ShuenrokuAn archive of musicians' final live performances

Final in retrospectAO Arena

Whitney Houston's last concert: Manchester Evening News Arena, June 17, 2010

On the night of Thursday, June 17, 2010, Whitney Houston played the final show of her Nothing But Love World Tour at the Manchester Evening News Arena — now the AO Arena — in the north of England. It was her first full tour since 1999, built around her 2009 comeback album I Look To You, and it had run for more than six months, from Moscow in December 2009 through South Korea, Australia and Europe. The two Manchester nights were themselves make-up dates, moved to the end of the tour after a respiratory infection in Paris forced her to postpone them in April. The setlist on her official website runs to 19 songs. She opened with "For The Lovers" from the new album, went back to "Saving All My Love For You" and The Bodyguard's "I Will Always Love You," and closed with "Million Dollar Bill," the album's opening track. Nobody billed it as a farewell. She never played another concert of her own, and died on February 11, 2012, at 48. Her official site now remembers the night as her final concert performance.

By Shuenroku Editorial TeamPublished

Whitney Houston on a dark stage in a long white vest and white trousers, singing into a microphone in her right hand and reaching out to the audience with her left
Reference photoWhitney Houston on the Nothing But Love World Tour at the O2 Arena, London, April 28, 2010.Photo: Egghead06 / CC BY 3.0
Date [11][7][13][19]
VenueAO Arena (Manchester, England)Known as Manchester Evening News Arena at the time
EventNothing But Love World Tour (final show) [7][19]
TourNothing But Love World Tour [11][7]
All datesJune 16, 2010, June 17, 2010 [11][13]
CategoryFinal in retrospect
Why it endedDeath [19][1][20][16]
LineupWhitney Houston [7]
Last song performed“Million Dollar Bill” [7][29]
Songs performed19 songsSee the setlist ↓
Video releaseNo UnverifiedNo official video or audio of this concert has been found (November 2026).[7]

About the artist

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in New Jersey.[1] By 1974 she was singing solos in the junior gospel choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, and from around 1978 she sang backup on records by Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, Lou Rawls and others. In 1983 an Arista Records executive saw her perform, and label head Clive Davis soon signed her.[2]

Her 1985 debut, Whitney Houston, was a huge success, with hits including "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All."[2][3] Starting that year with "Saving All My Love For You," she had seven consecutive No. 1 singles in the U.S. through 1988 — a run Sony Music Japan describes as hers alone.[3][4] Her second album, Whitney (1987), brought "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." She recorded "One Moment In Time" for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl, during the first Gulf War.[2]

In 1992 she made her starring film debut opposite Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard. Her version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" spent a then-record 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100[5] and won two awards at the 36th Grammys, including Record of the Year;[6] the soundtrack won Album of the Year.[1] She went on to star in Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), and "It's Not Right But It's Okay," from 1998's My Love Is Your Love, won the Grammy for best female R&B vocal.[2] By Sony Music Japan's count she won six Grammys and an Emmy, sold more than 200 million records worldwide, and toured Japan seven times.[4][3]

Why this was the last show

The Manchester show was never billed as a farewell. It was the last date of a world tour promoting I Look To You, the album she released on August 31, 2009.[7][8]

I Look To You sold 304,000 copies in its first week and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 — her first No. 1 debut since Whitney in 1987 and the biggest opening week of her career.[9] It reached No. 3 in the U.K. and No. 1 in Germany, and went platinum in the U.S.[8] Ahead of the Manchester dates, Houston told a local paper that this was her first full tour since the My Love Is Your Love tour of 1999.[10]

The tour opened at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Moscow on December 9, 2009. After St. Petersburg came Seoul on February 6, 2010, and then Australia in February and March.[11] According to a Reuters report, the Australian shows were panned by fans and critics alike.[12]

