Whitney Houston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston performing at Good Morning America in Central Park on September 1, 2009.
Background information
Birth name Whitney Elizabeth Houston
Born August 9, 1963
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Died February 11, 2012 (aged 48)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Genres Pop, soul, R&B, dance, gospel
Occupations Singer, actress, model, film producer,[1] record producer,[2] songwriter
Instruments Vocals, piano
Years active 1977–2012
Labels Arista, RCA
Associated acts Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Jermaine Jackson, Mariah Carey, Enrique Iglesias, Bobby Brown
Website Official website
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time.[3] Her list of awards includes two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.[4][5] Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church’s junior gospel choir at age 11.[6] After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification.
Houston was the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits (“Saving All My Love for You”, “How Will I Know”, “Greatest Love of All”, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”, “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”). She was the second artist behind Elton John and the only female artist to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly “Top Pop Album”) on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston’s 1985 debut album Whitney Houston, became the best-selling debut album by a female act at the time of its release. The album was named Rolling Stone’s best album of 1986, and was ranked at number 254 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[7] Her second studio album Whitney (1987), became the first album by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[7] Houston’s crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for “How Will I Know”,[8] influenced several African-American female artists to follow in her footsteps.[9][10]
Houston’s first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). The film’s original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single “I Will Always Love You”, became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period.[7] The album makes her the only female act in the top 10 list of the best-selling albums of all time, at number four. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996). The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.[11] Three years after the release of her fourth studio album My Love Is Your Love (1998), she renewed her recording contract with Arista Records.[11] She released her fifth studio album Just Whitney in 2002, and the Christmas-themed One Wish: The Holiday Album in 2003. In 2009, Houston released her seventh studio album, I Look to You.
On February 11, 2012, Houston died of unknown causes at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.[12]
Contents
1 Life and career
1.1 1963–1976: Early life
1.2 1977–1984: Early career
1.3 1985–1986: Rise to international prominence
1.4 1987–1991: Whitney, I’m Your Baby Tonight and “The Star Spangled Banner”
1.5 1992–1994: Marriage to Bobby Brown and The Bodyguard
1.6 1995–1997: Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher’s Wife and Cinderella
1.7 1998–2000: My Love Is Your Love and Whitney: The Greatest Hits
1.8 2000–2005: Just Whitney, and personal struggles
1.9 2006–2012: Return to music, I Look to You, tour and film comeback
2 Death
2.1 Reaction
3 Artistry and legacy
3.1 Voice
3.2 Influence
3.3 Awards and achievements
4 Discography
5 Filmography
6 Tours
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Life and career
1963–1976: Early life
Whitney Houston was born in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, the third and youngest child of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. (September 13, 1920 – February 2, 2003), and gospel singer Cissy Houston (née Drinkard).[13] Her mother, along with cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin were all notable figures in the gospel, rhythm and blues, pop, and soul genres. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle class area in East Orange, New Jersey when she was four.[13]
At the age of 11, Houston began to follow in her mother’s footsteps and 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.[14] Her first solo performance in the church was “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.”[15]
When Houston was a teenager, she attended a Catholic girls high school, Mount Saint Dominic Academy, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, whom she describes as the “sister she never had.”[16] While Houston was still in school, her mother continued to teach her how to sing.[9] In addition to her mother, Franklin, and Warwick, Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of whom would have an impact on her as a singer and performer.[17]
1977–1984: Early career
Houston spent some of her teenage years touring nightclubs where her mother Cissy was performing, and she would occasionally get on stage and perform with her. In 1977, at age 14, she became a backup singer on the Michael Zager Band’s single “Life’s a Party.” Zager subsequently offered to obtain a recording contract for the young singer, but Cissy declined, wanting her daughter to finish school first. Then in 1978, at age 15, Houston sang background vocals on Chaka Khan’s hit single “I’m Every Woman,” a song she would later turn into a larger hit for herself on her monster-selling The Bodyguard soundtrack album. She also sang back-up on albums by Lou Rawls and Jermaine Jackson. In the early 1980s, Houston started working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother. She appeared as a lead vocalist on a Paul Jabara album, entitled Paul Jabara and Friends, released by Columbia Records in 1983.[18] She appeared in Seventeen[19] and became one of the first women of color to grace the cover of the magazine.[20] She was also featured in layouts in the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss, and appeared in a Canada Dry soft drink TV commercial.[21] Her striking looks and girl-next-door charm made her one of the most sought after teen models of that time.[21] While modeling, she continued her burgeoning recording career by working with producers Ben Dover, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called One Down, which was credited to the group Material. For that project, Houston contributed the ballad “Memories”, a cover of a song by Robert Wyatt. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution “one of the most gorgeous ballads you’ve ever heard.”[22]
Houston had previously been offered several recording agencies (Michael Zager in 1980, and Elektra Records in 1981). In 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records saw her performing with her mother in a New York City nightclub and was impressed. He convinced Arista’s head Clive Davis to make time to see Houston perform. Davis too was impressed and offered a worldwide recording contract which Houston signed. Later that year, she made her national televised debut alongside Davis on The Merv Griffin Show.[23]
Houston signed with Arista in 1983 but did not begin work on her album immediately. The label wanted to make sure no other label signed the singer away. Davis wanted to ensure he had the right material and producers for Houston’s debut album. Some producers had to pass on the project due to prior commitments.[24] Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled “Hold Me” which appeared on his album, Love Language.[25] The single was released in 1984 and gave Houston her first taste of success, becoming a Top 5 R&B hit. It would also appear on her debut album in 1985.
1985–1986: Rise to international prominence
With production from Michael Masser, Kashif, Jermaine Jackson, and Narada Michael Walden, Houston’s debut album Whitney Houston was released in February 1985. Rolling Stone magazine praised Houston, calling her “one of the most exciting new voices in years” while The New York Times called the album “an impressive, musically conservative showcase for an exceptional vocal talent.”[26][27] Arista Records promoted Houston’s album with three different singles from the album in the US, UK and other European countries. In the UK, the dance-funk “Someone for Me,” failed to chart in the country, was the first single while “All at Once” was in such European countries as the Netherlands and Belgium, where the song reached top 5 on the singles charts, respectively.[28] In the US, the soulful Ballad “You Give Good Love” was chosen as the lead single from Houston’s debut to establish her in the black marketplace first.[29] Outside the US, the song failed to get enough attention to become a hit but in the US, gave the album its first major hit as it peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the Hot R&B chart.[24] As a result, the album began to sell strongly, and Houston continued promotion by touring nightclubs in the US. She also began performing on late-night television talk shows, which were not usually accessible to unestablished black acts. The jazzy ballad “Saving All My Love for You” was released next and it would become Houston’s first No. 1 single in both the US and the UK. She was now an opening act for singer Jeffrey Osborne on his nationwide tour. “Thinking About You” was released as the promo single only to R&B-oriented radio stations, which peaked at number ten of the US R&B Chart. At the time, MTV had received harsh criticism for not playing enough videos by black, Latin, and other racial minorities while favoring white acts.[30] The third US single, “How Will I Know,” peaked at No. 1 and introduced Houston to the MTV audience thanks to its video. Houston’s subsequent singles from this, and future albums, would make her the first African-American female artist to receive consistent heavy rotation on MTV.[20] By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 albums chart and stayed there for 14 non-consecutive weeks.[31] The final single, “Greatest Love of All,” became Houston’s biggest hit at the time after peaking No. 1 and remaining there for three weeks on the Hot 100 chart, which made her debut the first album by a female artist to yield three No. 1 hits. Houston was No. 1 artist of the year and Whitney Houston was the No. 1 album of the year on 1986 Billboard year-end charts, making her the first female artist to earn that distinction.[31] At the time, Houston released the best-selling debut album by a solo artist.[32] Houston then embarked on her world tour, Greatest Love Tour. The album had become an international success, and was certified 13× platinum (diamond) in the United States alone, and has sold a total of 25 million copies worldwide.[33]
At the 1986 Grammy Awards, Houston was nominated for three awards including Album of the Year.[34] She was not eligible for the Best New Artist category due to her previous hit R&B duet recording with Teddy Pendergrass in 1984.[35] She won her first Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for “Saving All My Love for You.”[36] At the same award show, she performed that Grammy-winning hit; that performance later winning her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.[37] Houston won seven American Music Awards in total in 1986 and 1987, and an MTV Video Music Award.[8][38][39] The album’s popularity would also carry over to the 1987 Grammy Awards when “Greatest Love of All” would receive a Record of the Year nomination. Houston’s debut album is listed as one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and on The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Definitive 200 list.[40][41] Whitney Houston’s grand entrance into the music industry is considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today.[42] Following Houston’s breakthrough, doors were opened for other African-American female artists such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker to find notable success in popular music and on MTV.[43][44]
1987–1991: Whitney, I’m Your Baby Tonight and “The Star Spangled Banner”
With many expectations Houston’s second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987. The album again featured production from Masser, Kashif and Walden as well as Jellybean Benitez. Many critics complained that the material was too similar to her previous album. Rolling Stone said, “the narrow channel through which this talent has been directed is frustrating.”[45] Still, the album enjoyed commercial success. Houston became the first female artist in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and the first artist to enter the albums chart at number one in both the US and UK, while also hitting number one or top ten in dozens of other countries around the world. The album’s first single, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” was also a massive hit worldwide, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the singles chart in many countries such as Australia, Germany and the UK. The next three singles, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” all peaked at number one on the US Hot 100 chart, which gave her a total of seven consecutive number one hits, breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees.[46][47] Houston became the first female artist to generate four number-one singles from one album. Whitney has been certified 9× Platinum in the US for shipments of over 9 million copies, and has sold a total of 20 million copies worldwide.[48]
At the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, Houston was nominated for three awards, including Album of the Year, winning her second Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).”[49][50] Houston also won two American Music Awards in 1988 and 1989, respectively, and a Soul Train Music Award.[51][52][53] Following the release of the album, Houston embarked on the Moment of Truth World Tour, which was one of the ten highest grossing concert tours of 1987.[54] The success of the tours during 1986–87 and her two studio albums ranked Houston No. 8 for the highest earning entertainers list according to Forbes magazine.[55] She was the highest earning African-American woman overall and the third highest entertainer after Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy.[55][56]
Houston was a supporter of Nelson Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement. During her modeling days, the singer refused to work with any agencies who did business with the then-apartheid South Africa.[57][58] On June 11, 1988, during the European leg of her tour, Houston joined other musicians to perform a set at Wembley Stadium in London to celebrate a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday.[57] Over 72,000 people attended Wembley Stadium, and over a billion people tuned in worldwide as the rock concert raised over $1 million for charities while bringing awareness to apartheid.[59] Houston then flew back to the US for a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August. The show was a benefit concert that raised a quarter of a million dollars for the United Negro College Fund.[60] In the same year, she recorded a song for NBC’s coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, “One Moment in Time,” which became a Top 5 hit in the US, while reaching number one in the UK and Germany.[61][62][63] With her world tour continuing overseas, Houston was still one of the top 20 highest earning entertainers for 1987–88 according to Forbes magazine.[64][65]
Houston performing “Saving All My Love for You” on the Welcome Home Heroes concert in 1991
In 1989, Houston formed The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, a non-profit organization that has raised funds for the needs of children around the world. The organization cares for homelessness, children with cancer or AIDS, and other issues of self-empowerment.[66] With the success of her first two albums, Houston was undoubtedly an international crossover superstar, the most prominent since Michael Jackson, appealing to all demographics. However, some black critics believed she was “selling out.”[10] They felt her singing on record lacked the soul that was present during her live concerts.[19] At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Houston’s name was called out for a nomination, a few in the audience jeered.[67][68] Houston defended herself against the criticism, stating, “If you’re gonna have a long career, there’s a certain way to do it, and I did it that way. I’m not ashamed of it.”[19] Houston took a more urban direction with her third studio album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, released in November 1990. She produced and chose producers for this album and as a result, it featured production and collaborations with L.A. Reid and Babyface, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder. The album showed Houston’s versatility on a new batch of tough rhythmic grooves, soulful ballads and up-tempo dance tracks. Reviews were mixed. Rolling Stone felt it was her “best and most integrated album.”[69] while Entertainment Weekly, at the time thought Houston’s shift towards an urban direction was “superficial.”[70] The album contained several hits: the first two singles, “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and “All the Man That I Need” peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; “Miracle” peaked at number nine; “My Name Is Not Susan” peaked in the top twenty; “I Belong to You” reached the top ten of the US R&B chart and garnered Houston a Grammy nomination; and the sixth single, the Stevie Wonder duet “We Didn’t Know,” reached the R&B top twenty. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified 4× platinum in the US while selling twelve million total worldwide.
