title." Masser also told the Los Angeles Times that the song had another personal meaning for him to give up a legal career to pursue his interest in music, adding, "People thought I was crazy. I had to starve. Had no money. Marriage broke up. But I had to do what I'd wanted to do since I was 6... write music." Upon his return from Jerusalem, he contracted with lyricist Creed to work on the song and wrote it right from the heart. Then Masser had George Benson perform the song for the soundtrack. He said, "The record came out and the song became an underground theme for black people." Benson recorded "The Greatest Love of All" for the soundtrack album of The Greatest. The song was released as a single in the same year and was a substantial hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard R&B chart, the first R&B Top Ten hit for Arista Records, and ended the year at position 33. The single also reached positions number 3 on the Cash Box Top 100 R&B and number 4 on the Record World R&B Singles. In other charts, the single was between positions number 22 and number 29 in the US, number 27 in the UK, and number 25 and 42 in Canada. "The Greatest Love of All" is one of George Benson's most successful hits, and for this reason, two of his numerous collections were included in The Greatest Hits of All. and The Very Best of George Benson: The Greatest Hits of All, Charts Weekly charts {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Chart (1977) !Peakposition |- | Australia (Kent Music Report) |style="text-align:center;"|94 |- | Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) |style="text-align:center;"|42 |- | Canada Top Singles (RPM) |style="text-align:center;"|25 |- | UK Singles (Official Charts) |style="text-align:center;"|27 |- | US R&B Chart (Billboard) |style="text-align:center;"|2 |- | US Top 100 R&B (Cash Box) |style="text-align:center;"|3 |- | US R&B Singles (Record World) |style="text-align:center;"|4 |- | US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) |style="text-align:center;"|22 |- |- | US Singles Chart (Record World) |style="text-align:center;"|27 |- | US Top 100 Singles (Cash Box) |style="text-align:center;"|29 |} Year-end charts Whitney Houston version The song was further popularized by American singer Whitney Houston under the title "Greatest Love of All", without the definite article "The". The song was recorded in December 1984 for her 1985 self-titled debut studio album. The song became a major hit, topping the charts in Australia, Canada and the