August 1963 – February 2012
For her legions of fans, she was a pop icon, whose powerful and versatile voice led her to win many awards, totaling over 400 at the time of her death.
One of the most celebrated female singers of all time, until her image as America’s sweetheart was ravaged by drug use, Houston was a gospel-trained singer and the first female artist to enter the Billboard 200 album chart at #1. With her effortless vocals, she established a benchmark for superstardom and influenced countless other vocalists.
Early years
The daughter of singer Cissy Houston and the cousin of singer Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston was born into a musical family on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother and cousin nurtured her passion for gospel music and as a teenager, she was a sought after artist already singing on the scene in New York, recording her first young performances in the ’70s and early ’80s with Chaka Khan, Herbie Mann, and the Neville Brothers.
In 1983, record producer and music industry executive Clive Davis was taken to a New York nightclub where Houston was performing. He was so impressed with Houston’s talents that he signed her on the spot to Arista Records. Two years later, she released her first album, which yielded a string of hits including “You Give Good Love” and three consecutive #1 singles, the Grammy-winning “Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know,” and “The Greatest Love of All,” which has become a veritable anthem. The album established her as an important new recording artist, and went on to sell over 12 million copies in the United States making it the biggest selling debut album by a solo artist. A second album was released in June 1987 and Houston made history as the first female artist to enter the Billboard album charts at #1. Her third album in 1990 also became an international multi-platinum best-seller.
In 1992, Houston married former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown and the couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina. In the same year, Houston made her movie debut in “The Bodyguard,” which she co-starred with Oscar-winning actor/director Kevin Costner. The film not only broke box office records worldwide, but was ultimately responsible for the biggest selling motion picture soundtrack album of all time. Film work continued with “Waiting To Exhale” where Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, and Loretta Devine. In “The Preacher’s Wife,” her third movie, she starred opposite Denzel Washington. Television movies followed with “The Wonderful World of Disney” in 1997, where Houston played a Fairy Godmother. Houston and her company, BrownHouse Productions, served as executive producers on the project, which garnered seven Emmy nominations. The next year, fans ecstatically received her first non-soundtrack related studio album in eight years, “My Love Is Your Love” which she produced with Clive Davis.
Her marriage, which was, at one point was documented in a Bravo reality television series; “Being Bobby Brown” was rocky. The duo had a notoriously turbulent relationship that was riddled with drug use and marital problems. They divorced in 2007. In 2009, the singer attempted a comeback, but was unable to curtail the rumors of drugs use.
On Saturday, February 11, 2010, the legendary singer was declared dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel in California about 4pm after paramedics from the Beverly Hills Fire Department tried to revive her. There is still no word on the cause of her death and results are on security hold pending a toxicology report. Houston was just six months shy of her 49th birthday.
America’s Sweetheart
The Guinness Book Of World Records lists Whitney as music’s “most awarded female artist of all time,” with an amazing tally of 411 awards (as of 2006) a tally that is certainly topped by her two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, and 23 American Music Awards, as well as MTV VMAs in the U.S. and Europe, NAACP Image Awards, BET Awards and, “Soul Train” Music Awards. With gold, platinum and multi-platinum album sales certified in every corner of the globe, Houston was named Female Artist Of the Decade at the “Soul Train” Music Awards and also inducted into the “Kids Choice” Hall Of Fame in 1996 and the BET (Black Entertainment Television) Walk Of Fame in 1996 receiving Soul Train’s prestigious Quincy Jones Career Achievement Award in 1998.
“I am absolutely heartbroken at the news of Whitney’s passing,” music producer Quincy Jones said in a written statement. “I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her. She was a true original and a talent beyond compare. I will miss her terribly.”
Farewell to Whitney
On February 18th, a week after her death, the Houston family celebrated the life of Whitney Houston with a private burial service in Westfield, New Jersey Fairview Cemetery where she was buried next to her father, John Russell Houston, who died in 2003. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the Houston family requested donations be made to the Whitney Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts. Houston’s mother Cissy Houston and her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, were joined by mourners at the invitation-only service. There were musical tributes from some of the biggest names in the industry including Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys and audience members included Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Mary J. Blige, Tyler Perry and Mariah Carey.
A tearful Alicia Keyes remembered how Houston would reach out to young artists.
“[She] made us feel strong and capable and loved,” Keyes said before she sang. Houston’s longtime friend and the man who jump started her career, Clive Davis, said a talent like Houston’s was rare.
“You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that for a lifetime,” he said. “When one person embodies it all, it takes your breath away.”
During the service, actor Kevin Costner also remembered his “The Bodyguard” co-star as someone who shared the same interests and values. Both grew up in the Baptist church, a bond he said they shared over the years of their friendship.
“The Whitney I knew was still wondering if I’m good enough. Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?” he said. “It was what made her great, and what caused her to stumble at the end.”
At the end of the nearly four-hour long funeral, Whitney Houston’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You” played, as her mother Cissy led her casket out of the church. Bobbi Kristina followed.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is survived by her mother, two brothers and her daughter.
Photos complied by Shola Orolugbagbe