With America entangled in the Persian Gulf War, Houston performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV on January 27, 1991.[71] Due to overwhelming response to her rendition, it was released as a commercial single and video of her performance, and reached the Top 20 on the US Hot 100, making her the only act to turn the national anthem into a pop hit of that magnitude (Jose Feliciano’s version reached No. 50 in November 1968).[72][73] Houston donated all her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross Gulf Crisis Fund. As a result, the singer was named to the Red Cross Board of Governors.[71][74][75] Her rendition was considered the benchmark for singers and critically acclaimed.[76] Rolling Stone commented that “her singing stirs such strong patriotism. Unforgettable,” ranked No. 1 on the 25 most memorable music moments in NFL history list. VH1 listed the performance as one of the greatest moments that rocked TV.[77][78] Later that year, Houston put together her Welcome Home Heroes concert with HBO for the soldiers fighting in the Persian Gulf War and their families. The free concert took place at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia in front of 3,500 servicemen and women. HBO descrambled the concert so that it was free for everyone to watch.[79] Houston’s concert gave HBO its highest ratings ever.[80] She then embarked on the I’m Your Baby Tonight World Tour.
1992–1994: Marriage to Bobby Brown and The Bodyguard
Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy, whom she dated.[81] 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.[82] On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, her first and only child, his fourth. Brown would go on to have several run-ins with the law, including some jail time.[82]
On a June 1993 trip to Israel, Houston said of her visit, “I’ve never felt like this in any other country. I feel at home, I feel wonderful.”[83]
With the commercial success of her albums, movie offers poured in, including offers to work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones, and Spike Lee; but Houston felt the time wasn’t right.[81] Houston’s first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner. Houston played Rachel Marron, a star who is stalked by a crazed fan and hires a bodyguard to protect her. USA Today listed it as one of the 25 most memorable movie moments of the last 25 years in 2007.[84] The movie is also notable for not mentioning or needing to explain its interracial aspect. Houston’s mainstream appeal allowed people to look at the movie color-blind.[85] Still, controversy arose as some felt the film’s advertising intentionally hid Houston’s face to hide the film’s interracial relationship. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1993, the singer commented that “people know who Whitney Houston is—I’m black. You can’t hide that fact.”[17] Houston received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress. The Washington Post said Houston is “doing nothing more than playing Houston, comes out largely unscathed if that is possible in so cockamamie an undertaking,”[86] and The New York Times commented she lacked passion with her co-star.[87] Despite the film’s mixed reviews, it was hugely successful at the box office, grossing more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide, making it one of the top 100 grossing films in film history at its time of release, though it is no longer in the top 100 due to rising current ticket prices since the time the film was released.[88]
The film’s soundtrack also enjoyed big success. Houston executive produced and contributed six songs for the motion picture’s adjoining soundtrack album. Rolling Stone said it is “nothing more than pleasant, tasteful and urbane.”[89] The soundtrack’s lead single was “I Will Always Love You,” written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1974. Houston’s version of the song was acclaimed by many critics, regarding it as her “signature song” or “iconic performance.” Rolling Stone and USA Today called her rendition “the tour-de-force.”[90][91] The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks, number one on the R&B chart for a then-record-breaking 11 weeks, and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts for five weeks, thus becoming the first single to top those three charts simultaneously for five weeks.[92] The single was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA, making Houston the first female artist with a single to reach that level in the RIAA history and becoming the best-selling single by a female artist in the US.[93][94][95] The song also became a global success, hitting number-one in almost all countries, and one of the best-selling singles of all time with 12 million copies sold.[96] The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 chart and remained there for 20 non-consecutive weeks, the longest tenure by any album on the chart in the Nielsen SoundScan era, and became one of the fastest selling albums ever.[97] During Christmas week of 1992, the soundtrack sold over a million copies within a week, becoming the first album to achieve that feat under Nielsen SoundScan system.[98][99] With the follow-up singles “I’m Every Woman,” a Chaka Khan cover, and “I Have Nothing” both reaching the top five, Houston became the first female artist to ever have three singles in the Top 11 simultaneously.[100][101][102] The album was certified 17× platinum in the US alone,[103] with worldwide sales of 44 million, making The Bodyguard the only album by a female act on the list of the world’s Top 10 best-selling albums.[104] Houston won three Grammys for the album in 1994, including two of the Academy’s highest honors, Album of the Year and Record of the Year. In addition, she won a record 8 American Music Awards at that year’s ceremony including the Award of Merit,[105] 11 Billboard Music Awards, 3 Soul Train Music Awards in 1993–94 including Sammy Davis, Jr. Award as Entertainer of the Year,[106] 5 NAACP Image Awards including Entertainer of the Year,[107][108][109] a record 5 World Music Awards,[110] and a BRIT award.[111] Following the success of the project, Houston embarked on another expansive global tour, The Bodyguard World Tour, in 1993–94. Her concerts, movie, and recording grosses made her the third highest earning female entertainer of 1993–94, just behind Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand according to Forbes magazine.[112] Houston placed in the top five of Entertainment Weekly’s annual “Entertainer of the Year” ranking[113] and was labeled by Premiere magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood.[114]
In October 1994, Houston attended and performed at a state dinner in the White House honoring newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela.[115][116] At the end of her world tour, Houston performed three concerts in South Africa to honor President Mandela, playing to over 200,000 people. This would make the singer the first major musician to visit the newly unified and apartheid free nation following Mandela’s winning election.[117] The concert was broadcast live on HBO with funds of the concerts being donated to various charities in South Africa. The event was considered the nation’s “biggest media event since the inauguration of Nelson Mandela.”[118]
1995–1997: Waiting to Exhale, The Preacher’s Wife and Cinderella
In 1995, Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon in her second film Waiting to Exhale, a motion picture about four African-American women struggling with relationships. Houston plays the lead character Savannah Jackson, a TV producer in love with a married man. She chose the role because she saw the film as “a breakthrough for the image of black women because it presents them both as professionals and as caring mothers.”[119] After opening at number one and grossing $67 million in the US at the box office and $81 million worldwide,[120] it proved that a movie primarily targeting a black audience can cross over to success, while paving the way for other all-black movies such as How Stella Got Her Groove Back and the Tyler Perry movies that have become popular in the 2000s.[121][122][123] The film is also notable for its portrayal of black women as strong middle class citizens as opposed to stereotypes.[124] The reviews were mainly positive for the ensemble cast. The New York Times said “Ms. Houston has shed the defensive hauteur that made her portrayal of a pop star in ‘The Bodyguard’ seem so distant.”[125] Houston was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Actress In A Motion Picture,” but lost to her co-star Bassett.
The film’s accompanying soundtrack, Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album, was produced by Houston and Babyface. Though Babyface originally wanted Houston to record the entire album, she declined. Instead, she “wanted it to be an album of women with vocal distinction,” and thus gathered several African-American female artists for the soundtrack, to go along with the film’s strong women message.[119] As a result, the album featured a range of contemporary R&B female recording artists along with Houston, such as Mary J Blige, Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Patti Labelle, and Brandy. Houston’s “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” peaked at No. 1, and then spent a record eleven weeks at the No. 2 spot and eight weeks on top of the R&B Charts. “Count On Me,” a duet with CeCe Winans, hit the US Top 10; and Houston’s third contribution, “Why Does It Hurt So Bad,” made the Top 30. The album debuted at No. 1, and was certified 7× Platinum in the United States, denoting shipments of seven million copies.[48] The soundtrack received strong reviews as Entertainment Weekly said “the album goes down easy, just as you’d expect from a package framed by Whitney Houston tracks…. the soundtrack waits to exhale, hovering in sensuous suspense”[126] and has since ranked it as one of the 100 Best Movie Soundtracks.[127] Later that year, Houston’s children’s charity organization was awarded a VH1 Honor for all the charitable work
In 1996, Houston starred in the holiday comedy The Preacher’s Wife, with Denzel Washington. She plays a gospel-singing wife of a pastor (Courtney B. Vance). Houston earned $10 million for the role, making her one of the highest paid actress in Hollywood at the time and the highest earning African American actress in Hollywood.[128] The movie, with its all African-American cast, was a moderate success, earning approximately $50 million at the U.S. box offices.[129] The movie gave Houston her strongest reviews so far. The San Francisco Chronicle said Houston “is rather angelic herself, displaying a divine talent for being virtuous and flirtatious at the same time” and that she “exudes gentle yet spirited warmth, especially when praising the Lord in her gorgeous singing voice.”[130] Houston was again nominated for an NAACP Image Award and won for Outstanding Actress In A Motion Picture.
