Shocking Omissions: 'Waiting To Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album'
The album, with its star-studded tracklist featuring only women, isn't just one of the most successful soundtracks ever made, but a beloved, standalone R&B album.
In the early 1990s, a Hollywood film led by women was rare but visible (see: Steel Magnolias; The First Wives Club). But a Hollywood film led by black women was nearly unheard of. Enter 1995's Waiting To Exhale. To more cynical eyes, the Terry McMillan New York Times-best-seller-turned-film was little more than an attack on men, but for women (and especially black women), it was a chance to see modern versions of themselves represented on the big screen.
The leading ladies — an ensemble cast of , Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon — all the way through this year's standout . The soundtrack to , however, remains a moment unmatched in the years since, set apart by its star-studded tracklist featuring only women.
