"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is the first single from Whitney Houston's second studio album Whitney. It was produced by Narada Michael Walden, and written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam of the band Boy Meets Girl, who had previously written the number-one Whitney Houston hit "How Will I Know". The original arrangement was more of a country tune but was transformed to make it a dance song by Walden.

The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 27, 1987 (the same day that Houston's album Whitneydebuted at number one, the first time ever by a female artist), and remained there for two weeks. It remained in the top forty of the Hot 100 for fourteen weeks, and was ranked fourth on the Year-End Chart.

The song reached number one on the Hot 100 Single Sales chart for two weeks, and on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for three weeks, Houston's longest run at that time. It was also a milestone in Houston's career, as it sold enough units to be certified platinum, her first single to achieve this. It was also number one on the Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks, and reached number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. It became Houston's first number-one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Internationally, Houston made the song a global smash, as it became her biggest hit at that point. It reached number one in over a dozen other countries, including the United Kingdom, West Germany, Australia, and Switzerland, propelling the parent album Whitneyto number one in all of those countries as well. At 4.2 million sold globally, it is Houston's second best-selling single after "I Will Always Love You".

Slant Magazineranked the song at #88 in their 100 Greatest Dance Songs

Blender Magazineranked the song #275 in their Top 500 songs since 1980 List.

The song also won "Best Music Video" at the First Annual Garden State (New Jersey) Music Awards. In 1988, Whitney Houston opened the night of the 30th Annual Grammy Awards singing "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".

The video for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (directed by Brian Grant) is one of Houston's best recognized music videos. In the intro of this video, Houston just finishes a performance onstage. She walks backstage, and the scene is intercut with more vivid, colorful images of her. The song then explodes into its beginning, with myriad locations and various outfits by Houston, as dancers trying to impress her as she dances around, just having a good time. The music video was in heavy rotation on music channels MTV, VH1, and BET during the song's run.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" was ranked fourth on The Billboard Hot 100 Year End Charts (1987), and remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for nineteen weeks.

It was Houston's fourth number-one single on The Billboard Hot 100, her third on The Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, fourth on The Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales, her fourth on The Billboard Adult Contemporary, and her fifth overall Billboard Top Ten hit.