LOS ANGELES: Our long national musical nightmare is over. Mariah Carey's, on the other hand, is just beginning.

After years of promised but undelivered singles, career-derailing reconciliations with Bobby Brown and, most recently, a string of potential-filled high-profile public appearances with Clive Davis, Whitney Houston has finally made good on her vow for a comeback, setting a Sept. 1 release date for her couldn't-be-more-anticipated new album.

"The wait is over," an announcement on the six-time Grammy winner's official website reads, as it ticks down the days (89 to go), hours, minutes and seconds until fans can get their hands on a copy of the still untitled record (it was previously referred to as Undefeated), the seventh studio album of her career.

Houston's first single, the Diane Warren-penned "I Didn't Know My Own Strength," is expected to be in radio rotation by the summer. No track listing has been released, though it's been rumored for months that the album may also include a duet with R. Kelly.

Houston's last album of original material, Just Whitney, was released in 2002.