In early April, just before the European leg, Houston was hospitalized in Paris with a respiratory infection.[12] On April 7 her official site announced that doctors in Paris had diagnosed an upper respiratory infection and advised her not to perform while she recovered. Two shows at the Manchester Evening News Arena (April 8 and 9) and one in Glasgow (April 11) were postponed. Glasgow moved to May 1; Manchester moved to June 16 and 17, the very end of the tour.[13]

The European leg opened in Birmingham on April 13.[11] Reviews of that first night were divided. The BBC's Colin Paterson found great moments, among them "How Will I Know," but wrote that she seemed short of breath, which she put down to a cold and the air conditioning. Elisa Bray of The Independent thought the set was better paced than in Australia and that it was still an impressive voice.[12] From there the tour went on to Dublin, three nights at London's O2 Arena, Glasgow, Italy, Switzerland, a long run through Germany, Vienna, Copenhagen, Stavanger and Stockholm. After Helsinki on June 10, it came back to Manchester for the finale. The official site lists 39 dates in all.[11]

She never gave another concert of her own. In December 2010, at a taping of BET's Celebration of Gospel at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, she walked on unannounced partway through Kim Burrell's performance of "I Look To You" and brought the audience to its feet. The show aired on January 30, 2011, and was her last television performance.[14][15]

Her last performance in front of an audience came on the night of February 9, 2012. At a pre-Grammy event hosted by Kelly Price at the Tru nightclub in Hollywood, she joined Price onstage without warning and sang "Jesus Loves Me" with her for a crowd of about 300.[16][17] NBC News described Price hugging her and handing over the microphone, and Houston singing softly, her voice raspy, as people in the crowd shouted for her to sing.[18] It was one song in someone else's set, not a concert of her own; as a concert of her own, Manchester was the last.[19]

That weekend she was due to sing at Clive Davis's annual party on the eve of the Grammys.[16] Two days after the Tru appearance, on February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston died at the hotel where she was staying in Beverly Hills, California, at 48; the coroner ruled her death an accidental drowning.[1][20]

What is known about the day

The Manchester Evening News Arena is the city's big indoor arena. It carried the local newspaper's name from 1998 to 2012, then became the Manchester Arena and later the Phones 4u Arena, and since 2020 it has been the AO Arena.[21]

Houston's Manchester shows had originally been set for Thursday, April 8, and Friday, April 9. According to a local paper, the second night was added because of demand; the shows were due to start at 8 p.m., with tickets at £50 to £100.[10] When the dates moved to Wednesday, June 16, and Thursday, June 17, tickets for the original nights stayed valid.[13] Coming nearly a week after Helsinki on June 10, they were the last two nights of the tour.[11]

No detailed contemporary review of this particular night has turned up. What survives is the setlist: her official website keeps a song list for every date of the tour, and June 17 has 19 songs.[7]

She opened with three songs from I Look To You: "For The Lovers," "Nothin' But Love" and the title track.[7][8] Next came "My Love Is Your Love," the title song of her 1998 album, and the Grammy-winning "It's Not Right But It's Okay,"[2] followed by "Step By Step," a 1997 single.[22] The list then includes "For The Love Of You" and "Queen Of The Night."[7]

The middle of the show began with "A Song For You," which she had recorded for the new album,[8] and then reached back to the start of her career: "Saving All My Love For You," "Greatest Love Of All" and "All At Once" were all singles from 1985 and 1986.[22] "I Learned From The Best" followed, and then "I Love The Lord," a gospel song from The Preacher's Wife soundtrack.[23]

"I Will Always Love You" was the 15th song.[7] Two hits from the 1980s came next, 1987's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and 1985's "How Will I Know,"[22] and then another new song, "I Didn't Know My Own Strength."[7][8]

The last song was "Million Dollar Bill."[7] It opens I Look To You, and its credited writers are Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz and Norman Harris.[8][24] According to American Songwriter, Clive Davis brought the idea to Keys, and Houston asked Keys to produce her after hearing Keys's "No One" on the radio.[25] The single entered the charts in September 2009 and reached No. 16 on the R&B chart, while a remix went to No. 1 on the dance club chart.[24] The night began and ended with songs from the new album.

