After nearly 30 years showcasing her uncomparable talent and the past 20 years battling drink and drugs allegedly as a result, the ' Voice of a our Generation' Whitney Houston died at 48.
Houston was first introduced to her public by Clive Davis in 1983 when she wowed the world with her rendition of Home from The Wiz on The Merv Griffin Show. Since her introduction, Whitney Houston has sold over 170 million albums and has won 6 Grammys, has performed with some of the worlds biggest talent such as George Michael, Enrique Igleasias and Mariah Carey and also covered what is now one of the most famous songs ever due to her unbeatable vocal ability, on the Dolly Parton track I Will Always Love you which was also the theme for Houston's acting debut in The Bodyguard.
Houston spent the 80's wowing the world with songs such as I Want To Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), So Emotional and One Moment In Time and spent the majority of the 90's starring in movies such as The Bodyguard, Waiting To Exhale and The Preacher's Wife all of which Houston was also committed to the movie soundtracks. The late 90's saw Houston take a break from acting and return solely to music with the record My Love Is Your Love and with this main return came collaborations with the biggest names in the business(at the time) such as Producers Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins (Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Lady Gaga, Spice Girls, TLC), Wyclef Jean (Lauryn Hill, Mary J Blige), Babyface (Shai, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston) and Missy Elliott (Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey) as well as other stars who had made a name for themselves in the spotlight as well as behind the scenes Kelly Price, Faith Evans, Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey. 1998's My Love Is Your Love received seven Grammy nominations, one of which Houston won for Best Female Vocal Performance and the album went on to sell 10 Million copies to date, which will possibly triple now. Houston was untouchable, she had a successful movie career, a succesful music career and a strong family unit with her then husband, singer Bobby Brown and Daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown so at this high point in her career Houston and Arista records released Whitney The Greatest Hits, which to date has sold 10 Million copies worldwide and saw Whitney Houston collaborating with George Michael on If I Told You That and Enrique Igelsias for Can I Have This Kiss Forever.
Since the release of the Greatest Hits collection, the cracks were starting to show in Houston's life, it seemed she could not go anywhere without photo's being released documenting her deteriorating state, some of the speculation was anorexia and then it was believed to be down to drugs. It was a performance on a 30 year tribute to the late Michael Jackson that sparked attention as Whitney appeared to perform Jackson's hit If You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' where a frail Whitney Houston emerged and appeared to be out of breath throughout and it was reported that her state may be a result of her $730,000 drug habit, something that Whitney has never commented on when confronted.
In 2002 Whitney Houston had been working on a new album with Arista named Just Whitney, the album was made without the guidance of mogul Clive Davis as a declaration of independance and also a response to all the tabloid stories which is delivered in the lead single Watchulookinat, with the text message craze destroying grammar everywhere, this was a clear cry out for a wider audience as well as trying to remain inkeeping with a then modern R&B vibe that was acheived on 1998's My Love Is Your Love but the public had become more focused on the 'private life' of Houston and how that life was being depicted in the press as oppose to the story that Houston had tried to tell with this latest effort which contained some big ballads that saw Whitney tested at her attempts that made her famous, the songs were forgettable and the album did not prove a success which only worked against her, it was looking more and more as though Houston had, had her day.
Whitney Houston spent the next decade attending to her private life, still popping up in gossip columns all over the world as a drug addict, it was looking highly unlikely that Houston would ever return to music. A Christmas album, One Wish, was released in 2003 but seem to sink without trace, which given the track record of this extraordinary talent, should have been a major success and possibly will be now, but could have been had the concept been realised during the 90's when Houston had built up enough of a decent reputation.
In 2007 it was reported that Houston had filed for divorce against Bobby Brown and that she wished to return to music and in an attempt to clear the debris that the past decade had been left of her career, Arista released another Greatest Hits but wrapped in a bow of ' The Best Of...' in 2008.
In 2009 after the world had possibly written her off, Whitney Houston returned to music with a collection of brand new recordings as titled 'I Look To You', the world was waiting with baited breath.
