"I Learned from the Best" is a song recorded by American singerWhitney Houston. The ballad, written byDiane Warren, was released as the fifth and finalsingle from Houston's fourth studio album,My Love Is Your Love (1998), in November 1999. When released, it peaked at number 27 on the USBillboardHot 100. Dance remixes of the song byHex Hector andJunior Vasquez topped theUS dance chart for three weeks. Houston gained another top 20 hit on theUK Singles Chart with this song, where it peaked at number 19. The song also topped the charts in Romania and Poland.
"I Learned From the Best" would be one of three songs where Warren wrote for the album. Lyrically, the song is about a woman refusing to return to an ex, reminding him of the times he broke her heart and how she would take him back, now telling him she can do the same to him ("I learned from the best / I learned from you"). Produced by longtime collaboratorDavid Foster, Houston actually was hands-on with the song, at one point asking Foster, who once produced hits for the rock bandChicago, to "add some Chicago horns on [this song]."[3] Houston was the vocal arranger and provided background vocals herself.
"I Learned From the Best" is apop andR&B song with elements ofpop rock. It has a slow tempo with 84 beats per minute.[4] The song starts in the key of G♯ minor and then shifts to A minor near the end.[4] Houston's vocal range on the song spans from the low note of D♯3 to the high note of C5.[4] Besides the key shift, the song is known for Houston holding a long soprano note at the end.
The song received favorable reviews from music critics.Nekesa Mumbi Moody fromAssociated Press said it "sound decent with her pipes".[5]Billboard constated that it is "a song that has most-added stamped all over it," writing further, "Written by the ultimate pop/R&B scribe of the 1990s,Diane Warren, this gorgeous ballad will take fans old and new to that sacred territory that Whitney established back in the years of classics like "Saving All My Love for You" and "All the Man That I Need". But make no mistake; the Houston of today is a fully seasoned, well-traveled diva, leaving the wannabes in scattered remains with this spine-chilling performance. You'll be throwing your hands in the air over the wisdom she's gained in this tale of the strong woman who's breaking bad with her lessons about heartbreak. Producer/arrangerDavid Foster, meanwhile, puts forth all that he's learned in the past two decades with a forceful instrumental package that borrows from his days of commandeering the horns-heavy Chicago through its comeback in the early 1980s. The three together—Houston, Warren, and Foster—simply can't miss in this stellar effort that brings together the best of their talents".[6]
Sonia Murray fromCox News Service viewed the song as a "by-the-numbers big ballad".[7] Henrik Bæk from DanishGaffa noted it as a "typical Whitney ballad".[8] Chuck Campbell fromKnoxville News Sentinel described it as a "classy David Foster-produced" song, and added that Houston is "predictably stately".[9] Christopher Tkaczyk fromThe Michigan Daily said in his review ofMy Love Is Your Love, that the song a "heart-racing R&B track".[10]Sun-Sentinel picked the song as the "one truly satisfying song" on the album, noting it as "an unassuming ballad".[11]
"I Learned from the Best" became the fifth and final single to be released from the album. In the United Kingdom, it was issued on November 29, 1999,[12] while in the United States, it was released in 2000. The song debuted at number eighty-three on the Hot 100 and peaked at number twenty-seven.[13][14] It reached the number thirteen on the Hot R&B Singles & Tracks.[15] According to theNielsen SoundScan, the single sold 500,000 units in the United States and certified Gold. Outside the US, the song topped the charts in Romania and Poland. The single reached number three in Iceland, number six in Finland,[16] number eight in Spain,[17] number ten in Hungary and number nineteen in the United Kingdom with 95,000 copies sold.[18][19] Besides, it went to the top forty in the Netherlands,[20] Sweden,[21] and Switzerland.[22]
The accompanyingmusic video for "I Learned from the Best", directed byKevin Bray, features Houston giving a concert performance of the song to a small intimate audience, as a man—presumably the ex-lover referenced in the song—watches with regret. It was filmed inCologne,Germany, Oct. 1999, during the end of Houston’sMy Love Is Your Love World Tour[23] and was featured in the first season ofMTV'sMaking the Video.
