Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, share a moment after Michael receives an honorary doctor of Humane Letters degree from the United Negro College in New York City.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
1990
Whitney Houston strikes a pose for her VH1 Interview.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
1991
Whitney Houston belts the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
1994
South African president Nelson Mandela and Whitney Houston smile for photographers in Johannesburg in this November 10th, 1994.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
1998
Whitney Houston and Wyclef Jean perform during an AmFar Benefit Concert in New York City.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
1999
Kelly Price, Whitney Houston & Faith Evans at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in New York, New York.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
2002
Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige perform on the "VH1 Divas Las Vegas", a concert to benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
2003
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon welcomes Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, Israel.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
2003
Queen Latifah and Whitney Houston enjoy themselves at the after party of VH1 Divas Duet at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
2004
Dionne Warwick, her cousin Whitney Houston and Natalie Cole perform together on the stage of the Olympic hall in Munich, southern Germany, during their German tour, the first ever where all three sing together.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
2009
Whitney Houston at the 2009 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California.
Gallery of Whitney Houston
2010
Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and Whitney Houston attend at Keep A Child Alive's 7th annual Black Ball in New York City.
Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, share a moment after Michael receives an honorary doctor of Humane Letters degree from the United Negro College in New York City.
Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige perform on the "VH1 Divas Las Vegas", a concert to benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Dionne Warwick, her cousin Whitney Houston and Natalie Cole perform together on the stage of the Olympic hall in Munich, southern Germany, during their German tour, the first ever where all three sing together.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, producer and model and is considered to be one of the world's best-selling music artists, whose albums have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Moreover, she is the most awarded female artist of all time.
Background
Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr., and gospel singer Emily "Cissy" (Drinkard) Houston. Her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American.
Education
At the age of 11, Houston started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where she also learned to play the piano. Her first solo performance in the church was "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah". When Houston was a teenager, she attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, whom she described as the "sister she never had". While Houston was still in school, her mother continued to teach her how to sing.
Houston's first recording as a featured vocalist was with Bill Laswell's experimental jazz-funk ensemble Material; the ballad "Memories," from the group's 1982 album One Down, placed Houston alongside Archie Shepp. The following year, Arista president Clive Davis heard Houston singing at a nightclub and offered her a recording contract. Her first single appearance was a duet with Teddy Pendergrass, "Hold Me," which missed the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 - but reached number five on the R&B chart - in 1984.
Houston's debut album, Whitney Houston, was released in February 1985. Its first single, "Someone for Me," was a flop, but the second try, "You Give Good Love," became Houston's first hit, topping the R&B chart and hitting number three on the Hot 100. Houston's next three singles - the Grammy-winning romantic ballad "Saving All My Love for You," the brightly danceable "How Will I Know," and the inspirational "The Greatest Love of All" - all topped the Hot 100, and a year to the month after its release, Whitney Houston hit number one on the Billboard 200. It eventually sold over 13 million copies in the U.S., making it the best-selling debut ever by a female artist. Houston cemented her superstar status on her next album, Whitney; it became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one, and sold over nine million copies in the U.S. Its first four singles - "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (another Grammy winner), "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" - all hit number one, an amazing, record-setting run of seven straight. In late 1988, Houston scored a Top Five hit with the non-LP single "One Moment in Time," recorded for an Olympics-themed compilation album.
Houston returned with her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight, in 1990. A more R&B-oriented record, it immediately spun off two number one hits in the title track and "All the Man That I Need." But the quality of the material was generally viewed as, overall, much weaker than her previous efforts, and following those two hits, sales of the album tapered off quickly, halting at around four million copies. Nevertheless, Houston remained so popular that she could even take a recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (performed at the Super Bowl) into the Top 20 - though, of course, the Gulf War had something to do with that. In retrospect, the erratic quality of I'm Your Baby Tonight seemed to signal Houston's declining interest in making fully fleshed-out albums. Instead, she began to focus on an acting career, which she hadn't pursued since her teenage years; she also married singer Bobby Brown in the summer of 1992. Her first feature film, a romance with Kevin Costner called The Bodyguard, was released in late 1992; it performed well at the box office, helped by an ad campaign that seemingly centered around the climactic key change in Houston's soundtrack recording of the Dolly Parton-penned "I Will Always Love You." In fact, the ad campaign undoubtedly helped "I Will Always Love You" become the biggest singles in pop music history. It set new records for sales (nearly five million copies) and weeks at number one (14), although those were later broken by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," respectively. Meanwhile, the soundtrack eventually sold an astounding 16 million copies, and also won a Grammy for Album of the Year.