Million Dollar Bill, written by Alicia Keys, was the lead single and Houston's vocals appeared to be in good shape. The Album included production from Akon, R. Kelly, Nate "Danja" Hills and Harvey Mason Jr and even saw some writing collaborations from Whitney herself, which has been rare.
I Look To You saw Whitney acheive the best first week sales of her career and was starting to look as thought Whitney Houston had got 'back on track'. A world tour was also on the cards the Nothing But Love Tour, which reportedly took $36million worldwide, however Houston did not receieve great reviews. Houston sang live throughout but her voice was not what it used to be, Whitney was very hoarse throughout her performance and even had to stop before the big and possibly best part of I Will Always Love You just to prove the pause did her no favours anyway as she was very hoarse and failed to hit the note. Apparently some fans were leaving before the show had finished.
After a bed reception both critics and her public Houston went a little quiet, possibly to work on her latest acting effort since 1997, a remake of the 1976 movie Sparkle which is still yet to be released. Houston made a few public appearances on award shows being serenaded by the likes of Kim Burrell performing I Look To You and Jennifer Hudson with I Will Always Love You. In 2011, after allegedly booking into rehab due to her returning to drug use, Houston looking healthy, also made an appearance at Prince Azim of Brunei's birthday party at his stately home in Leicestershire alongside Mariah Carey, Usher and Joan Collins. Rumours arose that Houston was planning to work on her eighth studio album and was looking to work with Wil.I.Am of The Black Eyed Peas. In February 2012 Houston was snapped leaving Kelly Price's pre Grammys party. They had been singing and the singer was intoxicated and had apparently started a fight with a young woman who was apparently flirting with her partner Ray J. Houston was caught leaving the party looking very dishevelled, her hair was wet and stuck to her face and apparently there were signs of blood down her leg, which could have possibly been red wine, the singer was however leaving to return to her hotel.
The next day, February 11th at 3.55pm, Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel room. The singer had apparently taken prescription drug Xanax which apparently calmed her nerves before performing and was due to perform at Clive Davis' pre Grammy party that night, it has been reported that she was found in the bath and due to the drug being a sedative, Houston may have drowned.
Houston was first introduced to her public by Clive Davis in 1983 when she wowed the world with her rendition of Home from The Wiz on The Merv Griffin Show. Since her introduction, Whitney Houston has sold over 170 million albums and has won 6 Grammys, has performed with some of the worlds biggest talent such as George Michael, Enrique Igleasias and Mariah Carey and also covered what is now one of the most famous songs ever due to her unbeatable vocal ability, on the Dolly Parton track I Will Always Love you which was also the theme for Houston's acting debut in The Bodyguard.
Houston spent the 80's wowing the world with songs such as I Want To Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), So Emotional and One Moment In Time and spent the majority of the 90's starring in movies such as The Bodyguard, Waiting To Exhale and The Preacher's Wife all of which Houston was also committed to the movie soundtracks. The late 90's saw Houston take a break from acting and return solely to music with the record My Love Is Your Love and with this main return came collaborations with the biggest names in the business(at the time) such as Producers Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins (Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Lady Gaga, Spice Girls, TLC), Wyclef Jean (Lauryn Hill, Mary J Blige), Babyface (Shai, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston) and Missy Elliott (Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey) as well as other stars who had made a name for themselves in the spotlight as well as behind the scenes Kelly Price, Faith Evans, Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey. 1998's My Love Is Your Love received seven Grammy nominations, one of which Houston won for Best Female Vocal Performance and the album went on to sell 10 Million copies to date, which will possibly triple now. Houston was untouchable, she had a successful movie career, a succesful music career and a strong family unit with her then husband, singer Bobby Brown and Daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown so at this high point in her career Houston and Arista records released Whitney The Greatest Hits, which to date has sold 10 Million copies worldwide and saw Whitney Houston collaborating with George Michael on If I Told You That and Enrique Igelsias for Can I Have This Kiss Forever.