Houston recorded and co-produced, with Mervyn Warren, the film’s accompanying gospel soundtrack. The Preacher’s Wife: Original Soundtrack Album included six gospel songs with Georgia Mass Choir that were recorded at the Great Star Rising Baptist Church in Atlanta. Houston also duetted with gospel legend Shirley Caesar. The album sold six million copies worldwide and scored hit singles with “I Believe in You and Me” and “Step by Step,” becoming the largest selling gospel album of all time. The album received mainly positive reviews. Some critics, such as that of USA Today, noted the presence of her emotional depth,[131] while The Times said “To hear Houston going at full throttle with the 35 piece Georgia Mass Choir struggling to keep up is to realise what her phenomenal voice was made for.”[132]
In 1997, Houston’s production company changed its name to BrownHouse Productions and was joined by Debra Martin Chase. Their goal was “to show aspects of the lives of African-Americans that have not been brought to the screen before” while improving how African-Americans are portrayed in film and television.[133] Their first project was a made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. In addition to co-producing, Houston starred in the movie as the Fairy Godmother along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters. Houston was initially offered the role of Cinderella in 1993, but other projects intervened.[134] The film is notable for its multi-racial cast and nonstereotypical message.[135] An estimated 60 million viewers tuned into the special giving ABC its highest TV ratings in 16 years.[136] The movie received seven Emmy nominations including Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy, while winning Outstanding Art Direction in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Special.[137]
Houston and Chase then obtained the rights to the story of Dorothy Dandridge. Houston was to play Dandridge, who was the first African American actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She wanted the story told with dignity and honor.[133] However, Halle Berry also had rights to the project and she got her version going first.[138] Later that year, Houston paid tribute to her idols such as Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick by performing their hits during the three-night HBO Concert Classic Whitney, live from Washington, D.C. The special raised over $300,000 for the Children’s Defense Fund.[139] Houston received The Quincy Jones Award for outstanding career achievements in the field of entertainment at the 12th Soul Train Music Awards.[140][141]
1998–2000: My Love Is Your Love and Whitney: The Greatest Hits
After spending much of the early and mid 1990s working on motion pictures and their adjacent soundtrack albums, Houston’s first studio album in eight years, the critically acclaimed My Love Is Your Love, was released in November 1998. Though originally slated to be a greatest hits album with a handful of new songs, recording sessions were so fruitful that a new full-length studio album was released. Recorded and mixed in only six weeks, it featured production from Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliott. The album debuted at number thirteen, its peak position, on the Billboard 200 chart.[142] It had a funkier and edgier sound than past releases and saw Houston handling urban dance, hip hop, mid-tempo R&B, reggae, torch songs, and ballads all with great dexterity.[143] From late 1998 to spring of 2000, the album spawned several hit singles: “When You Believe” (US No. 15, UK #4), a duet with Mariah Carey for 1998′s The Prince of Egypt soundtrack, it also became an international hit as it peaked in the Top 10 in several countries and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song;[144] “Heartbreak Hotel” (US No. 2, UK# 25) featured Faith Evans and Kelly Price, got a 1999 MTV VMA nomination for Best R&B Video,[145] and number one on the US R&B chart for seven weeks; “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay” (US No. 4, UK #3) won Houston her sixth Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance;[146] “My Love Is Your Love” (US No. 4, UK #2) with 3 million copies sold worldwide;[147] and “I Learned from the Best” (US No. 27, UK #19).[148][149] These singles became international hits as well, and all the singles, except “When You Believe,” became number one hits on the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart. The album sold four million copies in America, certified 4× platinum, and a total of eleven million worldwide.[33] The album gave Houston some of her strongest reviews ever. Rolling Stone said Houston was singing “with a bite in her voice”[150] and The Village Voice called it “Whitney’s sharpest and most satisfying so far.”[151] In 1999, Houston participated in VH-1′s Divas Live ’99, alongside Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, and Cher. The same year, Houston hit the road with her 70 date My Love Is Your Love World Tour. The European leg of the tour was Europe’s highest grossing arena tour of the year.[152] In November 1999, Houston was named Top-selling R&B Female Artist of the Century with certified US sales of 51 million copies at the time and The Bodyguard Soundtrack was Top-selling Soundtrack Album of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[153] She also won The Artist of the Decade, Female award for extraordinary artistic contributions during the 1990s at the 14th Soul Train Music Awards, and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best R&B.[154][155][156][157][158]
In May 2000, Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released worldwide. The double disc set peaked at number five in the United States, reaching number one in the United Kingdom.[149][159] In addition, the album reached the Top 10 in many other countries.[160] While ballad songs were left unchanged, the album features house/club remixes of many of Houston’s up-tempo hits. Included on the album were four new songs: “Could I Have This Kiss Forever” (a duet with Enrique Iglesias), “Same Script, Different Cast” (a duet with Deborah Cox), “If I Told You That” (a duet with George Michael), and “Fine,” and three hits that have never actually appeared on a Houston album: “One Moment in Time,” “The Star Spangled Banner,” and “If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful,” a duet with Jermaine Jackson from his 1986 Precious Moments album.[161] Along with the album, an accompanying VHS and DVD was released featuring the music videos to Houston’s greatest hits, as well as several hard-to-find live performances including her 1983 debut on The Merv Griffin Show, and interviews.[162] The greatest hits album was certified 3× platinum in the US, with worldwide sales of 10 million.[163][164]
2000–2005: Just Whitney, and personal struggles
Though Houston was seen as a “good girl” with a perfect image in the ’80s and early ’90s, by the late ’90s, her behavior changed. She was often hours late for interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals, and canceling concerts and talk-show appearances.[165][166] With the missed performances and weight loss, rumors about Houston using drugs with her husband circulated. 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 her and Brown,[167] but rumors of drug usage between the couple 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 failed to show up.[168] Shortly thereafter, Houston was scheduled to perform at the Academy Awards but was fired from the event by musical director and long time friend Burt Bacharach. Her publicist cited throat problems as the reason for the cancellation. In his book The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards, author Steve Pond revealed that “Houston’s voice was shaky, she seemed distracted and jittery, and her attitude was casual, almost defiant,” and that while Houston was to sing “Over the Rainbow,” she would start singing a different song.[169] Houston later admitted to having been fired.[170] Later that year, Houston’s long-time executive assistant and friend, Robyn Crawford, resigned from Houston’s management company.[168]
In August 2001, Houston signed the biggest record deal in music history with Arista/BMG. She renewed her contract for $100 million to deliver six new albums, on which she would also earn royalties.[171][172][173] She later made an appearance on Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special. 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.”[174] The singer was scheduled for a second performance the following night but canceled.[175] Within weeks, Houston’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” would be re-released after the terrorist attacks of September 11. The song peaked at No. 6 this time on the US Hot 100, topping its previous position.[148] Houston donated her portion of the proceeds.
In 2002, Houston became involved in a legal dispute with John Houston Enterprise. Although the company was started by her father to manage her career, it was now actually run by company president Kevin Skinner. Skinner filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit and sued for $100 million (but lost), stating that Houston owed the company previously unpaid compensation for helping to negotiate her $100 million contract with Arista Records and for sorting out legal matters.[176] Houston stated that her 81-year-old father had nothing to do with the lawsuit. Although Skinner tried to claim otherwise, John Houston never appeared in court.[177] Houston’s father later died in February 2003.[178] The lawsuit was dismissed on April 5, 2004, and Skinner was awarded nothing.[179]
Also in 2002, Houston did an interview with Diane Sawyer to promote her then-upcoming album. The interview was the highest-rated television interview in history. During the prime-time special, Houston spoke on topics including rumored drug use and marriage. She was asked about the ongoing drug rumors and 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.”[170] The line was from Keith Haring’s mural which was painted in 1986 on the handball court at 128th Street and 2nd Avenue.[180] Houston did, however, admit to using other substances at times, including cocaine.[170]
In December 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney…. The album included productions from then-husband Bobby Brown, as well as Missy Elliott and Babyface, and marked the first time Houston did not produce with Clive Davis as Davis had been released by top management at BMG. Upon its release, Just Whitney… received mixed reviews.[181] The album debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart and it had the highest first week sales of any album Houston had ever released.[182] The four singles released from the album, didn’t fare well on the Billboard Hot 100, but became Hot Dance Club Play hits. Just Whitney… was certified platinum in the United States, and sold approximately three million worldwide.[183]
In late 2003, Houston released her first Christmas album One Wish: The Holiday Album, with a song listing of traditional holiday songs. Houston produced the album with Mervyn Warren and Gordon Chambers. A single titled “One Wish (for Christmas)” reached the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and the album was certified gold in the US. Having always been a touring artist, Houston spent most of 2004 touring and performing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. In September 2004, she gave a surprise performance at the World Music Awards, in tribute to long time friend Clive Davis. After the show, Davis and Houston announced plans to go into studio to work on her new album.[184]
In early 2004, husband Bobby Brown starred in his own reality TV program, Being Bobby Brown (on the Bravo network), which provided a view into the domestic goings-on in the Brown household. Though it was Brown’s vehicle, Houston was a prominent figure throughout the show, receiving as much screen time as Brown. The series aired in 2005 and featured Houston in, what some would say, not her most flattering moments. The Hollywood Reporter said it was “undoubtedly the most disgusting and execrable series ever to ooze its way onto television.”[185] Despite the perceived train-wreck nature of the show, the series gave Bravo its highest ratings in its time slot and continued Houston’s successful forays into film and television.[186] The show was not renewed for a second season after Houston stated she would no longer appear in it, and Brown and Bravo could not come to an agreement for another season.[187]
2006–2012: Return to music, I Look to You, tour and film comeback
After years of controversy and turmoil, Houston separated from Bobby Brown in September 2006, filing for divorce the next month.[188] On February 1, 2007, Houston asked the court to fast track their divorce.[189] The divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston granted custody of the couple’s daughter.[190] Less than a month later, Brown sued Houston in Orange County, California court in an attempt to change the terms of their custody agreement. Brown also sought child and spousal support from Houston. In the lawsuit, Brown claimed that financial and emotional problems prevented him from properly responding to Houston’s divorce petition.[191] Brown lost at his court hearing as the judge dismissed his appeal to overrule the custody terms, leaving Houston with full custody and Brown with no spousal support.[192] In March 2007, Clive Davis of Arista Records announced that Houston would begin recording a new album.[193] In October 2007, Arista released another compilation The Ultimate Collection outside the United States.[194]
Houston released her new album, I Look to You, on August 2009.[195] The album’s first two singles are “I Look to You” and “Million Dollar Bill.” The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1, with Houston’s best opening-week sales of 305,000 copies, marking Houston’s first number one album since The Bodyguard, and Houston’s first studio album to reach number one since 1987′s Whitney. Houston gave her first interview in seven years, appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s season premiere on September 2009. The interview was billed as “the most anticipated music interview of the decade.”[196] The interview was so candid that Whitney admitted using drugs with former husband Bobby Brown, who “laced marijuana with rock cocaine.”[197] By 1996, she told Oprah, “[doing drugs] was an everyday thing… I wasn’t happy by that point in time. I was losing myself.”[198] Houston has also appeared on European television programs to promote the album. She performed the song “I Look to You” on the German television show Wetten, dass..?. Three days later, she performed the worldwide first single from I Look To You, Million Dollar Bill, on the French television show Le Grand Journal. Houston appeared as guest mentor on The X Factor in the United Kingdom. She performed “Million Dollar Bill” on the following day’s results show, completing the song even as a strap in the back of her dress popped open two minutes into the performance. She later commented that she “sang [herself] out of [her] clothes.”
