BIOGRAPHY:

Bright talent allowed Whitney Houston to become a destroyer of social barriers for black artists on TV, in the film industry and even glossy magazines and create new standards in world pop music. But an abusive marriage and drug addiction turned the artist into the heroine of scandalous news and legal proceedings.

Childhood and youth:

Whitney Houston was born in Newark on August 9, 1963. She, the youngest in the family, had three older brothers: two from her parents’ previous marriages and her own, Michael Houston.

John and Emily Cissy Houston took their children to Baptist and Pentecostal churches. The environment fostered Whitney’s interest in music, as her mother and aunt were prominent figures in rhythm and blues, soul and gospel music. Already at the age of five, the girl began singing in the children’s choir of the Baptist church in her hometown, where she became a soloist at the age of 12.

Expressing a desire to pursue a musical career, Whitney spent her youth touring with her mother. She was a backing vocalist for Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls and her own mother, who began a solo career. In her youth, the artist was also a fashion model – her photos were published in Seventeen, Glamor, Cosmopolitan.

In the 80s, Houston already had experience working with record companies. But it was Clive Davis from Arista Records, impressed by the talent of the young performer, who offered her a contract, after which she became famous.

Whitney Houston’s musical career:

In February 1985, Whitney Houston’s debut album of the same name was released. It initially sold modestly. But with the release of the second single following Someone For Me, You Give Good Love, which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on other R&B charts, the album began to climb up the sales and popularity charts. Houston then began performing in many popular late-night shows previously usually closed to black performers. Subsequent singles, the romantic ballad Saving All My Love For You, the dance track How Will I Know, which opened the singer to the MTV audience, and Greatest Love Of All, reach first place in the pop and rhythm and blues charts, strengthening the young singer’s status performer for the general public. In 1986, after a year of the album’s release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 chart and held this position for 14 consecutive weeks. The album became an international commercial success, selling over 13 million copies in the United States alone, becoming the best-selling debut album by a female artist. The album itself garners positive reviews from critics and praise for Houston. Rolling Stone magazine calls her “one of the most exciting new voices in recent years.” That same year, the singer embarked on her first tour, The Greatest Love Tour, and received her first Grammy award in the category “Best Pop Artist” for the song Saving All My Love For You, as well as Emmy, American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. . Houston’s debut is currently included in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s Definitive 200.

The second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987. It became the first album in history by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the US and UK. The first four singles from the album – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Didn’t We Almost Have It All, So Emotional and Where Do Broken Hearts Go – reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Seven consecutive Hot 100 singles number one hits, breaking the previous record of six singles held by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. However, not a single song topped the R&B charts. Whitney was certified 9x platinum in America and has sold approximately 20 million copies worldwide. Many critics noted that this album was too similar to the previous one. Rolling Stone noted that it was “frustrating the narrow path through which this talent is channeled.” Houston won her second Grammy Award in 1988 in the same category for I Wanna Dance With Somebody and is touring the world with The Moment of Truth Tour. That same year, she recorded the song “One Moment In Time” for NBC for the 1988 Summer Olympics, which reached number five on the US chart and topped the UK and German charts.

Despite the worldwide success of Whitney Houston’s first two albums, many African-American critics noted that her music was “too white” and therefore sold well. Many have noticed that her singing on recordings lacks soulfulness, unlike her live concerts. At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Whitney’s name was announced, the audience booed her. Houston responded to the criticism: “If you want to have a long career, then this is the inevitable path, and I’m going down it. I’m not ashamed of it.” However, the singer decided to bring a new urban sound to her music.

The third studio album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, was released in November 1990. Such figures as Babyface, Antonio ‘LA’ Reid, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder were involved in the work on it. The album showed the singer’s ability to perform well both hard rhythmic compositions and soulful ballads and dance tracks. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified 4x platinum in the US, having sold 10 million copies worldwide. Although this album did not sell as well commercially as the previous two, it was met with critical praise. The same Rolling Stone called it “Whitney Houston’s best and most integrated album.”

