The Preacher's Wife (soundtrack)

The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album is the second soundtrack released by American singer Whitney Houston, accompanying the 1996 film of the same name, in which she starred. The soundtrack was released on November 26, 1996, by Arista Records and BMG Entertainment. The album was Houston's first in her career to be mainly produced by the singer, co-producing alongside Mervyn Warren on the album's "traditional gospel" material including renditions of Dottie Rambo's "I Go to the Rock", Kirk Franklin's "Joy" and Richard Smallwood's "I Love the Lord", the original composition "Who Would Imagine a King" and a gospel-inflected rendition of the Christmas hymn such as "Joy to the World".

Besides Houston and Warren, the album also contributed production from Babyface, Stephen Lipson, David Foster and Teddy Riley and featured guest artists such as New Edition lead singers Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill, contemporary R&B singers Faith Evans and Monica, gospel artist Shirley Caesar and Houston's mother Cissy Houston with choir participation from the Georgia Mass Choir and Hezekiah Walker's Love Fellowship Choir.

The album was her first credited soundtrack release since The Bodyguard in 1992. Upon its release, it peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and debuted at number one on its Top Gospel Albums chart where it stayed for 26 straight weeks, a record at the time and still an all-time record for a female artist. It also produced the highest single-week sales of a gospel album of all time in the United States, selling over 330,000 copies during its sixth week.

The soundtrack produced three singles. Its first single, "I Believe in You and Me", was the first to be released primarily in the United States where it debuted inside the top ten simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Adult Contemporary charts, eventually selling over a million copies in the country. The song was sometimes issued as a double-sided single with the Houston-produced rendition of "Somebody Bigger Than You and I". The second single, a gospel-dance rendition of "Step by Step", was a bigger international hit in several global markets, while a third, "My Heart Is Calling", was a moderate hit in the United States.

The album received many awards and accolades, including the controversial Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Album and the American Music Award for Favorite Soundtrack and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album. Her rendition of "I Go to the Rock" won the Dove Award for Best Traditional Gospel Recording. It was ranked the top-selling gospel album of 1997 by Billboard and won the NARM Award for being the best-selling gospel release of 1997.

The album has since been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of three million copies in the United States and became the first gospel release to sell a million copies in Europe, as well as half a million copies in Asia. It would go on to sell six million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling gospel album of all time, a record Houston still holds.