Whitney Houston at the O2 Arena, April 28, 2010, as part of her Nothing but Love World Tour
The performance was poorly received by the British media, and was variously described as “weird” and “ungracious,”[199] “shambolic”[200] and a “flop.”[201] Despite this reception, “Million Dollar Bill” jumped to its peak from 14 to number 5 (her first UK top 5 for over a decade), and three weeks after release “I Look to You” went gold. Houston appeared on the Italian version of X Factor, performing the same song “Million Dollar Bill” to excellent reviews.[202] She was awarded the Gold Certificate for achieving over 50,000 CD sales of “I Look To You” in Italy.[203] In November, Houston performed “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. Two days later, Houston performed both songs on the Dancing With The Stars season 9 finale. As of December 2009, “I Look to You” has been certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of more than one million copies in the United States.[204] On January 26, 2010, her debut album, was re-released in a special edition entitled Whitney Houston – The Deluxe Anniversary Edition.[205]
Houston later embarked on a world tour, entitled the Nothing But Love Tour. It was her first world tour in over ten years and was announced as a triumphant comeback. However, some poor reviews and rescheduled concerts brought some negative media attention.[206][207] Houston canceled some concerts due to illness and received widespread negative reviews from fans who were disappointed in the quality of her voice and performance. Some fans reportedly walked out of her concerts.[208]
In January 2010, Houston was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, one for Best Female Artist and one for Best Music Video. She won the award for Best Music Video for her single “I Look to You.” On January 16, she received the BET Honors Award for Entertainer citing her lifetime achievements spanning over 25 years in the industry. The 2010 BET Honors was held at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC and aired February 1, 2010. Jennifer Hudson and Kim Burrell performed in honor of her, garnering positive reviews. Houston also received a nomination from the Echo Awards, Germany’s version of the Grammys, for Best International Artist. In April 2010, the UK newspaper The Mirror reported that Houston was thinking about recording her eighth studio album and would like to collaborate with will.i.am (of The Black Eyed Peas), her first choice for a collaboration.[209] Houston also performed the song “I Look to You” on the 2011 BET Celebration of Gospel, with gospel–jazz singer Kim Burrell, held at the Staples Center, Los Angeles. The performance aired on January 30, 2011. Early in 2011, she gave an uneven performance in tribute to cousin Dionne Warwick at music mogul Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy gala. In May 2011, Houston enrolled in rehabilitation center again, as an out-patient, citing drug and alcohol problems. A representative for Houston said that it was a part of Houston’s “longstanding recovery process.”[210]
In September 2011, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Houston was to produce and star (alongside Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps) in the remake of the 1976 film Sparkle. It was also reported that Houston would play Sparks’s “not-so encouraging mother.” Houston was to have had executive producer credits on top of acting credits according to Debra Martin Chase, producer of Sparkle. She stated Houston deserved the title considering she had been there from the beginning in 2001 when Houston obtained Sparkle production rights. R&B singer Aaliyah’s death in a 2001 plane crash derailed production, which would have begun in 2002.[211][212][213]
On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Arista Records along with J Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, future material involving Houston was to have been released on the RCA Records brand.
Death
On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California, of causes not immediately known.[214] Beverly Hills paramedics found the singer unresponsive and performed CPR for about 20 minutes before declaring her dead at 3:55 p.m. PST[214] TMZ reported, “Sources tell us … when EMTs arrived Whitney’s body was already removed from the bathtub so it will take an autopsy to determine if she OD’d [sic], drowned or died from some other cause.”[215] Local police said there were “no obvious signs of criminal intent”.[216] The singer had been known to take drugs in the past, a drug overdose has not been confirmed but may be a possibility.
Reaction
Several celebrities released statements responding to Houston’s death. Dolly Parton, whose song “I Will Always Love You” was covered by Houston, said, “I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, ‘Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed’.” Houston’s godmother Aretha Franklin said, “It’s so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn’t believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen.”[217]
Houston’s former husband, Bobby Brown, was reported to be “in and out of crying fits” since receiving the news. He did not cancel a scheduled performance and within hours of his ex-wife’s sudden death, an audience in Mississippi observed as Brown blew kisses skyward, tearfully saying: “I love you, Whitney”.[218]
Ken Erhlich, executive producer of the 54th Grammy Awards announced that Jennifer Hudson and Chaka Khan would perform a tribute to Houston at the February 12, 2012 awards. He said “event organizers believed Hudson — an Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning artist — could perform a respectful musical tribute to Houston”. Erhlich went on to say: “It’s too fresh in everyone’s memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize Whitney’s remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years”. [219]
Artistry and legacy
Voice
Houston was a mezzo-soprano.[220][221] Her vocal range extended from G below middle C (G3) to high B-flat (B♭5); she could belt out to treble F (F5).[222] She came in third on MTV’s 22 Greatest Voices,[223] and sixth on Online Magazine COVE’s list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 48.5/50.[224] In 2008, Rolling Stone listed Houston as the thirty-fourth of the 100 greatest singers of all time, stating, “Her voice is a mammoth, coruscating cry: Few vocalists could get away with opening a song with 45 unaccompanied seconds of singing, but Houston’s powerhouse version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” is a tour de force.”[90]
Mariah Carey stated, “Whitney has a really rich, strong mid-belt that very few people have. She sounds really good, really strong.”[225] While in her review of I Look to You, music critic Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times writes, “[Houston's voice] stands like monuments upon the landscape of 20th century pop, defining the architecture of their times, sheltering the dreams of millions and inspiring the climbing careers of countless imitators,” adding “When she was at her best, nothing could match her huge, clean, cool mezzo-soprano.”[221]
Houston’s vocal stylings have had a significant impact on the music industry. She has been called the “Queen of Pop” for her influence during the 1990s, commercially rivaling Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.[226] Stephen Holden from The New York Times, in his review of Houston’s Radio City Music Hall concert on July 20, 1993, praised her attitude as a singer highly, writing “Whitney Houston is one of the few contemporary pop stars of whom it might be said: the voice suffices. While almost every performer whose albums sell in the millions calls upon an entertainer’s bag of tricks, from telling jokes to dancing to circus pyrotechnics, Ms. Houston would rather just stand there and sing.” He added the comments on her singing style: “Her [Houston's] stylistic trademarks―shivery melismas that ripple up in the middle of a song, twirling embellishments at the ends of phrases that suggest an almost breathless exhilaration―infuse her interpretations with flashes of musical and emotional lightning.”[227]
Elysa Gardner of Los Angeles Times in her review for The Preacher’s Wife Soundtrack praised highly for Houston’s vocal ability, commenting, “She is first and foremost a pop diva―at that, the best one we have. No other female pop star―not Mariah Carey, not Celine Dion, not Barbra Streisand―quite rivals Houston in her exquisite vocal fluidity and purity of tone, and her ability to infuse a lyric with mesmerizing melodrama.”[228] Houston has been commonly referred to as “The Voice,” in reference to her exceptional vocal talent.[229]
Influence
A Barbie doll inspired by Houston’s appearance in the music video for “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” (1987). Houston became one of the few black female artists whose music videos received heavy rotation on MTV and other music video channels.
During the 1980s, MTV was coming into its own and received harsh criticism for not playing enough videos by black artists. With Michael Jackson breaking down the color barrier for black male artists, Houston did the same for black female artists. She became one of the few black female artists to receive heavy rotation on the network following the success of the “How Will I Know” video.[230] Following Houston’s breakthrough, other African-American female artists, such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker, were successful in popular music.[43][44] Baker commented that “Because of what Whitney and Sade did, there was an opening for me… For radio stations, black women singers aren’t taboo anymore.”[231]
Allmusic additionally noted her contribution to success of black artists on the pop scene, commenting, “Houston was able to handle big adult contemporary ballads, effervescent, stylish dance-pop, and slick urban contemporary soul with equal dexterity; the result was an across-the-board appeal that was matched by scant few artists of her era, and helped her become one of the first black artists to find success on MTV in Michael Jackson’s wake.”[232] The New York Times stated that “Houston was a major catalyst for a movement within black music that recognized the continuity of soul, pop, jazz and gospel vocal traditions.”[233] Richard Corliss of TIME magazine commented about her first success breaking various barriers:
Of her first album’s ten cuts, six were ballads. This chanteuse [Houston] had to fight for air play with hard rockers. The young lady had to stand uncowed in the locker room of macho rock. The soul strutter had to seduce a music audience that anointed few black artists with superstardom. [...] She was a phenomenon waiting to happen, a canny tapping of the listener’s yen for a return to the musical middle. And because every new star creates her own genre, her success has helped other blacks, other women, other smooth singers find an avid reception in the pop marketplace.[234]
According to The New York Times, Houston “revitalized the tradition of strong gospel-oriented pop-soul singing.”[235] Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times referred to the singer as a “national treasure.”[221] She was considered by many to be a “singer’s singer,” who had an influence on countless other vocalists, both female and male.[236][237] Similarly, Steve Huey from Allmusic wrote that the shadow of Houston’s prodigious technique still looms large over nearly every pop diva and smooth urban soul singer – male or female – in her wake, and spawned a legion of imitators.[232] Rolling Stone, on her biography, stated that Houston “redefined the image of a female soul icon and inspired singers ranging from Mariah Carey to Beyoncé.”[238][11] Essence ranked Houston the fifth on their list of 50 Most Influential R&B Stars of all time, calling her “the diva to end all divas.”[239]
A number of artists have acknowledged Houston as an influence, including Celine Dion,[240] Mariah Carey,[241] Toni Braxton,[242] Christina Aguilera,[243] Jessica Simpson,[244] Nelly Furtado,[245][246] Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears,[247] Ciara,[248] P!nk,[247] Robin Thicke,[249] Jennifer Hudson, Stacie Orrico, Amerie,[250] Destiny’s Child,[247][251] Regine Velasquez, Lady Gaga, and Charice. Mariah Carey, who was often compared to Houston, said, “Houston has been a big influence on me.”[252] She later told USA Today that “none of us would sound the same if Aretha Franklin hadn’t ever put out a record, or Whitney Houston hadn’t.”[253]
Mary J. Blige said that Houston inviting her onstage during VH1′s Divas Live show in 1999 “opened doors for [her] all over the world.”[254] Brandy stated, “The first Whitney Houston CD was genius. That CD introduced the world to her angelic yet powerful voice. Without Whitney, half of this generation of singers wouldn’t be singing.”[255] Kelly Rowland, in an Ebony’s feature articles for celebrating black music in June 2006, recalled that “[I] wanted to be a singer after I saw Whitney Houston on TV singing ‘Greatest Love of All’. I wanted to sing like Whitney Houston in that red dress.” She added that “And I have never, ever forgotten that song [Greatest Love of All]. I learned it backward, forward, sideways. The video still brings chills to me. When you wish and pray for something as a kid, you never know what blessings God will give you.”[256]
Beyoncé told the Globe and Mail that Houston “inspired [her] to get up there and do what [she] did.”[257] Alicia Keys, in an interview about her album The Element of Freedom with Billboard magazine, also said “Whitney is an artist who inspired me from [the time I was] a little girl.”[258] Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson cites Houston as her biggest musical influence. She told Newsday that she learned from Houston the “difference between being able to sing and knowing how to sing.”[259] Leona Lewis, who has been called the New Whitney Houston, also cites her as an influence. Lewis stated that she idolized her as a little girl.[260][261] American recording artist Lady Gaga said that Houston had been one of her “vocal idols” for years. In an interview with IBN Live, Gaga revealed that she used to listen Houston’s version of The Star Spangled Banner over and over again. At the 2011 Grammys, Gaga gave a shout-out to Houston, and said that she wrote the song “Born This Way” thinking about Houston’s vocals.[262]
Awards and achievements
See also: List of awards and nominations received by Whitney Houston
Houston was the most awarded female artist of all time, according to Guinness World Records,[3] with 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. She held the all-time record for the most American Music Awards of any single artist and shared the record with Michael Jackson for the most AMAs ever won in a single year with 8 wins in 1994.[263] Houston won a record 11 Billboard Music Awards at its 4th ceremony in 1993.[264] She also had the record for the most WMAs won in a single year, winning five Awards at the 6th World Music Awards in 1994.[265]
In May 2003, Houston placed at number three on VH1′s list of “50 Greatest Women of the Video Era,” behind Madonna and Janet Jackson.[266] She was also ranked at number 116 on their list of the “200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time.”[267] In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart’s 50th anniversary, ranking Houston at number nine.[268][269][270] Similarly, she was ranked as one of the “Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time” by VH1 in September 2010.[271] In November 2010, Billboard released its “Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years” list and ranked Houston at number three whom not only went on to earn eight No. 1 singles on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but also landed five No. 1s on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[272]
Houston’s debut is currently listed as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine[40] and is on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Definitive 200 list.[41] In 2004, Billboard picked the success of her first release on the charts as one of 110 Musical Milestones in its history.[273] Houston’s entrance into the music industry is considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today in 2007. It stated that she paved the way for Mariah Carey’s chart-topping vocal gymnastics.[42] In 1997, the Franklin School in East Orange, New Jersey was renamed to The Whitney E. Houston Academy School of Creative and Performing Arts. In 2001, Houston was the first artist ever to be given a BET Lifetime Achievement Award.[274]
Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold over 200 million albums and singles worldwide.[4][5] Although she released relatively few albums, she was ranked as the fourth best-selling female artist in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 55 million certified albums sold in the US alone.[204][275]
She held an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Grambling State University, Louisiana.[276]
Discography
Main article: Whitney Houston discography
Whitney Houston (1985)
Whitney (1987)
I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990)
My Love Is Your Love (1998)
Just Whitney (2002)
One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003)
I Look to You (2009)
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes and awards
Film 1992 The Bodyguard Rachel Marron
(Main role) Nominated – 1993 MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance[277]
Nominated – 1993 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance[278]
Nominated – 1993 MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo with co-star Kevin Costner[279]
Nominated – 1992 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress[280]
1995 Waiting to Exhale Savannah Jackson
(Main role) Nominated – 1996 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture[281]
1996 The Preacher’s Wife Julia Biggs
(Main role) Won – 1997 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture[282]
Nominated – 1997 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Actress(Comedy/Romance)[283]
Nominated – 1997 Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress[284]
2012 Sparkle Emma
(Main role) Filmed in 2011; posthumous release
Year Title Network Role Notes
Television 1984 Gimme a Break! NBC Rita “Katie’s College” (Season 3, Episode 20)[285]
1985 Silver Spoons NBC As herself “Head Over Heels” (Season 4, Episode 1, Air date: September 15, 1985)[285]
She performed the edit version of “Saving All My Love for You,” changing some of the words—”making love the whole night through” was changed to “holding each other the whole night through”—for the censors on the episode.
