Whitney's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' Gets a New Slowed-Down Duet

The song that’s sent countless wedding guests to the dance floor now has a beautiful new rendition.

Whitney Houston

Even though Whitney Houston died more than a decade ago, her mega-hit is getting a new life thanks to a harmonious new duet of the beltable tune that features her original vocals. The project was sparked in 2024, when English recording artist Calum Scott opened for Ed Sheeran and performed a ballad version of the song that weaved in Robyn’s Dancing On My Own. After hearing the moving remix, music publisher Primary Wave, which owns the copyrights to many of Houston’s hits, floated the idea for a balladic reinterpretation of the pop anthem.

And at the end of last week, Scott released a duet that makes use of the late musician’s original vocal stems (the isolated audio files of her singing). “You can hear it on the song, I didn’t oversing, I didn’t do anything new, I didn’t do any ad-libbing,” Scott told the Associated Press. “I felt like I gently walked alongside Whitney - if I can even say I walked alongside. I mean, I’m in absolute awe of her.”

George Merrill, one of the original song’s co-writers, instantly approved of the rendition: “Some people would have come in and they would have added something … to boost their visibility next to Whitney. And [Scott] had the boldness to tear it all down and just have acoustic piano, just Whitney, and then give her the first verse. And I mean, this is his project. To me, that’s showing such respect.” Scott added that he would “never dare stand in front of Whitney for that first verse.”

So, here it is...