Whitney Houston Edges Garth Brooks for America's Favorite Singer

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THE HARRIS POLL 1994 #79 For Release: Monday, December 12, 1994

WHITNEY HOUSTON EDGES GARTH BROOKS FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE SINGER

By Humphrey Taylor

Whitney Houston is now the nation's most popular musical star. She is mentioned most often when Americans are asked to name their favorite singer, musician or musical group. Last year she was in second place behind Garth Brooks, who drops to second in this year's poll.

These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,246 adults surveyed by telephone between November 8th and 10th.

Others who do well in this year's poll include Barbra Streisand, who moves up from 4th to 3rd place and Reba Mclntyre who jumps into the list in 4th place. Vince Gill (6th place), and George Strait (7th) both made it into this year's top ten but were not listed last year.

The losers this year include Michael Jackson, the Statler Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Gloria Estefan and Michael Bolton all of whom drop out of the top 10.

Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman and CEO of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc.

Louis Hams & Associates 111 Fifth Avenue NYC (212) 539-9697 TABLE 1

FAVORITE SINGING STAR

"Who is your favorite singer, musician or musical group?"

Whitney Houston (2) Garth Brooks (1) Barbra Streisand (4) Reba McIntyre (not in top ten in '93) Alabama (3) Vince Gill (not in top ten in '93) George Strait (not in top ten in '93) Pavarotti (6) Beatles (not in top ten in '93) Frank Sinatra (8)

Dropped Out of Top 10 in 1994

Michael Jackson (5) Statler Brothers (7) Kenny Rogers (9) Gloria Estefan (=10) Michael Bolton (= 10) .

Favorite SingerIMusical Group Anlong Various Groups

Men: Garth Brooks Women: Whitney Houston

18-29: Whitney Houston 65 and over: Frank Sinatra

White: Garth Brooks Black: Whitney Houston Hispanic: Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand

Note: Figures in parenthesis show placement last year. k METHODOLOGY

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between November 8 and 10, among a nationwide cross section of 1,246 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non- response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on miblic Polls.

Contact Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., Information Services, 111 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10003, (212) 539-9697, for complete demographic details for the questions in this release. 7