1997 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella ABC Fairy Godmother Made for television, and was part of a revival of the Wonderful World of Disney, on Disney-owned ABC, and aired on November 2, 1997.[286]
2002 Boston Public Fox As herself She performed her current hit “Try It On My Own” from the 2002 studio album, Just Whitney.
Year Company Promoting Country Notes
TV Commercial 1983 Dr Pepper/Seven Up Canada Dry
(soft drink beverage) United States
Houston appeared in this commercial before debut as a professional singer and sang the praises of sugar free Canada Dry Ginger Ale.[287][288]
1986 Coca-Cola Diet Coke
(soft drink beverage) United States
Houston sang the Diet Coke theme song, “Just for the taste of it.”[289]
1988 Coca-Cola Diet Coke
(soft drink beverage) United States
Houston sang the other version of the Diet Coke advertising slogan at the time, “Just for the taste of it.”[290]
Outside the United States, the second version of advertising was released, in which “Greatest Love of All” was used as background music.
1989 MTV Video of the Year winning “This Note’s for You” by Neil Young, parodied parts of this advertising to criticize pop/rock stars who make commercial endorsements, most notably Michael Jackson for Pepsi and Houston for Diet Coke, using look-alike for them.[291]
1990 SANYO Electronics
(the stereo, TV) Japan
Houston sang theme song, “Takin’ A Chance,” produced by Keith Thomas.[292] It was released as a CD single in Japan and included in Japanese edition of I’m Your Baby Tonight.[293]
1994
1995 AT&T Telephone services United States
Houston sang its theme song, “True Voice.”[294][295]
Year Title Director Notes and awards
Production 1997 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella Robert Iscove Executive producer[296]
Nominated – 1998 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special[297]
Nominated – 1998 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Movie/Mini-Series[298]
2001 The Princess Diaries Garry Marshall Producer[299][300]
Won – 2002 Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature Film – Comedy[301]
Nominated – 2002 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film (Live Action)[302]
Nominated – 2002 Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Family Film[303]
Nominated – 2002 Teen Choice Award for Film – Choice Movie, Comedy[304]
2003 The Cheetah Girls Oz Scott Producer[305]
2004 The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Garry Marshall Producer[306]
2006 The Cheetah Girls 2: When in Spain Kenny Ortega Co-executive producer[307]
Tours
Main article: List of Whitney Houston tours and concerts
World tours
The Greatest Love World Tour (1986)
Moment of Truth World Tour (1987–88)
I’m Your Baby Tonight World Tour (1991)
The Bodyguard World Tour (1993–94)
My Love Is Your Love World Tour (1999)
Nothing But Love World Tour (2010)
Regional tours
Feels So Right Tour (1990)
Pacific Rim Tour (1997)
The European Tour (1998)
Soul Divas Tour (2004)
Televised concerts
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute 1988
Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston 1991
The Concert for a New South Africa 1994
Classic Whitney Live from Washington, D.C. 1997
See also
Whitney Houston chart records and achievements
Grammy nominations for Whitney Houston
American Music Award nominations for Whitney Houston
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
Honorific nicknames in popular music
Melisma
References
^ “Whitney Houston”. Filmbug. January 1, 2000. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
^ “WHITNEY – The Producer”. Whitney-Info.Com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
^ a b “Whitney Houston biography”. whitneyhouston.com. August 19, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
^ a b Dobuzinskis, Alex (September 15, 2009). “Whitney Houston, as of 2009, said she was “drug-free”". Reuters. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ a b “Whitney Houston Biography”. whitneyhouston.com. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Whitney Houston Sings Her Way to Stardom with Hit Album, Road Tour”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 68 (24): 59. August 26, 1985. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
^ a b c Huey, Steve (2006). “Whitney Houston biography”. Allmusic.com. Retrieved April 13, 2009
^ a b “The 1986 MTV Video Music Awards The Winners!”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 98 (41). October 11, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
^ a b Corliss, Richard (July 13, 1987). “The Prom Queen of Soul”. Time Inc.. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ a b A History of Soul Music. VH1. October 18, 2007.
^ a b c “Whitney Houston Biography”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 17, 2011
^ “Whitney Houston, 48, found dead in Beverly Hills”. Los Angeles Times. February 11, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
^ a b “Whitney Houston”. Driven. VH1. November 13, 2002.
^ “Whitney & Bobby – Addicted to Love”. Vibe Magazine. September 2005. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ “Whitney Houston Tells what God Gave Her”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 69 (22): 59. February 17, 1986. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Staff. “Too Cool for School”, Vibe (magazine), p. 78, June 2007. Accessed April 18, 2011. “Whitney Houston as a senior at Mount Saint Dominic Academy, Caldwell, NJ, 1981.”
^ a b DeCurtis, Anthony (June 10, 1993). “Whitney Houston: Down and Dirty”. Rolling Stone; Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ Ripol, Vince. “Paul Jabara & Friends Album Review”. Allmusic. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
^ a b c Duckett Cain, Joy (December 2023). “The Soul of Whitney”. Essence Magazine. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
^ a b Traister, Rebecca (April 13, 2006). “Didn’t She Almost Have It All”. Salon.com. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
^ a b “Singer Whitney Houston a Model of Success”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 78 (14): 32. July 16, 1990. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Christgau, Robert. “Material she was a great song writer”. RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
^ “Whitney Houston For Talented Young Star, Singing Is A Family Tradition”. EBONY (Johnson Publishing Company) 40 (12). December, 1985. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ a b Scoppa, Bud (December 1986). “The Long Road To Overnight Stardom”. Billboard Magazine” The Year In Rock ’86. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ Wynn, Ron. “Love Language Album Review”. Allmusic. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
^ Shewey, Don (June 6, 1985). “Music Review: Whitney Houston”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
^ Holden, Stephen (May 12, 1985). “Critic’s Choice; Pop Music”. New York Times: pp. A2.
^ Kim Freeman (June 8, 1985). “Whitney Houston’s Success Is Global”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 97 (23). ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
^ Paul Grein (June 8, 1986). “Houston Hits: Master Plan, Blind Luck”. Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved October 28, 2011.
^ Whitney Houston. August 11, 2000.
^ a b “1986 Overview: Charts”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 98 (52). December 27, 1986. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
^ “Gold & Platinum >> Top 100 Albums”. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ a b “RIAA Certification Searchable Database”. Recording Industry Association of America. July 29, 1999. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “Tina, Whitney Top Picks for Annual Grammy Awards”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 69 (19): 57. January 27, 1986. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Harrington, Richard (January 10, 1986). “Dire Straits Tops List for Grammy’s; We are the World Wins 6 Nominations”. The Washington Post.
^ “‘We are the World’ Big Winner at 28th Grammys”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 69 (26): 14. March 17, 1986. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “‘Cosby Show’ Snubbed at Emmy Awards Ceremony; Receives Only One Honor”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 71 (4): 16. October 13, 1986. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Whitney, Aretha, Stevie Snare Honors at Recent American Music Awards”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 69 (22): 56. February 17, 1986. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Collier, Aldore (February 16, 1987). “Whitney Houston: Why Success Won’t Go to Her Head”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company’) 71 (21): 58. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ a b “The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. Wenner Media, LLC. November 18, 2003. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
^ a b “The Definitive 200″. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 2007. Archived from the original on January 13, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
^ a b Gundersen, Edna (June 18, 2007). “25 years of memorable musical moments”. USA Today. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
^ a b Rizzo, Frank (August 30, 1987). “Houston Tops New Wave of Women With Pop Punch Aplenty”. Orlando Sentinel (Orlando Sentinel): p. 11.
^ a b Hunt, Dennis (February 1, 1987). “Anita Baker: ‘Most Powerful Black Woman Singer of 80s’”. San Francisco Chronicle: p. 44.