Once Houston had stopped raking in awards and touring the world, she prepared her next theatrical release, the female ensemble drama Waiting to Exhale. A few months before its release at the end of 1995, it was announced that she and Brown had split up; however, they called off the split just a couple months later, and rumors about their tempestuous relationship filled the tabloids for years to come. Waiting to Exhale was released toward the end of the year, and the first single from the soundtrack, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," topped the charts; the album sold over seven million copies. For her next project, Houston decided to return to her gospel roots; the soundtrack to the 1996 film The Preacher's Wife, which naturally featured Houston in the title role, was loaded with traditional and contemporary gospel songs, plus guest appearances by Houston's mother, as well as Shirley Caesar and the Georgia Mass Choir. Houston also began making headlines for what appeared to be increasing unreliability, canceling several TV and concert appearances due to illness.
In 1998, Houston finally issued a new full-length album, My Love Is Your Love, her first in eight years. Houston worked with pop/smooth soul mainstays like Babyface and David Foster, but also recruited hip-hop stars like Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, and Q-Tip. The album sold even fewer copies than I'm Your Baby Tonight, but it received Houston's most enthusiastic reviews in quite some time. Moreover, it produced one of her biggest R&B chart hits (seven weeks at number one) in the trio number "Heartbreak Hotel," done with Faith Evans and Kelly Price. She also duetted with Mariah Carey on "When You Believe," a song from the animated film The Prince of Egypt.
Unfortunately, Houston was also back in the tabloids in early 2000. Speculation about her personal life only grew when she was dropped from the Academy Awards telecast that March, officially because of a sore throat, but reputedly due to poor rehearsals and a generally out-of-it air. Later in the year, Arista released the two-disc compilation Greatest Hits, which actually featured one disc of hits and one of remixes and included new duets with Enrique Iglesias, George Michael, and Deborah Cox. It was also announced that Houston had signed a new deal with Arista worth $100 million, requiring six albums from the singer. The self-styled comeback album Just Whitney arrived in 2002, followed by One Wish: The Holiday Album in November of the following year. Two years later, however, her personal issues became even more public through the 2005 reality television series Being Bobby Brown. She eventually divorced her husband and went into intense rehabilitation.
An album of new material was initially set for release by the end of 2007, but delays pushed it - titled I Look to You, featuring collaborations with Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, R. Kelly, Akon, and Diane Warren - back to September 2009. It became her first number one album since the Bodyguard soundtrack. She toured the world in 2010, and talked about beginning recording for her next album, but entered outpatient rehab in the summer of 2011 for continuing drug and alcohol problems. That fall, Houston filmed a role in a remake of the 1976 musical film Sparkle, starring alongside Jordin Sparks. In early 2012, rumors began to swirl that Simon Cowell was courting Houston for a mentor spot on The X Factor, but before anything came of it, tragedy occurred. On February 11, the day before the 2012 Grammys, Houston was found dead in her bathroom at the Beverly Hills Hilton. The cause of death was found to be accidental drowning caused by heart disease and cocaine use. The Grammy ceremony paid tribute to her life with a Jennifer Hudson performance of "I Will Always Love You."
Whitney Houston was raised by devout Baptists. She has always spoken of closeness with God.
Politics
Houston had very little to say about political issues, even though her father was very active in black political organizations. He helped campaign for New Jersey’s first black mayor, Kenneth Jackson.
"You've got to know who you are before you step into this business, because if you're trying to find it, you'll probably wind up being somebody else, that you probably don't even like."
"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."
"I like being a woman, even in a man's world. After all, men can't wear dresses, but we can wear the pants."
"I finally faced the fact that it isn't a crime not having friends. Being alone means you have fewer problems."
"I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe."
"My mother taught me that when you stand in the truth and someone tells a lie about you, don't fight it."
"God gave me a voice to sing with, and when you have that, what other gimmick is there?"
"When I decided to be a singer, my mother warned me I'd be alone a lot. Basically we all are. Loneliness comes with life."
Personality
Though Houston was seen as a "good girl" with a perfect image in the 1980s and early 1990s, her behavior had changed by 1999 and 2000. She was often hours late for interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals, she canceled concerts and talk-show appearances, and there were reports of erratic behavior. Missed performances and weight loss led to rumors about Houston using drugs with her husband. On January 11, 2000, airport security guards discovered marijuana in both Houston's and husband Bobby Brown's luggage at a Hawaii airport, but the two boarded the plane and departed before authorities could arrive. Charges were later dropped against them, but rumors of drug usage by Houston and Brown would continue to surface. Two months later, Clive Davis was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Houston had been scheduled to perform at the event, but was a no-show.
