Of the over 5000 guests who appeared on The Merv Griffin Show between 1963 and 1986, a great many of them were musical artists. Some of them were in the very early stages of their careers (and would later become superstars!), and some even made their very first TV appearance on the show! 

Here we wanted to share three classic musical performances that we think will inspire and get you moving. You can see many more on the special Musical Icons Playlist we’ve created for you over on our YouTube channel. We invite you to subscribe and join us there where you can view many classic interviews and performances.

In this post we share great performances by Whitney Houston, Barry White and Donna Summer. Whitney made her television debut on the Merv Griffin Show in 1983, before she even had a record out! This clip shows her singing her hit song “How Will I Know” off her first album on April 29, 1985. Barry White and his Love Unlimited Orchestra were the subject of an entire episode of The Merv Griffin Show on September 8th, 1977. Donna Summer appeared on the show with songwriter Paul Jabara to talk about the song “Last Dance” – with Donna singing the hit tune to close the show. Enjoy!