^ Aletti, Vince (August 13, 1987). “Review: Whitney”. Wenner Media, LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
^ “Whitney Breaks Record For Consecutive No.1 Tunes”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 74 (5). May 2, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Silberman, Jeff (May 13, 2000). “Arista Records: A Quarter Century Of Achievements”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 112 (20). ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ a b “Gold & Platinum search results”. Recording Industry Association of America. November 29, 1995. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ “Battle and Jackson Top Grammy Award Nominees”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 73 (18): 56. February 1, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Blacks Turn Grammys Into A Show Biz Extravaganza”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 73 (25): 52. March 21, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Anita Baker, Whitney Houston Top Black Winners at Recent American Music Awards Show”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 73 (20): 60. February 15, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Houston, D.J. Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, Jackson Top American Music Awards”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 75 (20): 55. February 20, 1989. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Showtime: Jackson is top winner at Soul Train Awards”. The Washington Afro American (African-American News & Information Consortium): p. 6C. April 5, 1988. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
^ MacDonald, Patrick. “U2, Bon Jovi were top concert acts of 1987″. Seattle Times. January 15, 1988. Page 5. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
^ a b “Cosby’s $84 Million Makes Him Richest Entertainer”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 73 (1): 52–53. September 28, 1987. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Bill Cosby Leads the Millionaire Entertainers”. The San Francisco Chronicle. September 7, 1987. Page 1.
^ a b Waldron, Clarence (June 20, 1988). “Whitney Houston Uses Fame To Help Good Causes”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 74 (12). ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
^ Gilchrist, Jim (August 23, 2009). “Diva Will Always Love Limelight”. The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Watrous, Peter (June 13, 1988). “Pop Music’s Homage to Mandela”. The New York Times.
^ “Whitney Houston’s Concert Raises $250,000 For UNCF”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 74 (25): 54. September 19, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
^ “Whitney, Aretha Summer Olympics Album”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 74 (24): 59. September 12, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “1988 UK Number Ones”. number-ones.co.uk. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “October 24, 1988 Single Top 100″. charts.de. October 24, 1988. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ “Forbes Names Jackson as the Best-Paid Star 5 Women, 3 Boxers on List of 40 Celebrities”. The Los Angeles Times. September 19, 1988. Page 2.
^ “Michael Jackson Earns $97 Million To Become Highest Paid Entertainer”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 75 (1): 12. October 3, 1988. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Whitney Houston Foundation for Children
^ “Whitney Houston: Talks About The Men In Her Life – And The Rumors, Lies And Insults That Are the High Price of Fame”. Ebony (Johnson Publishing Company) 46 (7): 112. May 1991. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
^ Ralph M. Jr., “Interview with Whitney Houston”, Dateline NBC, December 10, 1996 (transcript available at whitney-fan.com)
^ Hunter, James (January 10, 1991). “Review: I’m Your Baby Tonight”. Wenner Media, LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
^ Browne, David (November 23, 1990). “Music Review: I’m Your Baby Tonight”. Time Warner. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
^ a b Pareles, Jon (February 24, 1991). “Pop View; Caution: Now Entering The War Zone”. The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
^ “Whitney Houston’s Star Spangled Banner to Be Released on Cassette”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 79 (18): 31. February 18, 1991. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
^ Steven Otfinoski (April 1, 2010). African Americans in the performing arts. Infobase Publishing. pp. 116–. ISBN 978-0-8160-7838-7. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ “Houston Raises $500,000 for Red Cross; Named Its to Its Board of Governors”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 80 (9): 37. June 17, 1991. ISSN 0021-599. Retrieved March 22, 1991.
^ Blair, Tom. “The village verbiage collector”. The San Diego Union. May 23, 1991. Page B1.
^ “Jennifer Hudson delivers on Super Bowl stage”. The Washington Times (News World Media Development). February 2, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
^ “100 Greatest Moments That Rocked TV (20–1)”. VH1.
^ “Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson and The Beatles Hit the Top Slots on VH1 and TV Guide’s ’100 Moments That Rocked TV’ Countdown”. PR Newswire (United Business Media company). January 9, 2003. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
^ Smith, Patricia. “Mom, apple pie and Whitney Houston in concert for troops”. Boston Globe April 1, 1991.
^ Hodges, Anne. “Hope opens his home to U.S. troops”. Houston Chronicle April 6, 1991.
^ a b Lynn Norment (May 1991). “Whitney Houston talks about the men in her life – and the rumors, lies and insults that are the high price of fame”. Ebony (Johnson Publishing Company) 46 (7): 111–118. ISSN 0012-9011.
^ a b Johnson Publishing Company (April 26, 1999). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. p. 60. ISSN 00215996.
^ Whitney Houston calls Israel ‘home’
^ Susan Wloszczyna (July 2, 2007). “Hollywood highlights: 25 movies with real impact”. USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). Retrieved October 30, 2011.
^ “Pregnant Pause”. Entertainment Weekly (Time Warner). February 5, 1993. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
^ Rita Kempley, (November 25, 1992). “The Bodyguard”. The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company). Retrieved October 30, 2011.
^ “Review/Film: The Bodyguard; Tragic Flaw Meets Pampered Pop Star Over Multiple Risks”. The New York Times (The New York Times Company). November 25, 1992. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “All Time Box Office Domestic Grosses”. boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ CD review digest: Jazz, popular, etc. Peri Press. 1994 (Volume 7, Issue 4). p. 174.
^ a b “100 Greatest Singers of All Time”. Rolling Stone (Wenner Media, LLC). November 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
^ James T. Jones IV (November 17, 1992). “Houston heroic on ‘Bodyguard’ album” (Payment needed to view the whole article). USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.). Retrieved September 25, 2010.
^ DeKnock, Jan (January 15, 1993). “Whitney Houston Hits 4th `Triple’”. Chicago Tribune (Tribune Company). Retrieved March 17, 2011.
^ “RIAA certification for “I Will Always Love You” single”. The Recording Industry Association of America. January 12, 1993. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
^ “RIAA Certs Show Power Of ‘Titanic’”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc) 110 (15). April 11, 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
^ Gary Trust (August 28, 2009). “Battle of the Divas, Round 3″. Billboard. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
^ Shawn Telford (August 10, 2008). “Behind the glitter and glitz, the real Dolly Parton shines”. Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Hearst Corporation). Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ Geoff Mayfield (May, 13 2000). “A Billboard Salute, Arista 25th Anniversary : Precious Metals – Arista on the Charts”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc) 112 (20). ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ Aleene MacMinn (December 31, 1992). “Morning Report: Pop/Rock”. Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved September 1, 2010.
^ “Whitney Houston gets a boost from Bodyguard”. The Globe and Mail. January 1, 1993. Page C6.
^ DeKnock, Jan (March 19, 1993). “Houston Still Plugged In As Contender”. Chicago Tribune (Tribune Company): p. O. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ Silvio Pietroluongo, Minal Patel and Wade Jessen (December 8, 2001). “Between the Bullets: Singles Minded”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 113 (49): 85. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
^ Fred Bronson (March 13, 1993). “Chart Beat: Clapton Coup; Lang Lunge; Boy Back”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 105 (11): 134. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
^ “Soccer and music fans sound”. Deseret Morning News.
^ “Whitney Houston”. Whitney Houston. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ “Whitney Houston, Eight American Music Awards Make Her Top Female Winner”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 85 (17): 56–59. February 28, 1994. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ J.R. Reynolds (March 26, 1994). “The Rhythm and the Blues: 8th Soul Train Awards Are Aglow With Stellar Performances, Star Appearances”. Billboard 106 (13): 34. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ Denise Crittendon (February–March, 1994). “Stars Shine At The NAACP Image Awards”. The Crisis (The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.) 101 (2): 34. ISSN 0011-1422.
^ J.R. Reynolds (January 15, 1994). “The Rhythm and the Blues: Tupac’s Loss May Preserve Awards’ Image; New Indies Form Out West And Down South”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 106 (3): 15. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ Marisa Leonardi (January 7, 1994). “Michael Jackson Shares Whitney Houston’s Spotlight, Honors: Houston wins five NAACP Image Awards, but Jackson gets cheers in a show marked by controversy”. Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ Mark Dezzani (May 21, 1994). “World Music Awards Gaining Stature”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 106 (21): 41. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ “The BRITs 1994 Winners & Nominees”. British Phonographic Industry. February 14, 1994. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
^ “Spielberg Dethrones Oprah As Highest-Paid Entertainer” The San Francisco Chronicle. September 12, 1994. Page C16.
^ “Steven Spielberg Is Mr. Entertainer”. San Francisco Chronicle (Hearst Corporation): p. D11. December 24, 1994.
^ Jim Keogh (April 15, 1993). “Few women producers make the top 100 list”. Telegram & Gazette (The New York Times Company): p. C2.
^ Kelly, Katy (October 5, 1994). “Greeting Mandela with elegance and esteem”. USA Today (Gannett Company, Inc.): p. D02.
^ Nita Lelyveld (October 5, 1994). “White House Lionizes Mandela”. The Free Lance–Star (The Free Lance–Star Publishing Company): p. A8. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
^ Paeth, Greg (November 9, 1994). “HBO worth seeing”. Cincinnati Post (E. W. Scripps Company): p. 7B.
^ “Whitney in South Africa”. Ebony (Johnson Publishing Company) 50 (4): 116–124. February 1995. ISSN 0012-9011.
^ a b Farley, Christopher John (December 4, 1995). “No More Prissy”. Time Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ “Waiting to Exhale (1995)”. Box Office Mojo. March 2, 1996. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ African American Filmmakers, African American Films: A Bibliography of Materials in the UC Berkeley Library, UC Berkeley Library (last visited February 15, 2008).
^ Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, “Back in the Groove?”, Entertainment Weekly, August 14, 1998.
^ Nicole LaPorte, “Diary of a Mad Niche Hit”, Variety, March 6, 2005.
^ White, Jack E. (January 15, 1996). “Heavy Breathing”. Time Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ New York Times, December 22, 1995
^ Entertainment Weekly December 1, 1995 pg.73
^ Willman, Chris (October 12, 2001). “100 Best Movie Soundtracks”. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ Laurence, Charles. “The Arts: The gospel according to Whitney”, The Daily Telegraph, December 14, 1996. Retrieved on January 1, 2008
^ IMDB, Box office / business for “The Preacher’s Wife” (last visited February 15, 2008).
^ Peter Stack, Human Comedy’s Divine in ‘Preacher’s Wife’, San Francisco Chronicle, December 13, 1996.
^ Jones, Steve (November 26, 1996). “‘Preacher’s Wife’ steeped in the spirit”. USA Today. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “The Preacher’s Wife Soundtrack Reviews”. The Times. UK. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ a b Whitney scores as producer and star. Ebony Magazine. November, 1997. Retrieved on May 25, 2008.
^ Todd S. Purdum, “Television; The Slipper Still Fits, Though the Style Is New”, New York Times, November 2, 1997.
^ “Whitney & Brandy in ‘Cinderella.’ – updated version of ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ – includes related article on producer and actress Whitney Houston”, Ebony, November 1997.
^ Carter, Bill (November 5, 1997). “TV Notes; Happy Ending For ‘Cinderella’”. The New York Times: p. 7.