In 2001 she made an appearance on Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special, where her extremely thin frame further spurred rumors of drug use. Houston's publicist said, "Whitney has been under stress due to family matters, and when she is under stress she doesn't eat." (In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Houston acknowledged that drug use had been the reason for her weight loss.) She was scheduled for a second performance the following night, but canceled it.
In 2002, Houston did an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her then-upcoming album. During the prime-time special, Houston spoke about her drug use and her marriage, among other topics. Asked about the ongoing drug rumors, she replied, "First of all, let's get one thing straight. Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. Okay? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is wack." The "crack is wack" line was drawn from a mural that Keith Haring painted in 1986 on the handball court at 128th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan. Houston did, however, admit to using alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and pills; she also acknowledged that her mother had urged her to seek help regarding her drug use. Houston also denied having an eating disorder, and denied that her very thin appearance was connected to drug use. Houston further stated that Bobby Brown had never hit her, but acknowledged that she had hit him.
Houston went to the narcological clinic for recovery in March 2004, but the following year she appeared in Brown's reality series "Being Bobby Brown," showing even more uncontrollable behavior. In March 2005, Houston entered the same clinic, successfully completing the rehabilitation course. Although there were rumors of drug addiction Houston, her label insisted on the opposite.
In May 2011, Houston enrolled in a rehabilitation center again, citing drug and alcohol problems. A representative for Houston said that the outpatient treatment was a part of Houston's "longstanding recovery process".
Despite her mega-celebrity, Houston loved nothing more than hanging at home with her husband. A former employee told ABCNews.com that Houston loved to vacuum - because she like immediate results - and Brown loved to cook. Left to themselves, they wanted to be a fully functioning family. "Whitney was someone who wanted to be normal and just go for a slice of pizza at a place she liked near her home in New Jersey, but she wound up eating it in her car. The eyes on her were too much," the former associate said.
Physical Characteristics:
Houston was a mezzo-soprano. Jon Pareles of The New York Times stated she "always had a great big voice, a technical marvel from its velvety depths to its ballistic middle register to its ringing and airy heights."
Quotes from others about the person
Jon Caramanica: "Her voice was clean and strong, with barely any grit, well suited to the songs of love and aspiration. [...] Hers was a voice of triumph and achievement, and it made for any number of stunning, time-stopping vocal performances."
Mariah Carey: "She [Whitney] has a really rich, strong mid-belt that very few people have. She sounds really good, really strong."
Lauren Everitt: "An early 'I' in Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' takes nearly six seconds to sing. In those seconds the former gospel singer-turned-pop star packs a series of different notes into the single syllable."
Jon Caramanica: "She was, alongside Michael Jackson and Madonna, one of the crucial figures to hybridize pop in the 1980s, though her strategy was far less radical than that of her peers. Jackson and Madonna were by turns lascivious and brutish and, crucially, willing to let their production speak more loudly than their voices, an option Ms. Houston never went for. Also, she was less prolific than either of them, achieving most of her renown on the strength of her first three solo albums and one soundtrack, released from 1985 to 1992. If she was less influential than they were in the years since, it was only because her gift was so rare, so impossible to mimic. Jackson and Madonna built worldviews around their voices; Ms. Houston’s voice was the worldview. She was someone more to be admired, like a museum piece, than to be emulated."
Interests
Favorite color: purple.
Favorite number: 7.
Favorite animal: cat.
Favorite actor: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino.
Favorite instrument: piano.
Favorite food: sushi, tomato soup, "Pop Tarts".
Hobbies: Swimming, tennis, resting.
Music & Bands
Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Cissy Houston, Cece Winans, Kim Burrell.
Connections
Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy. She then met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. After a three-year courtship, the two were married on July 18, 1992. On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, the couple's only child.
1991 - Whitney Houston - Top R&B Artist;
1991 - I'm Your Baby Tonight - Top R&B Album;
1991 - Whitney Houston - Top R&B Singles Artist;
1993 - Whitney Houston - Hot 100 Singles Artist;
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Hot 100 Single;
1993 - Whitney Houston - Hot R&B Singles Artist;
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Hot R&B Single;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Top Billboard 200 Album;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Top R&B Album;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Top Soundtrack Album;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Album Most Weeks at #1 for 20 weeks (Special Award);
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Single Most Weeks at #1 for 14 weeks (Special Award);
1993 - Whitney Houston - #1 World Artist;
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - #1 World Single;
2012 - Whitney Houston - Billboard Millennium Award (Special Award).
