Even though Ms Houston had managed just one album in almost 10 years and was widely considered a spent force within the recording industry, the singer's greatest hits collection will replace Adele's 21 atop the Billboard 200 Monday.
"It's only inevitable that she'll be number one at Christmas following the manipulative and strategically timed re-release of her greatest hits," said Billboard executive Matthew Pollit. "So why not just get it out of the way early and put her at number one now? It's the right thing to do."
Additionally, the star's 1992 rendition of the song I Will Always Love You is expected to head up the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week - some 8 months before the track's inevitable re-launch in October.
"It just makes sense," continued Pollit. "There's no point pretending that her death is not going to have an inexplicably emotional grip on the collective American psyche. Bottom line; the American people want to see a bunch of Whitney Houston songs in the top 10 and that's what we're going to do."
Meanwhile, Houston's posthumous acting role in a remake of the 1975 film Sparkle, which will be released in August, is set to earn the star an award for Best Supporting Actress at next year's Golden Globes, with her agent poised to accept the gong on her behalf later this month.
Image credit: Asterio Tecson. Creative commons.