^ “Cinderella: Emmy Nominations”. classicwhitney.com. July 23, 998. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ Whitney Houston To Take On “Christie Love”. MTV News. April 9, 1997.
^ “Streetwise Houston tries new approach Singer’s tour hits town Monday” (Article ID: R00018180056). The Washington Times. July 3, 1999.
^ Anita M. Samuels (March 14, 1998). “Badu Heads Soul Train; Singer Picks Up 4 Awards”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 110 (11): 10. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ “Soul Train Music Awards Library: 1998 The 12th Soul Train Music Awards”. Don Cornelius Productions, Inc. February 27, 1998. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
^ “The Billboard 200 chart listing for the week of December 5, 1998″. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 110 (49): 126. December 5, 1998. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ Melinda Newman (October 31, 1998). “Houston Finds a New Groove with Arista Set”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 110 (44): 1, 86. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “The 71st Academy Awards (1999) Nominees and Winners”. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 21, 1999. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “1999 MTV Video Music Awards”. MTV Network. September 9, 1999. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
^ “Past Winners Search: Whitney Houston”. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. February 23, 2000. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “”My Love Is Your Love” single; triple platinum worldwide”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 111 (47): 137. November 20, 1999. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
^ a b “Whitney Houston Billboard chart history”. Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ a b “Artist Chart History: Whitney Houston”. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved October, 29, 2011.
^ Vibe Media Group (April 1999). Vibe. Vibe Media Group. p. 60. ISSN 10704701.
^ Vince Aletti, “Look Who’s Ticking”, Village Voice (date??), available at classicwhitney.com.
^ “Whitney Houston World Tour ’99 Becomes Europe’s Highest Grossing Arena Tour of the Year”. AllBusiness.com. October 19, 1999. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century”. Recording Industry Association of America. November 10, 1999. Retrieved July 23, 2010.
^ David Basham (February 11, 2000). “TLC Nominated For Three Soul Train Music Awards”. MTV. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
^ Gail Mitchell (March 18, 2000). “TLC Rides Soul Train”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 112 (12): 20. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
^ “Entertainment: Dublin gears up for MTV show”. BBC News. November 11, 1999. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
^ “Spears Tops 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards”. Prometheus Global Media. November 12, 1999. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
^ Brian Ives (November 12, 1999). “Bono Honored As Britney Spears Dominates MTV Europe Awards”. July 3, 2010.
^ “The Billboard 200 chart listing for the week of June 3, 2000″. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 112 (23): 116. June 3, 2000. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “Hits of the World”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 112 (25): 72–73. June 17, 2000. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “Reviews & Previews: Spotlight”. Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 112 (21): 26. May 20, 2000. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ Steve Huey. “Whitney: The Greatest Hits review”. Allmusic.com. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “RIAA Gold & Platinum searchable database”. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “Florida Orchestra Sues Arista Over Anthem”. Prometheus Global Media. December 17, 2001. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
^ “Whitney Houston biography”. Artists. Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ Larry McShane, “Whitney Houston Gets Bad Press”, Washington Post, April 6, 2000.
^ TCM Breaking News, “Fears for Whitney Houston Grow”, September 11, 2001.
^ a b Andrew Dansby, “Whitney Insider Tells of Drug Use, Failed Intervention”, Rolling Stone, June 7, 2000.
^ Movie & TV News @ IMDB.com, “Houston’s Oscar Confusion”, December 23, 2004. Houston was replaced at that Oscar telecast by singer Faith Hill.
^ a b c Diane Sawyer, Interview, ABC Primetime, December 4, 2002 (transcript available at whitney-fan.com).
^ Lafranco, Robert; Binelli, Mark; Goodman, Fred (July 4, 2002). “The Rolling Stone Money Report: The pop stars who earned the most last year – and how they did it”. Wenner Media, LLC. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
^ Whitney Houston Signs $100 Million Contract with Arista Records (p18). August 20, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Mitchell, Gail (December 14, 2002). “Arista Aims New Houston Album At ‘Core Urban’ Fans”. Billboard (Nielson Business Media, Inc.). Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Knolle, Sharon (September 13, 2001). “Reports of Whitney Houston’s Death Denied”. ABC News. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
^ Lynette Holloway, “In Switch, Whitney Houston Has to Sell an Album”, New York Times, November 11, 2002.
^ “Whitney Houston Sued For $100 Million By Dad’s Company”. MTV. October 8, 2002. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
^ “Whitney Houston is sued for $100 million by her father’s entertainment company – Entertainment”. Jet Magazine. October 28, 2002. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
^ Friedman, Roger. Whitney and Bobby No-Shows at Dad’s Funeral FOXNews.com. February 10, 2003
^ “Judge throws out Houston lawsuit”. BBC News. April 15, 2004. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
^ Haring, Keith. “Crack is Wack”. Crack is Wack Mural.
^ MetaCritic.com, “Just Whitney” by Whitney Houston (last visited February 15, 2008).
^ Vibe Media Group (September 2003). Vibe. Vibe Media Group. p. 186. ISSN 10704701.
^ “RIAA Certification Searchable Database”. RIAA. January 10, 2003. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ Paul Cashmere, “Whitney Back With Clive Davis”, Pops by Paul Cashmere, September 17, 2004
^ Barry Garron, “‘Being Bobby Brown’ Is Disgusting”, MSNBC, July 7, 2005.
^ Steve Rogers, “Report: Bravo’s ‘Being Bobby Brown’ coming back for second season”, RealityTV World, October 31, 2005.
^ “Brown Reality Show Cancelled”, SFGate, The Daily Dish, January 10, 2007.
^ “Whitney Houston Files for Divorce From Bobby Brown”. Fox News. Associated Press. September 13, 2006.
^ “Whitney wants to speed up her divorce”. USA Today. February 1, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
^ Breuer, Howard; Keith, Amy (April 5, 2007). “Whitney Houston Wins Custody in Divorce From Bobby Brown”. People. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
^ Keith, Amy Elisa (May 11, 2007). “Bobby Brown Sues Whitney Houston for Custody, Spousal Support”. People. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
^ Brown Cannot Overturn Houston Divorce Terms After Court No-Show, “The Daily Dish!”, SFGate, January 7, 2008.
^ Friedman, Roger (March 13, 2007). “Whitney Houston Starts Work on New Album Today”. Fox News. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “Whitney Houston – The Ultimate Collection (CD)”. Amazon.com, Inc. October 29, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
^ “Whitney Houston Album Due Out Sept. 1; ‘American Idol’ Auditions Kick Off”. VOA News. June 9, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “Whitney Houston to Tell All On Oprah”. CBS. August 20, 2009.
^ “Whitney Houston – Houston Details Drug Use: ‘We Laced Marijuana With Rock Cocaine’ – Contactmusic News”. Contactmusic.com. September 15, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
^ Nekesa Mumbi Moody (February 11, 2012), “Whitney Houston, pop superstar, dies in Beverly Hills hotel” Associated Press
^ Singh, Anita (October 20, 2009). “Whitney Houston’s weird performance on The X-Factor gives her top five hit”. The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved October 20, 2009.
^ Nathan, Sara (October 20, 2009). “Nearly 15m watch X Factor as Cheryl Cole performs solo single (apart from the bits she mimed)”. Daily Mail (London). Retrieved October 20, 2009.
^ “Have your say on Cheryl and Whitney’s X Factor performances”. Uk.tv.yahoo.com. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ Harmsworth, Andrei (October 23, 2009). “Whitney Houston sparkles on Italian X Factor”. www.metro.co.uk. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ “Whitney Conquers Italy – Again!”. whitneyhouston.com. October 21, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ a b “‘I Look To You’ Album Certified Platinum”. whitneyhouston.com. December 1, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “”Whitney Houston” 25th Anniversary”. November 20, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
^ Reliable, The (February 24, 2010). “Washington Post – Whitney Houston tour”. Voices.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ “ITN News – Whitney cancels more shows”. Itn.co.uk. April 7, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ Belinda Goldsmit (April 6, 201). “Due To Illness”. Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ “Houston eyes will.i.am collaboration”. Digital Spy. April 6, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
^ D’Zurilla, Christie (May 9, 2011). “Whitney Houston in outpatient rehab for alcohol, drugs”. Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
^ Billboard. September 12, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011
^ Hibberd, James (September 12, 2011). “Whitney Houston circling ‘Sparkle’ musical remake with Jordin Sparks | Inside Movies | EW.com”. Insidemovies.ew.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
^ Kit, Borys (September 12, 2011). “Whitney Houston in Talks to Star in Music-Themed Drama ‘Sparkle’ (Exclusive)”. The Hollywood Reporter.
^ a b February 11, 2012 . “Whitney Houston’s death: Medics performed CPR for about 20 minutes — latimes.com”. Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ TMZ:”possible drowning”
^ Yan, Holly; Quan, Denise (February 12, 2012). “World mourns death of music legend Whitney Houston”. CNN. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ “Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48″. Edition.cnn.com. August 9, 1963. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ “Bobby Brown Says ‘I Love You, Whitney’ During Emotional Concert”. Billboard. February 12, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ “Singer Whitney Houston found dead”. FoxNews. February 12, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock-N-Roll Gold Rush. Algora Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 0875862071.
^ a b c Powers, Ann. “Album Review: Whitney Houston’s ‘I Look To You’”. Los Angeles Times. August 25, 2009
^ Saint Bris, Gonzague (2009) (in French). La Malibran. Belfond. p. 105. ISBN 978-2-7144-4542-1.
^ “Blender Magazine’s 22 Greatest Voices”. Blender. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists”. COVE. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
^ “Higher and Higher. Mariah Daily Journal”. Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
^ “If Ella Fitzgerald is the queen of jazz, Billie Holiday first lady of the blues, and Aretha Franklin the queen of soul, then who is the queen of pop? In the 1990s, it would seem to be a three-way tie between Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion. Certainly all three have their devotees and detractors, but their presence has been inescapable.” in Lister, Linda (2001). “Divafication: The Deification of Modern Female Pop Stars”. Popular Music and Society 25 (3/4): p. 1. ISSN 03007766
^ Holden, Stephen (July 22, 1993). “Review/Pop; For Whitney Houston, Showy Doesn’t Count: The Show Is the Voice”. The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
^ Gardner, = Elysa (November 24, 1996). “Oh, Whitney—for Heaven’s Sake”. Los Angeles Times.
^ “Whitney Houston: the life, death and rebirth of a pop princess”. Times UK. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
^ “Whitney Houston”. Headliners and Legends. NBC. August 8, 2000.
^ Hunt, Dennis (January 18, 1987). “Baker And The Rise Of Black Women In Pop”. Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved March 26, 2011.
^ a b Huey, Steve. “Whitney Houston Biography”. Allmusic. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
^ Holden, Stephen. “The Pop Life; 1986, A Musically Conservative Year.” NY Times. December 31, 1986.
^ Corliss, Richard, Elizabeth L. Bland, and Elaine Dutka (July 13, 1987). “Show Business: The Prom Queen of Soul”. TIME. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
^ Holden, Stephen. “Review/Pop; Diana Ross Flirts With a Willing Audience”. The New York Times. June 16, 1989.
