On February 11th, 2012, Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 pm...Still in disbelief at the loss of such a great talent who contributed so much to music and entertainment, I felt this loss of such an icon was a saddening realization that another one of my childhood stars was gone before their time. Although her life was plagued with drama, rumors of her questionable sexuality, and a drug addiction that brought about the hilarious phrase "Crack is Whack," Whitney's talents have not only broken records but made her a voice national treasure that none will be able to match or top.
Born in Jersey and raised singing in the church, Houston started her early career singing backup for many acts including Jermaine Jackson, Michael Zager Band, some background vocals on Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman." During her high school years, she continued to sing along her mother's side in many nigh clubs as well dabble in the music industry. It wasn't until after high school that Houston met with Arista head Clive Davis and later got signed in 1983. Her first taste of success came with her first duet single with Teddy Pendergrass titled "Hold Me," which reached the Top 5 on the R&B charts and was later featured on her debut album.
After the release of her self-titled debut album in 1985, Houston acheived her first #1 single with the song "Saving all my Love For You." With the success of her first single, Houston became huge in the US and landed an opening act with Jeffrey Osborne on his nationwide tour. With overseas exposure, it was only a matter of time before her next hits' "Thinking About You" and "How Will I know" landed her world recognition and MTV heavy rotation. She became the first African-American woman to break into the MTV generation and catapulted her career into superstardom with a 13x platinum debut album and over 25 million copies sold worldwide. Houston was the first female solo act to achieve such success at the time.
After a string of awards including Grammy, People, and MTV, she released her sophomore album Whitney in 1987 to mixed reviews but wide commercial success. She became the first female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 charts and the first artist to reach number one in both the US and UK, while also hitting number one in a series of other countries at the same time. Her singles "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "Didn't We almost Have It All", "So Emotional", "Didn't We Almost Have It All", and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", all peaked at number one and gave her the record of most consecutive hits on the US Billboard charts.
Following the success of her 2nd album and many humanitarian acts, Houston released I'm Your Baby Tonight in November of 1990. With more creative control on this project, Houston showed more versatility with a mix of up-tempo dance tracks, soulful ballads, and rhythmic grooves. Although receiving mixed reviews from critics, the album went on to reach 4x platinum and selling 12 million worldwide.
With the US involved in the Persian Gulf War, Houston was asked to perform "Star Spangled Banner" at Superbowl XXV on January 1991. Her rendition was received with a huge critical and commercial acclaim and was later released as a single that reached the Top 20 on the Billboard charts. She became the first female act to have the national anthem reach the charts and donated all her profits from the song to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund.
From one success after the other, Houston next accomplishment and greatest single of all time came from her first movie role The BodyGuard in 1992. The film received mixed reviews, mostly from Houston's lack of chemistry with co-star Costner and poor acting skills, but was a huge success at the box office grossing more than 121 million dollars in the US and 410 million dollars worldwide. Although the movie was a huge success, the soundtrack featured the Dolly Parton written song "I Will Always Love You" and would later become Houston's most iconic and successful single to date. The single went 4x platinum and Houston was the first female singer to reach such success in RIAA history and the best selling single by a female artist in history.
It seemed that Houston stook a step back from only working on albums, to produce, star, and direct more acting roles in critically praised movie performances. In 1995, Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon in the film adaptation to Terry McMillan's best-selling novel Waiting to Exhale. The movie was a huge success, opening at #1 and grossing over 67 million dollars and 87 million dollars worldwide. It also help pave the way for many other successful movies starring a full black cast that targeted a black audience. Her third role was a little more G-rated and close to her early life as Houston starred in the holiday movie The Preacher's Wife in 1996. She received 10 million for the role, making her one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood as well as the highest paid African-American female at the time. Although a moderate success at the box office, only grossing 50 million, the soundtrack sold over 6 million worldwide; the highest selling gospel album of all time. In 1997, Houston continued her "midas-touch" effect behind and in-front of the camera by producing and co-starring in the Disney live action remake of Cinderella. The tv movie was packed with an array of talent from all races and ages and was a huge success with over 60 million viewers, giving ABC its highest ratings in over 16 years.
With success from movies and soundtracks, Houston returned to the studio to work with new producers for a younger "hipper" sound and, after an 8 year hiatus, released My Love is Your Love in 1998. Although the album peaked at #13 on the Billboard 200, it spawned a series of hits and sold over 4 million copies in the US and 11 million worldwide. The album received great reviews from critics and hosted a string of awards, while opening the ears and eyes of many new younger fans to Whitney's edgier sound. To me, this was Houston last great album and the beginning of her career downfall. After the release of this album, reports of Houston's erratic behavior and personal struggles began to surface. Her "good girl" image began to fade as reports of drug use, missed appointments/performances, and unusual appearance later fueled the suspicion that Houston was indeed troubled. A suspicion that was later confirmed in a Diane Sawyer 20/20 interview in 2002.
With a shocking confession and the hilarious moment of "Crack is Whack", Houston continued to push through and released her fifth studio album Just WHitney... in winter of 2002. It was Houston's first studio album without the management of Clive Davis or her mother and had the highest first week sales of any other album to date. It was also her weakest selling album with only a million sold in the US and 3 million worldwide. Houston later released a Christmas album in 2003 but eventually became a mockery with the later release of the reality show Being Bobby Brown on Bravo.
It was clear that her relationship with then husband Bobby Brown was not bringing out the best in her and would seem less than a promising or lasting match. The two later separated and divorced in 2006 and Houston sold their Atlanta home featured in the series. In 2007 she annouced her return to music and reunion with producer and long time friend Clive Davis as her manager. In 2009, Houston gave her first interview in seven years on Oprah and revealed the years of abuse and drug use she went through while married to Brown.
Following her interview, Houston went on a series of promotional endeavors in association with her new album I Look to You. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts and sold over 300,000 copies in its first week. Although Houston seemed to be back and finally recovering, the "voice" was not the same as many of her appearances and concert footage showed a less than on par vocal performance. Many critics slammed Houston for her, somewhat, disrespect and unprofessional behavior for long-time fans. I think that many wanted her to be back so bad, but the Houston many had grown with and adorn was gone. It was later reported that the singer checked herself into to rehab as an out-patient in 2011 as part of a long standing recovery process.
Houston had remained out of the spotlight for awhile as she worked on a new movie with American Idol winner Jordin Sparks named Sparkle, set for release later this year. Although Houston had been on the road to recovery, her rush into performing and working again proved to be more stress than she could handle as days before the Grammy's she was seen as inebriated and aggressive. Unfortunately this was Houston last public appearance. On February 9, 2012, Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hilton Hotel room at 3:55 pm. A full autopsy and toxicology report is still underway and will not be released to the public for weeks now, but many speculate that it was a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol. I feel that this may be the most logical and realistic happening to such a great but troubled talent. Like many greats who had passed before her, Houston was surrounded by those who failed to step in and truly help her or tell her "no." I feel as though she was rushed back into the limelight and pubic by her mentor Davis and many people around her in the vain hope that the Houston of the past was back and all was fixed in the music world. We all wanted so bad to believe that she was making a full comeback, without realizing that after years of drug and spousal abuse, the problems were more deep rooted and harder to fix than just a simple "talk-it-out" solution. She needed more help before she was rushed back into the public eye and to hear her passing was truly a loss to music and the world. May she finally rest in peace...
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