Kygo released the 2019 version of “Higher Love” using Whitney Houston’s previously recorded cover vocals. The Norwegian DJ and producer issued the track as a single on June 28, 2019, turning a little-known Houston recording into a global dance-pop hit.
Houston had recorded her version of Steve Winwood’s 1986 song in 1989. It originally appeared as a Japan-only bonus track on physical editions of her 1990 album I’m Your Baby Tonight, so many listeners did not encounter it until Kygo’s reworking decades later.
The 2019 release is credited to Kygo and Whitney Houston, rather than being a newly recorded Houston studio performance. It topped Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart and also reached No. 1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. The other options are fellow DJs or producers, but none released this particular posthumous Houston collaboration.