Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Monday, February 13th, 2012Feb. 13, 2012
Whitney Houston, one of her generation’s greatest rhythm and blues (R&B) singers, died on February 11 in Beverly Hills, California. She was 48 years old. Her spectacular voice spanned three octaves and combined the sweetness of early pop music with the exuberance of gospel and pathos of soul.
All of Ms. Houston’s studio albums sold more than 1 million copies. Her 1985 debut album–”Whitney Houston”–sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone. The album included three No. 1 singles, including “Saving All My Love for You,” for which Houston won her first Grammy Award, for best female pop vocal performance. Her second album, “Whitney” (1987), was the first album by a woman to enter the Billboard charts at No. 1 and delivered even more hit singles: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.”
Such success drew the attention of Hollywood, and in 1992, Houston played a pop diva opposite Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard. The film’s soundtrack, which included the mega hit “I Will Always Love You,” sold 17 million copies in the United States and won the Grammy for album of the year. “I Will Always Love You,” composed by Dolly Parton, won single record of the year. After two more films, Waiting To Exhale (1995) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996), Houston resumed her pop career with another hit studio album, “My Love Is Your Love” in 1998, after which her career went into decline.
Whitney Houston was born on Aug. 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother, Cissy Houston, was a gospel and pop singer who backed up Aretha Franklin, and Ms. Franklin was Houston’s godmother. Houston’s cousins included singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. As a child, Whitney Houston sang in a church choir. Before becoming a star with her debut album, she worked as a backup studio singer for Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, and Teddy Pendergrass among others.
In 1992, Houston married R&B singer Bobby Brown. The following year, she gave birth to a daughter, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, who survives her. The marriage was troubled, and Houston and Brown divorced in 2007.
Whitney Houston is often cited as one of the most honored female performers of all time. She won 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 22 American Music Awards, and 30 Billboard Awards. Her albums, singles, and videos sold more than 170 million copies worldwide.
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