This Whitney Houston Hit May Have a Special Connection to Jermaine Jackson

While many people loved Whitney Houston‘s song “Saving All My Love for You,” what they may not know is how Jermaine Jackson may be connected to the hit 1985 single. And the secret relationship they reportedly had going on when the song came out!

Yes, you read that right. The song Houston sang about a woman having an affair with a man who was married may have been mirroring the real-life affair she allegedly had with Jackson back in the 80s. While the song was originally performed by the husband-and-wife duo McCoo and Davis Jr. in 1978, it received new life thanks to Houston’s rendition seven years later.

At the time, Houston was rumored to be romantically involved with the “Let’s Get Serious” singer, despite him being married at the time to Hazel Gordy, daughter of Motwon founder Berry Gordy. In her biography, “Whitney Houston 1963-2012: We Will Always Love You,” published months after her death in February, she confirmed that the song’s subject matter was relatable as she had previously been involved in a “terrible affair”—though she stopped just shy of naming Jackson.

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“I was going through a terrible love affair. He was married, and that will never work out for anybody,” she said at the time.

To add even more fuel to the fire, both Houston and Jackson were working together in the studio a lot before the song came out, with the elder Jackson serving as one of her producers. And by the time the music video for “Saving All My Love for You” was released, the premise revolved around Houston, who portrays a fictional music artist who falls in love with her very married music producer, which then develops into a secret romantic affair.

(Fun fact: that producer was played by actor Ricco Ross, from Tyler Perry’s “Beauty in Black,” who strongly resembled Jackson). Despite her hopes that he will leave his wife and family for her, he ultimately returns home, leaving Houston’s character heartbroken and alone.

But while Houston didn’t name him, Jackson himself would later allude to and confirm their romantic connection in his own 2011 memoir, “You Are Not Alone: Michael Through a Brother’s Eye,” writing of his time working with Houston and spending time with her: “These were turning into duets between temptation and forbidden love […] I arrived on those days with butterflies, because the whole experience of being around Whitney was intoxicating […] it became increasingly hard to sing love songs with all that emotion and unspoken passion between us.”

What’s more, in 2012, a friend of Houston’s also opened up to the New York Post about their love, describing how Jackson would often get “smuggled” into her hotel room and how they’d often work late into the night together at the studio. Jermaine’s sister LaToya also appeared to confirm the affair during a 2012 appearance on “The Talk.”