Whitney Houston’s ‘My Name Is Not Susan’ Turns 35: The Hit That Reinforced Her R&B Legacy
On June 17th, 1991, Whitney Houston, the late music icon, released “My Name Is Not Susan”, the fourth single from her third album, I’m Your Baby Tonight. It’s not the usual song that has not become synonymous with Houston herself; that space is reserved for a revolving elite number of songs: “Greatest Love Of All” (1986), “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (1987), and the unmatched cover of fellow singer Dolly Parton’s 1974 hit “I Will Always Love You” (1992). Moreover, the song best synonymous with the respective era is the title track and lead single, “I’m Your Baby Tonight, (1990), but nevertheless, it proved to be a hit for the then-27 year old R&B icon.
Her name is Whitney Houston. That is what she wanted you to know her as. As multiple clips of past interviews of the singer circulate the internet, one of the recurring themes of the clips is that Houston always knew who she was. So much has been debated about her artistry in the context of whether or not her music was authentically R&B, especially at the height of her initial launch in the mid-late 1980s.
Writer H.Drew Blackburn, in their 2022 article, “Why Was It Absurd to Think Whitney Houston Didn’t Make Black Music? She Was Black”, for American Black History Museum.org, writes, “Houston faced vicious criticism about her Blackness that deeply affected her too. Murmurs and shouts from the peanut gallery to social justice leaders accused the singer of “selling out” to appeal to white audiences…For Houston, the idea she was a sellout has always been a ridiculous narrative that did little more than flatten and distress an enormous talent.”
That backlash came on full display at the 1989 Soul Train Awards when booes were given as she was announced for “R&B Artist of the Year”. This was a moment that would no doubt haunt Houston but also presented her with an opportunity that would alter the course of her career. This informed the singer to change up her sound, leaning into a more prevalent R&B sound for I’m Your Baby Tonight that would be at the root of her subsequent releases.
“My Name Is Susan” became Houston’s 15th top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number eight, and became a hit across Europe, from Luxembourg, Ireland, and Finland.