1991 - Whitney Houston - Top R&B Artist;
1991 - I'm Your Baby Tonight - Top R&B Album;
1991 - Whitney Houston - Top R&B Singles Artist;
1993 - Whitney Houston - Hot 100 Singles Artist;
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Hot 100 Single;
1993 - Whitney Houston - Hot R&B Singles Artist;
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Hot R&B Single;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Top Billboard 200 Album;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Top R&B Album;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Top Soundtrack Album;
1993 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Album Most Weeks at #1 for 20 weeks (Special Award);
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Single Most Weeks at #1 for 14 weeks (Special Award);
1993 - Whitney Houston - #1 World Artist;
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - #1 World Single;
2012 - Whitney Houston - Billboard Millennium Award (Special Award).
1986 - "Saving All My Love for You" - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female;
1988 - "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female;
1994 - The Bodyguard Original Soundtrack Album - Album of the Year;
1994 - "I Will Always Love You" - Record of the Year;
1994 - "I Will Always Love You" - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female;
2000 - "It's Not Right But It's Okay" - Best Female R&B Vocal Performance;
2013 - Whitney Houston - Grammy Hall of Fame (Special Award).
1986 - "Saving All My Love for You" - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female;
1988 - "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female;
1994 - The Bodyguard Original Soundtrack Album - Album of the Year;
1994 - "I Will Always Love You" - Record of the Year;
1994 - "I Will Always Love You" - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female;
2000 - "It's Not Right But It's Okay" - Best Female R&B Vocal Performance;
2013 - Whitney Houston - Grammy Hall of Fame (Special Award).
1985 - Whitney Houston - Outstanding New Artist;
1994 - Whitney Houston - Entertainer of the Year;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Outstanding Female Artist;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Outstanding Album;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Outstanding Soundtrack Album, Film or TV;
1994 - "I'm Every Woman" - Outstanding Music Video;
1996 - Waiting to Exhale - Outstanding Motion Picture;
1996 - "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" - Outstanding Female Artist;
1996 - "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" - Outstanding Song;
1996 - Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack - Outstanding Soundtrack Album;
1996 - Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack - Outstanding Album;
1997 - The Preacher's Wife - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture;
1997 - The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack - Outstanding Gospel Artist (with Georgia Mass Choir);
1997 - The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack - Outstanding Album;
1999 - "When You Believe" (Duet with Mariah Carey) - Outstanding Duo or Group;
2000 - "Heartbreak Hotel" (Featuring Faith Evans and Kelly Price) - Outstanding Female Artist;
2010 - "I Look to You" - Outstanding Music Video;
2013 - "I Look to You" - Best Song;
2013 - I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston - Best Outstanding Album.
1985 - Whitney Houston - Outstanding New Artist;
1994 - Whitney Houston - Entertainer of the Year;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Outstanding Female Artist;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Outstanding Album;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Outstanding Soundtrack Album, Film or TV;
1994 - "I'm Every Woman" - Outstanding Music Video;
1996 - Waiting to Exhale - Outstanding Motion Picture;
1987 - Whitney Houston - Best International Solo Artist;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Best Soundtrack/Cast Recording;
2000 - Whitney Houston - Best International Female Artist.
1987 - Whitney Houston - Best International Solo Artist;
1994 - The Bodyguard Soundtrack - Best Soundtrack/Cast Recording;
2000 - Whitney Houston - Best International Female Artist.
1988 - Whitney - Best R&B Album of the Year, Female;
1994 - Whitney Houston - Sammy Davis, Jr. Award as Entertainer of the Year;
1994 - "I Will Always Love You" - Best R&B Song of the Year;
1995 - Whitney Houston - Soul Train Hall of Fame;
1996 - "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" - Best R&B/Soul Single, Female;
1998 - Whitney Houston - The Quincy Jones Award — for Outstanding Career Achievements in the field of entertainment;
2012 - "Celebrate" (Duet with Jordin Sparks) - Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance.
1988 - Whitney - Best R&B Album of the Year, Female;
1994 - Whitney Houston - Sammy Davis, Jr. Award as Entertainer of the Year;
1994 - "I Will Always Love You" - Best R&B Song of the Year;
1995 - Whitney Houston - Soul Train Hall of Fame;
1996 - "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" - Best R&B/Soul Single, Female;
1998 - Whitney Houston - The Quincy Jones Award — for Outstanding Career Achievements in the field of entertainment;
2012 - "Celebrate" (Duet with Jordin Sparks) - Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance.
1994 - Whitney Houston - World's Best Selling Overall Recording Artist;
1994 - Whitney Houston - World's Best Selling Pop Artist of the Year;
1994 - Whitney Houston - World's Best Selling R&B Artist of the Year;
1994 - Whitney Houston - World's Best Selling American Recording Artist of the Year;
1994 - Whitney Houston - World's Best Selling Female Recording Artist of the Era.