Houston performed The Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. The recording was released as a commercial single that reached the top twenty of the US Hot 100, making Houston the first artist to have the national anthem as a hit. Houston donated her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. Ten years later, the song was re-released following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In 1991, Houston performed the I’m Your Baby Tonight Tour, which was called “the worst tour of the year.”

In November 1998, Houston’s fourth (not counting the three previous soundtracks) studio album, My Love Is Your Love, was released. Initially, the album was conceived as a collection of the best songs, but subsequently enough new material accumulated for a full-fledged new album. The album was recorded and mixed in just six weeks. Producers include such well-known figures in the American music industry as Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean, Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill. Houston’s music and performance, which are reflected on the new album, have acquired a new, more modern sound compared to past recordings. Singles from the album, such as Heartbreak Hotel, My Love Is Your Love and It’s Not Right But It’s OK, reached the top five of the Billboard charts and became international hits. The album also includes a duet with Mariah Carey “When You Believe” from the cartoon “The Prince of Egypt”. The album’s reviews were the strongest of Houston’s musical career. Rolling Stone noted that she “sings with a bitterness in her voice that hasn’t happened before.”

My Love Is Your Love became the fourth album with very good reviews from critics. His songs included When You Believe, performed by Whitney as a duet with Mariah Carey. The composition became the soundtrack of the animated film “The Prince of Egypt” and won an Oscar.

The year 2000 was marked by the release of the singer’s collection Whitney: The Greatest Hits, which included duets with Enrique Iglesias (Could I Have This Kiss Forever), Deborah Cox (Same Script, Different Cast) and others. Global sales reached 11 million, and the performer received the prestigious BET Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to black music and signed a six-album deal worth $100 million.

Just Whitney, the fifth studio album, did not please critics: sales amounted to 2 million copies. There were rumors about Whitney’s serious drug addiction. A year later, in 2003, the singer’s Christmas album, One Wish: The Holiday Album, appeared; it went only gold (500 thousand copies). In 2004, the singer toured a lot around the world, including visiting Russia. When she sang at the World Music Awards concert, the audience gave her a standing ovation.

Whitney Houston’s seventh album, I Look to You, was released in 2009. To promote it, the singer performed a lot on European shows – The X Factor, Wetten, dass..? and others. The collection became the singer’s last studio creation.

Movie:

In November 1992, Houston successfully debuted as an actress in the film The Bodyguard, starring Kevin Costner. Houston recorded six songs for the film. The main track is a cover of Dolly Parton’s country song I Will Always Love You. Some producers were skeptical of the song, not believing it would be a commercial success and receive little radio play due to its slow a cappella start. However, after releasing the song as a single, Houston was a resounding success. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart consecutively for 14 weeks. The single I Will Always Love You became the most successful and significant single for Houston in her career. This hit is still the best-selling single among female performers. The album itself was certified 17x platinum in the United States and sold 43 million copies, becoming the best-selling soundtrack in recording industry history. Whitney Houston has won three Grammy Awards, including the Academy’s most honorable nominations for Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

The Bodyguard soundtrack The Bodyguard, in addition to I Will Always Love You, includes such popular compositions as I Have Nothing and I’m Every Woman. With worldwide sales reaching 50 million copies, the collection became the best-selling soundtrack album in history and earned Houston a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Drug addict:

Against the background of a successful creative life, platinum albums, millions of fans around the world, Whitney Houston’s problems seemed unreal. However, for many years the singer suffered seriously from drug addiction. If at the beginning of her career she had the image of a “good girl” from a religious family, then by the 90s she did everything to destroy it.

Houston was often late for interviews and canceled performances and entire concerts. Once at the airport, the artist was found with marijuana, but she managed to leave before the police arrived. Rumors about drug use did not subside, because they were based on examples of moments when the singer’s voice changed at a concert; she often had a strange, detached look in front of the audience, and could mix up songs. Jane Magazine claimed that Whitney arrived at their interview in an inadequate state, sat with her eyes closed, imagining that she was playing the piano.

