What Everybody Ought to Know About Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston inherited her singing talent from her mother, Cissy, a successful background vocalist. Aretha Franklin was Whitney’s godmother while Dionne Warwick was her cousin.
Whitney Houston began her musical career by singing as a part of the local gospel choir. She went on to singing backing vocals for well-known singers like Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. At this point in time, she also worked as a model.
When she was 18, Whitney struck a deal with the Arista Records. They went on to produce the album, ‘Saving All My Love For You’ which earned Whitney a Grammy Award.
“Whitney”, her second album, made her the first woman to enter at number one in the charts. Four singles from this album all topped the Billboard charts. The single, ‘I Wanna Dance With Some body (Some body Who Loves Me)’ also hit the music charts in the United Kingdom.
By now Whitney Houston was being accorded superstar status and she was asked to record ‘One Moment In Time’, the title track for an album that was especially produced for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Whitney Houston debut in the film ‘The Bodyguard’
Apart from her musical talent, Whitney Houston’s also came to be known as a diva. Although Whitney participated in Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday concert, co-stars complained that the singer behaved like a prima donna.
In 1990, Whitney Houston released the album, ‘I’m Your Baby Tonight’. This album did not go down too well and critics panned it. Her world tour drew flak from the critics. The New York Times described her band as “clattering around like a drunk in a kitchen”.
In 1992, Whitney resurfaced with her acting debut in the film ‘The Bodyguard’. The film also launched the track ‘I Will Always Love You’, which is regarded as Whitney Houston’s greatest hit. The single remained at the top of the UK charts for 10 week. More than 37 million copies of the soundtrack album were sold.
In the same year, Whitney Houston married singer Bobby Brown. Their relationship was rocky but lasted for a long time. Before her marriage, Whitney had been linked to actor Eddie Murphy and American football star, Randall Cunningham. With Bobby Brown, Houston had her only child, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown on 4 March 1993.
In the early 1990s, Houston acted in the movie, ‘Waiting to Exhale’ as the lead character. She portrayed a TV producer in love with a married man. The film opened at number one and earned $87 million globally. The cast of the film got positive reviews from the critics.
Whitney Houston – overshadowed by drug abuse
The soundtrack for the film contained some of Whitney’s tracks including ‘Exhale’, ‘Count On Me’ and ‘Why Does it Hurt So Bad’, which made the top 30.
Whitney Houston’s personal life however was overshadowed by drug abuse. In 2002, Whitney admitted to drug abuse in a TV interview. Whitney checked herself into drug rehab in 2004 and once again in 2005.
In 2006, Houston began to revive her career by recording the song “Family First” with Dionne Warwick. and Cissyy Houston for the sound track ‘Daddy’s Little Girls’.
In 2009, Whitney Houston made a comeback with the album, ‘I Look To You’. This was her first number one album after ‘The Bodyguard’.
On the eve of the Grammy Awards, on 11 February 2012, Whitney was found dead in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Her death was attributed to accidental drowning.
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