The night before, June 16, the list had 16 songs, without "Greatest Love Of All," "All At Once" and "I Learned From The Best." At London's O2 Arena on April 25 it had 15, so the final night ran four songs longer.[7]

Looking back in 2021, her official site noted that she closed the tour in Manchester that night and called it "Whitney's final concert performance."[19]

What the show left behind

The day after her death, on February 12, 2012, the 54th Grammy Awards went ahead at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Host LL Cool J led the audience in a prayer, and Jennifer Hudson sang "I Will Always Love You." Alicia Keys — who had co-written "Million Dollar Bill," the last song in Manchester — and Bonnie Raitt were among those who remembered her during the show.[6] Her final film, Sparkle, came out later that year.[1]

On January 15, 2020, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its new class; Houston was the only woman in it.[5] The Hall calls her the greatest singer of her generation, and Jennifer Hudson recalls watching her command the stage as a little girl and wanting to be like her one day.[26] That March, the Library of Congress named "I Will Always Love You" to the National Recording Registry.[27]

She also returned to the stage as a hologram. An Evening with Whitney, which paired a 3D image of Houston with a live band, backing singers and dancers, opened in Sheffield in February 2020 and played the O2 Apollo in Manchester on February 28. Mancunian Matters reported that some in the Sheffield audience found it eerie, and the idea divided people.[28] It came almost ten years after her last concert, in the same city. Performances at Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, were announced for January 26 to 28, 2023.[4]

In 2022 came the biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Naomi Ackie, which opened in Japan on December 23. Sony Music Japan marked the year — ten years since her death, 35 since Whitney and 30 since The Bodyguard — with a collection of her Japanese singles.[4]

In March 2023, I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston gathered her gospel recordings. Alongside the Bodyguard soundtrack version of "Jesus Loves Me," the song she sang at her last public performance, and "I Love the Lord," which she sang in Manchester, it included a previously unreleased live recording of "He/I Believe" from Yokohama Arena on January 2, 1990.[23]

The Manchester setlist is still there on her official website, alongside the song lists from the tour's other dates.[7]

Setlist

19 songs [7][29]
1. For The Lovers2. Nothin' But Love3. I Look To You4. My Love Is Your Love5. It's Not Right But It's Okay6. Step By Step7. For The Love Of You8. Queen Of The Night9. A Song For You10. Saving All My Love For You11. Greatest Love Of All12. All At Once13. I Learned From The Best14. I Love The Lord15. I Will Always Love You16. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)17. How Will I Know18. I Didn't Know My Own Strength19. Million Dollar Bill

Main set Cover Last song

  1. For The Lovers · opener; track 9 of the 2009 album I Look To You
  2. Nothin' But Love · track 2 of I Look To You
  3. I Look To You · title track of the 2009 album
  4. My Love Is Your Love · title track of the 1998 album
  5. It's Not Right But It's Okay · from My Love Is Your Love (1998); won the Grammy for best female R&B vocal
  6. Step By Step · 1997 single
  7. For The Love Of You · listed on the official site; setlist.fm says a backing vocalist sang it with an acoustic group (not yet verified)
  8. Queen Of The Night · listed on the official site; setlist.fm says two backing vocalists performed it (not yet verified)
  9. A Song For You · recorded for I Look To You
  10. Saving All My Love For You · 1985 single; setlist.fm lists this and the next two songs as a medley (not yet verified)
  11. Greatest Love Of All · 1986 single; not in the previous night's (June 16) setlist
  12. All At Once · released as a single in Europe in 1985; not in the previous night's setlist
  13. I Learned From The Best · not in the previous night's setlist
  14. I Love The Lord · gospel song from The Preacher's Wife soundtrack
  15. I Will Always Love You · Cover: Dolly Parton · 15th song; the theme from The Bodyguard (1992), written by Dolly Parton
  16. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) · 1987 single
  17. How Will I Know · 1985 single
  18. I Didn't Know My Own Strength · track 7 of I Look To You
  19. Million Dollar Bill · last song; track 1 of I Look To You, written by Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz and Norman Harris. The official list does not mark an encore; setlist.fm lists this as the encore (not yet verified)

Another final curtain

More nights that no one knew would be the last.