Since the release of the Greatest Hits collection, the cracks were starting to show in Houston's life, it seemed she could not go anywhere without photo's being released documenting her deteriorating state, some of the speculation was anorexia and then it was believed to be down to drugs. It was a performance on a 30 year tribute to the late Michael Jackson that sparked attention as Whitney appeared to perform Jackson's hit If You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' where a frail Whitney Houston emerged and appeared to be out of breath throughout and it was reported that her state may be a result of her $730,000 drug habit, something that Whitney has never commented on when confronted.
In 2002 Whitney Houston had been working on a new album with Arista named Just Whitney, the album was made without the guidance of mogul Clive Davis as a declaration of independance and also a response to all the tabloid stories which is delivered in the lead single Watchulookinat, with the text message craze destroying grammar everywhere, this was a clear cry out for a wider audience as well as trying to remain inkeeping with a then modern R&B vibe that was acheived on 1998's My Love Is Your Love but the public had become more focused on the 'private life' of Houston and how that life was being depicted in the press as oppose to the story that Houston had tried to tell with this latest effort which contained some big ballads that saw Whitney tested at her attempts that made her famous, the songs were forgettable and the album did not prove a success which only worked against her, it was looking more and more as though Houston had, had her day.
Whitney Houston spent the next decade attending to her private life, still popping up in gossip columns all over the world as a drug addict, it was looking highly unlikely that Houston would ever return to music. A Christmas album, One Wish, was released in 2003 but seem to sink without trace, which given the track record of this extraordinary talent, should have been a major success and possibly will be now, but could have been had the concept been realised during the 90's when Houston had built up enough of a decent reputation.
In 2007 it was reported that Houston had filed for divorce against Bobby Brown and that she wished to return to music and in an attempt to clear the debris that the past decade had been left of her career, Arista released another Greatest Hits but wrapped in a bow of ' The Best Of...' in 2008.
In 2009 after the world had possibly written her off, Whitney Houston returned to music with a collection of brand new recordings as titled 'I Look To You', the world was waiting with baited breath.
Million Dollar Bill, written by Alicia Keys, was the lead single and Houston's vocals appeared to be in good shape. The Album included production from Akon, R. Kelly, Nate "Danja" Hills and Harvey Mason Jr and even saw some writing collaborations from Whitney herself, which has been rare.
I Look To You saw Whitney acheive the best first week sales of her career and was starting to look as thought Whitney Houston had got 'back on track'. A world tour was also on the cards the Nothing But Love Tour, which reportedly took $36million worldwide, however Houston did not receieve great reviews. Houston sang live throughout but her voice was not what it used to be, Whitney was very hoarse throughout her performance and even had to stop before the big and possibly best part of I Will Always Love You just to prove the pause did her no favours anyway as she was very hoarse and failed to hit the note. Apparently some fans were leaving before the show had finished.
After a bed reception both critics and her public Houston went a little quiet, possibly to work on her latest acting effort since 1997, a remake of the 1976 movie Sparkle which is still yet to be released. Houston made a few public appearances on award shows being serenaded by the likes of Kim Burrell performing I Look To You and Jennifer Hudson with I Will Always Love You. In 2011, after allegedly booking into rehab due to her returning to drug use, Houston looking healthy, also made an appearance at Prince Azim of Brunei's birthday party at his stately home in Leicestershire alongside Mariah Carey, Usher and Joan Collins. Rumours arose that Houston was planning to work on her eighth studio album and was looking to work with Wil.I.Am of The Black Eyed Peas. In February 2012 Houston was snapped leaving Kelly Price's pre Grammys party. They had been singing and the singer was intoxicated and had apparently started a fight with a young woman who was apparently flirting with her partner Ray J. Houston was caught leaving the party looking very dishevelled, her hair was wet and stuck to her face and apparently there were signs of blood down her leg, which could have possibly been red wine, the singer was however leaving to return to her hotel.
The next day, February 11th at 3.55pm, Whitney Houston was found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel room. The singer had apparently taken prescription drug Xanax which apparently calmed her nerves before performing and was due to perform at Clive Davis' pre Grammy party that night, it has been reported that she was found in the bath and due to the drug being a sedative, Houston may have drowned.
