Houston's crossover blend of pop and R&B had helped her to break barriers on pop radio and on MTV, which along with the commercial breakthrough of Michael Jackson, led to the music industry enjoying "the best time for crossover artists since the height of disco in the mid-to-late '70s", according to journalist Frank Rizzo in 1987.

[14] Houston's name was jeered by some in the audience at both the 1988 and 1989 Soul Train Music Awards (where she first met future husband Bobby Brown) after she was announced as a nominee in a category.

She recruited the new jack swing production team of L.A. Reid and Babyface, citing their work on Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel, to help her with her new direction.

Houston and Walden also worked on songs such as "Higher Love", "Dancing on the Smooth Edge" and "Feels So Good".

I'm Your Baby Tonight's Walden-produced songs are divided by contemporary dance-pop tracks and ornate ballads, while Reid and Babyface's productions reappropriate 1970s black pop and danceable funk with aggressive 1980s dance rhythms.

[7] According to AllMusic's Ashley S. Battel, Houston "attempts to make a larger foray into dance music" with this album,[3] while David Browne observed light synthesizer flourishes, thumping drum beats, and "dance-fever settings" throughout.

[5] James Hunter of Rolling Stone described the album as "a case study in how much [Houston] can get out of her luscious and straightforward vocal gifts within a dancepop framework.

"[7] J. D. Considine wrote that Houston's singing on the album features "sultry moans, note-bending asides, [and] window-rattling gospel shouts".

[4] Rolling Stone magazine's Jim Macnie said that the album "displayed a slick R&B edge" and features "funk-and-dance-driven pop".

[1] In the United States, I'm Your Baby Tonight debuted at number 22 on the Billboard 200 chart, for the issue dated November 24, 1990.

[21][22] The album was certified 4× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on April 5, 1995, and since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in May 1991, it had sold (as of 2009) 1,728,000 copies in the United States; this numerical amount does not include copies sold in the initial months of the album's release or its sales through mail-order sources such as Columbia House or BMG Music Club.

[35] The single was certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 27, 1990.

In Italy, it reached number one on the Musica e dischi singles chart in November 1990 and remained atop for five weeks.

[37][38] It also reached the top five in many countries such as Austria,[39] Belgium,[40] France,[41] Germany,[42] the Netherlands,[43] Norway,[44] Sweden,[45] and Switzerland.

[63][64] "We Didn't Know", a duet with Stevie Wonder, was the sixth and final single from the album, released exclusively for R&B airplay in April 1992.

[65] Included on the tracklisting of the album's Japanese edition is a cover of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love", which was resurrected by Norwegian DJ Kygo in 2019, and "Takin' a Chance"; the latter became a success in the country.

Houston was presented this award for her achievements as an award-winning recording, performing and video artist, for her successful I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, for her best-selling video and single of "The Star-Spangled Banner" performed at Super Bowl XXV and for her multi-platinum album, I'm Your Baby Tonight.