TimelineCareer span, final show and later events, limited to what sources confirm.
198519901995200020052010201520202025December 2010 Joins Kim Burrell unannounced on "I Look To You" at the taping of BET's Celebration of Gospel at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles (aired January 30, 2011; her last TV performance).February 9, 2012 Joins Kelly Price onstage at her event at the Tru nightclub in Hollywood and sings "Jesus Loves Me" — her last performance in front of an audience.February 11, 2012 Dies in Beverly Hills, California, at 48.February 12, 2012 Jennifer Hudson sings "I Will Always Love You" in tribute at the 54th Grammy Awards.January 15, 2020 Announced as a 2020 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.February 28, 2020 The hologram show An Evening with Whitney plays the O2 Apollo in Manchester.March 25, 2020 "I Will Always Love You" is named to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.December 23, 2022 The biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody opens in Japan.March 24, 2023 I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston is released, including a previously unreleased live recording from Yokohama Arena on January 2, 1990.June 17, 20101990200020102020December 2010 Joins Kim Burrell unannounced on "I Look To You" at the taping of BET's Celebration of Gospel at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles (aired January 30, 2011; her last TV performance).February 9, 2012 Joins Kelly Price onstage at her event at the Tru nightclub in Hollywood and sings "Jesus Loves Me" — her last performance in front of an audience.February 11, 2012 Dies in Beverly Hills, California, at 48.February 12, 2012 Jennifer Hudson sings "I Will Always Love You" in tribute at the 54th Grammy Awards.January 15, 2020 Announced as a 2020 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.February 28, 2020 The hologram show An Evening with Whitney plays the O2 Apollo in Manchester.March 25, 2020 "I Will Always Love You" is named to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.December 23, 2022 The biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody opens in Japan.March 24, 2023 I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston is released, including a previously unreleased live recording from Yokohama Arena on January 2, 1990.June 17, 2010
  1. Active years (1985 – June 17, 2010)
  2. Final show
  3. Joins Kim Burrell unannounced on "I Look To You" at the taping of BET's Celebration of Gospel at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles (aired January 30, 2011; her last TV performance).
  4. Joins Kelly Price onstage at her event at the Tru nightclub in Hollywood and sings "Jesus Loves Me" — her last performance in front of an audience.2 years later
  5. Dies in Beverly Hills, California, at 48.2 years later
  6. Jennifer Hudson sings "I Will Always Love You" in tribute at the 54th Grammy Awards.2 years later
  7. Announced as a 2020 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.10 years later
  8. The hologram show An Evening with Whitney plays the O2 Apollo in Manchester.10 years later
  9. "I Will Always Love You" is named to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.10 years later
  10. The biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody opens in Japan.12 years later
  11. I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston is released, including a previously unreleased live recording from Yokohama Arena on January 2, 1990.13 years later

We may earn a commission if you buy through these links. Details

These are not recordings of this show, but releases mentioned in the article and key works by the artist.

  • アイ・ルック・トゥ・ユー（I Look To You）

    アイ・ルック・トゥ・ユー（I Look To You）

    CD · Released September 16, 2009 · Cat. no. BVCP-40096

    The 2009 album discussed in the article (Japanese CD), with the studio versions of the new songs she sang on the tour, including "For The Lovers," the opener that night, and "Million Dollar Bill," the last song. It does not contain this concert.

    Amazon.comAmazon.co.jp楽天市場

  • ジャパニーズ・シングル・コレクション -グレイテスト・ヒッツ-

    ジャパニーズ・シングル・コレクション -グレイテスト・ヒッツ-

    CD / DVD · Released December 21, 2022 · Cat. no. SICP-31591〜3

    The 2022 compilation mentioned in the article (2 CDs + DVD), collecting her Japanese singles, including studio versions of hits she sang that night such as "Saving All My Love For You" and "I Will Always Love You." It does not contain this concert.

