and Hot 100 Airplay and remained in the top forty for thirteen weeks. On other Billboard charts, the song fared well, reaching number one for three weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart and number two on the R&B chart. The song was ranked #33 on Billboard's year end chart in 1988 and #2 on its year end Adult Contemporary chart.

The song also became a top twenty hit in the United Kingdom and fared moderately in Australia, reaching number forty-eight.

Music video

The music video (directed by Peter Israelson) features Houston breaking up with a boyfriend and reflecting on happy memories; asking herself the title question, "where do broken hearts go?" At the conclusion of the music video, the couple reunites.

Covers

"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" has been covered by punk rock group Me First & The Gimme Gimmes on their 2003 album, Take a Break..and more recently by Joe McElderry on The X Factor 2009.

Charts

"Where Do Broken Hearts Go" was ranked thirty-third on The Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Charts (1988), and stayed on the chart for seventeen weeks. It was Houston's seventh number-one single on The Billboard Hot 100, sixth on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart, fifth on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, and sixth on Adult Contemporary chart.