The artist’s painful thinness also raised suspicions of drug addiction, but Whitney attributed the situation to stress and an eating disorder. But later, during the “most anticipated music interview of the decade” on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the singer admitted that she used drugs with her husband.

In 2004, the celebrity went to a clinic for drug addicts. This did not give any results. In 2005, she repeated the rehabilitation course and successfully completed it. However, rumors about relapses did not subside. In her last years, Whitney was treated in clinics for drug and alcohol addictions.

Personal life:

In 1989, Whitney met Bobby Brown. Three years later they got married. Brown is a notorious singer who had three illegitimate children. Having married, he did not change his bad habits in his personal life: he got into trouble, went to prison, including for harassment, and beat his wife, for which he was convicted in the 2000s.
The marriage, registered in July 1992, produced a girl, Bobbi Kristina Houston-Brown. This was not the singer’s first attempt to give birth to a child, but subsequent pregnancies ended in miscarriage.

In 2007, the couple divorced. Whitney is tired of constant scandals. Later, Brown tried to challenge custody of his daughter and get alimony from the singer, but his ex-wife won the case.

Death of Whitney Houston:

On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. The singer was found unconscious in the bathroom of her hotel room by her aunt Mary Jones. They tried to bring her back to life with the help of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but to no avail – death was registered at 15:55 US Pacific Coast time. Police rule out a violent nature of death. The 54th Grammy Awards was dedicated to Houston.

On February 13, 2012, a presumptive version of Houston’s death emerged – before taking a bath, she drank a lot of alcohol along with antidepressants. Afterwards she fell asleep in the bathroom.
When the singer’s body was opened, water was found in her lungs. But the version of Houston’s death from water was not confirmed.

British composer Arseny Gorkin dedicated a composition to Whitney Houston called “In Memory Of Whitney”, which was written over the next two days after the singer’s death. On
March 23, 2012, the results of a police investigation were made public, which showed that the causes of the singer’s death were drowning, atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use. The death is being described as an “accident” and investigators have “no suspicion of injury or violence.” According to investigators, the examination showed that the singer was a chronic cocaine addict. Other drugs found in her blood included marijuana, a sedative (muscle relaxant) and an anti-allergy drug.

The funeral took place in the singer’s small homeland, Newark. The four-hour farewell ceremony at the Baptist church where Whitney performed as a soloist as a child was broadcast online. Among those present were such celebrities as Kevin Costner, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder. The artist’s grave is located in Fairview Cemetery next to her father’s grave.

Discography:

1985 – Whitney Houston
1987 – Whitney
1990 – I’m Your Baby Tonight
1998 – My Love Is Your Love
2002 – Just Whitney
2003 – One Wish – The Holiday Album
2009 – I Look to You

Filmography:

1981 – “Give Me a Break”
1992 — “Bodyguard”
1995 — “Waiting to Exhale”
1996 — “The Priest’s Wife”
1997 — “Cinderella”
2012 — “Sparkle”

Awards:

• Grammy Awards (7)
• Emmy Awards (2)
• Guinness World Records (3)
• American Music Awards (22)
• Billboard Music Awards (31)
• NAACP Image Awards (19)
• People’s Choice Awards (6)
• Soul Train Music Awards (8)
• World Music Awards (6)
• RIAA certifications
• Music Canada certifications
• BPI certifications
• RIAJ certifications

Interesting Facts:

In 2023, Rolling Stone named Whitney the second greatest singer of all time, behind only Aretha Franklin.
In a strange coincidence, in 2015, Christina Houston-Brown, Whitney’s daughter, fell into a coma after she was found unconscious in her bathroom. In July 2015, the 22-year-old girl died.
The group, in which Houston’s mother sang, recorded backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley. Aretha became “honorary aunt” and Darlene Love became Whitney’s godmother.