    Amazon.comAmazon.co.jp楽天市場

  • ボディガード オリジナル・サウンドトラック

    ボディガード オリジナル・サウンドトラック

    CD · Released December 5, 2018 · Cat. no. SICP-5961

    The soundtrack of the 1992 film mentioned in the article (limited-period edition).

    Amazon.comAmazon.co.jp楽天市場

Supported by Rakuten Developers

Sources

30 sources
  1. Whitney Houston — Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed 2026-11-06)
  2. Key dates from Whitney Houston's life and work — Daily Herald (Associated Press), February 2012 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  3. ジミ・ヘンドリックス プロフィール — ソニーミュージック (accessed 2026-11-05)
  4. ホイットニー・ヒューストン『ジャパニーズ・シングル・コレクション -グレイテスト・ヒッツ-』 — ソニーミュージック, November 11, 2022 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  5. Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G. Among 2020's Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees — NPR (Connecticut Public), January 15, 2020 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  6. Whitney Houston Remembered At 54th GRAMMY Awards — Recording Academy (GRAMMY.com), December 3, 2014 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  7. Nothing But Love World Tour — Whitney Houston Official Site (accessed 2026-11-06)
  8. I Look To You — Whitney Houston Official Site (accessed 2026-11-06)
  9. On the Charts: “I Look To You” Earns Whitney Houston Number One — Rolling Stone, September 2009 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  10. Whitney Houston brings worldwide tour to Manchester — Crewe Chronicle, March 31, 2010 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  11. Nothing But Love World Tour (tour dates) — Whitney Houston Official Site (accessed 2026-11-06)
  12. Whitney Houston returns to stage, critics divided — Stabroek News (Reuters), April 17, 2010 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  13. Whitney Concerts in Manchester and Glasgow to be Rescheduled — Whitney Houston Official Site, April 7, 2010 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  14. When Whitney Houston brought crowd to their feet with surprise duet in final TV performance — Smooth Radio, August 9, 2023 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  15. Houston Joins Burrell at the 2011 BET CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL — BroadwayWorld, January 26, 2011 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  16. Whitney Houston sang last song in small nightclub — Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 12, 2012 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  17. Watch: Whitney's final performance — CBS News, February 12, 2012 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  18. Watch Whitney Houston's final performance — NBC News, February 2012 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  19. Whitney Houston Closed The 'Nothing But Love' World Tour This Day In 2010 — Whitney Houston Official Site, June 17, 2021 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  20. Coroner: Whitney Houston's Death Ruled Accidental Drowning — NPR, March 22, 2012 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  21. Manchester Arena renamed AO Arena — Music Week, September 2, 2020 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  22. Timeline — Whitney Houston Official Site (accessed 2026-11-06)
  23. 1990年横浜アリーナでのライヴ音源など6曲の未発表曲を含むアルバムのリリースが決定 — ソニーミュージック, February 10, 2023 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  24. Whitney Houston's 'Million Dollar Bill' Made Chart Debut In 2009 — Whitney Houston Official Site, September 19, 2023 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  25. 3 Songs You Didn't Know Alicia Keys Wrote For Other Artists — American Songwriter, January 3, 2023 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  26. Whitney Houston — Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (accessed 2026-11-06)
  27. Library of Congress honors songs by Whitney Houston, Mister Rogers — UPI, March 25, 2020 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  28. Preview: Controversial Whitney Houston hologram tour set to light up Manchester — Mancunian Matters, February 27, 2020 (accessed 2026-11-06)
  29. Whitney Houston Setlist at Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England (June 17, 2010) — setlist.fm (accessed 2026-11-06)
  30. アイ・ルック・トゥ・ユー（BVCP40096） — ブックオフオンライン (accessed 2026-11-06)

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