^ “34 | Whitney Houston”. 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
^ Song Woong-ki (January 8, 2010). “Whitney Houston to perform in Seoul”. The Korea Herald. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
^ Whitney Houston Biography, Rolling Stone, 2010
Further reading
Whitney Houston (March 1999). My love is your love: piano, vocal, chords. Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.. ISBN 978-0-7692-7734-9.
Kevin Ammons (April 1998). Good Girl, Bad Girl: An Insider’s Biography of Whitney Houston. Carol Pub Group. ISBN 978-0-8065-8012-8.
Jeffery Bowman (February 1995). Diva: the totally unauthorized biography of Whitney Houston. Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-100853-5.
Craig Halstead (September 2010). Whitney Houston: For the Record. Authors OnLine, Limited. ISBN 978-0-7552-1278-1.
James Robert Parish (September 2003). Whitney Houston: The Unauthorized Biography. Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-85410-921-7.
James Robert Parish (April 2010). Whitney Houston: Return of the Diva. John Blake. ISBN 978-1-84454-919-1.
External links
Whitney Houston
Official website
Whitney Houston at Whitney Info
Whitney Houston discography at Discogs
Whitney Houston at the Internet Movie Database
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whitney_Houston&oldid=476447425″
Categories:
1963 births
2012 deaths
Actors from New Jersey
African American film actors
African American female singers
African-American film producers
African American record producers
American dance musicians
American female models
American pop singers
American rhythm and blues singers
American mezzo-sopranos
Arista Records artists
Baptists from the United States
Emmy Award winners
English-language singers
Grammy Award winners
Musicians from New Jersey
Participants in American reality television series
People from Newark, New Jersey
Whitney Houston
This page was last modified on 12 February 2012 at 13:49.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Description de cette image, également commentée ci-après
Whitney Houston en 2009.
Données clés Nom Whitney Elizabeth Houston
Naissance 9 août 1963
Newark, New Jersey
Pays d’origine Drapeau des États-Unis États-Unis
Décès 11 février 2012 (à 48 ans)
Beverly Hills, Californie
Activité principale Chanteuse (Auteur-compositeur-interprète)
Actrice
Mannequin
Productrice de musique
Genre musical R&B
Soul
Pop
Dance
Gospel
Instruments Voix, piano
Années d’activité 1977 à 2012
Labels Arista Records, RCA Records
Site officiel http://www.whitneyhouston.com/
Composition du groupe Entourage Kim Burrell, Alicia Keys, Akon, Michael Jackson
modifier Consultez la documentation du modèle
Whitney Elizabeth Houston est une chanteuse, actrice, productrice et ancienne mannequin américaine, née le 9 août 1963, à Newark dans le New Jersey et morte le 11 février 20121,2,3 à Beverly Hills en Californie à l’âge de 48 ans. En 2009, ses ventes sont estimées à plus de 170 millions de disques à travers le monde.
Sommaire
1 Biographie
1.1 Enfance
1.2 Début de sa carrière musicale
1.3 La célébrité
1.4 Un retour difficile
1.5 Mort
2 Voix
3 Vie privée
4 Projets inachevés
5 Discographie
5.1 Singles
6 Références
7 Liens externes
Biographie
Enfance
Fille de Cissy Houston, une choriste R&B renommée aux États-Unis, et cousine de la chanteuse Dionne Warwick, la petite Whitney Elizabeth grandit dans un environnement musical. Enfant, elle chante dans l’église baptiste de Newark, avec le désir de devenir choriste comme sa mère. Elle interprète son premier solo, à l’âge de 11 ans.
Houston chante professionnellement pour la première fois dès l’adolescence, comme choriste de Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, Lou Rawls et les Neville Brothers. Elle apparait aussi comme chanteuse principale sur le single de Michael Zager Band, Life’s a Party en 1978. Elle fait du mannequinat à la même époque, apparaissant sur les couvertures de grands magazines américains comme Glamour et Seventeen (en 1981).
Début de sa carrière musicale
En 1983, elle signe un contrat avec Clive Davis, le président de la maison de disques Arista. Deux ans passent avant la sortie de son premier album. Son premier album, s’intitule Whitney Houston. Il paraît en 1985 et génère trois singles no 1 : Saving All My Love For You, How Will I Know et Greatest Love Of All. L’album s’est vendu à ce jour à 24 millions d’exemplaires. Whitney passe les deux années suivantes en tournée pour promouvoir le disque.
D’autres succès suivent en 1987 et 88 : le deuxième album, Whitney, s’installe dès sa sortie en première position du Top Albums américain (c’est la première fois qu’un tel exploit est réalisé par une femme). De plus, c’est la première artiste de toute l’histoire à aligner sept no 1 consécutifs au Top 50 US, battant un record détenu par les Beatles et les Bee Gees.
En 1990, paraît le troisième album de Whitney, I’m Your Baby Tonight, qui a un peu moins de succès que ses albums précédents, mais en sortent néanmoins deux tubes n° 1 : I’m Your Baby Tonight et All The Man That I Need. Cet album marque également sa première collaboration avec le duo de producteurs L.A. Reid & Babyface qui donnent un côté plus Urban/Soul à l’album. Babyface devient son auteur-compositeur-producteur favori et on le retrouve dans la plupart de ses futurs projets et dans tous ses albums.
La célébrité
À partir de 1990, Whitney sort moins de disques que dans les années 80. Sa carrière et sa vie sont cependant très actives : elle se tourne vers le cinéma et met au monde une fille.
Son premier film, Bodyguard (1992), avec Kevin Costner, engrange plus de 400 millions de dollars au box-office. La bande originale de Bodyguard devient la deuxième la plus vendue au monde4 (plus de 39 millions d’exemplaires) après Saturday Night Fever, grâce notamment à la fameuse chanson I Will Always Love You (écrite et d’abord interprétée par Dolly Parton), qu’elle a reprise en concert.
Sur cette lancée, Whitney joue en 1995 dans Où sont les hommes ? (Waiting to Exhale), qui devient un succès aux États-Unis comme la bande originale, entièrement composée et produite par Babyface et qui comporte trois nouvelles chansons.
Le troisième film, La Femme du pasteur (The Preacher’s Wife) (1996), comédie romantique, ne marche pas aussi fort, ce qui est l’occasion pour Whitney de retourner à ses racines dans le gospel. Le nouvel album comporte quinze nouvelles chansons dont quatorze écrites par Whitney ; il génère plusieurs tubes dont Step By Step. En 1997, Whitney interprète le rôle de la fée-marraine de Cendrillon dans le téléfilm Cinderella, une comédie musicale.
La carrière musicale de Whitney se poursuit avec l’enregistrement de l’album My Love Is Your Love, qui sort en novembre 1998. C’est le premier album de Whitney en huit ans : depuis 1990, elle n’avait enregistré que des chansons pour bandes originales de films. On y découvre un son différent, avec des titres écrits et produits par les musiciens du moment : Rodney Jerkins, Babyface, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Soulshock & Karlin. D’autres chansons de cet album correspondent à un style plus habituel (les balades de Diane Warren et David Foster). À ce jour, l’album a produit quatre tubes (When You Believe, duo avec Mariah Carey, Heartbreak Hotel, It’s Not Right But It’s Okay, My Love Is Your Love) ; il s’en est vendu à plus de douze millions d’exemplaires.
Whitney Houston soutient des œuvres de charité, des organisations aidant les enfants et la jeunesse, et des organismes de lutte contre le SIDA. En 1989, elle fonde la Whitney Houston Foundation For Children Inc., qui apporte son soutien aux enfants sans-abris et malades.
Un retour difficile
Fin 2000, Greatest Hits sort, accompagné de duos avec George Michael, Enrique Iglesias et Deborah Cox. Album suivi en 2001 par une nouvelle compilation intitulée Love, Whitney (une compilation de ses plus belles ballades), suivi de l’album Just Whitney…, paru en 2002.
En 2001, elle participe au concert des 30 ans de carrière de Michael Jackson où elle chante Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ avec Usher et Mya.
En 2003, Whitney Houston sort son sixième album, One Wish: The Holiday Album, qui n’aura pas vraiment de succès. Selon une estimation de la RIAA, elle aurait vendu 450 millions d’albums, aujourd’hui elle est la plus grande chanteuse du moment (RIAA certification 2011).
L’album I Look To You, orienté RnB, sort le 31 août 2009. Le premier single extrait est I Look To You. Le deuxième single sera Million Dollar Bill (écrit par Alicia Keys). Dès la première semaine, l’album se classe n°1 du prestigieux Billboard 200 avec 464 000 albums vendus, ce qui n’était plus arrivé depuis 16 ans. L’album est également en tête un peu partout en Europe.
Peu avant la sortie de son album, Whitney organise un concert lors de l’émission Good Morning America où elle n’arrive pas à assurer vocalement l’ensemble du concert. Une interview avec Oprah Winfrey est enregistrée courant septembre 2009. Durant celle-ci, Whitney interprète un morceau de son nouvel album, I Didn’t Know My Own Strength (composé par Diane Warren). Pour Oprah Winfrey, Whitney est définitivement de retour car la performance est extraordinaire et ce n’est plus la Whitney du concert de Good Morning America.
Whitney Houston se voit remettre le prix de la meilleure artiste internationale, lors des derniers American Music Awards. Une distinction seulement décernée aux artistes dont le rang de superstar est reconnu mondialement. C’est donc la deuxième artiste féminine de l’histoire des AMA, après Beyoncé, à avoir reçu ce prix.
En décembre 2009, elle entame une tournée mondiale à travers l’Europe, l’Asie et l’Australie. Après un concert très mal assuré en Australie, la presse se déchaine. Concert après concert elle fait l’objet de mauvaises critiques au sujet de ses conditions vocales. On apprendra plus tard qu’elle souffrait d’une infection des cordes vocales, ce qui la conduira en mai 2010 à une brève hospitalisation à Paris.
Malgré cette mauvaise publicité, la chanteuse a prouvé à plusieurs reprises durant sa tournée, baptisée Nothing But Love, qu’elle possède encore une grande partie des capacités vocales qui lui avaient values le surnom de The voice5.
Les rumeurs les plus folles circulent à son sujet durant cette tournée, notamment qu’elle se serait remise avec son ex-mari Bobby Brown, qu’elle aurait été aperçue en train de consommer de la drogue en public dans un bar ou encore qu’elle était mourante. Aucune de ces allégations n’a pour le moment fait l’objet de la moindre preuve.
Mort
Le 11 février 2012 dans l’après-midi, Whitney Houston est retrouvée inanimée par ses gardes du corps dans la baignoire de sa chambre d’un hôtel de Beverly Hills en Californie, des médicaments ont été retrouvés. Sa mort est confirmée peu après l’arrivée des ambulanciers paramédicaux. Âgée de 48 ans, la Diva devait figurer le soir même parmi les invités du gala du producteur Clive Davis, soirée qui précédait la 54e cérémonie des Grammy Awards du dimanche 12 février 2012.
Voix
Whitney Houston est arrivée en première position sur le « classement MTV des 22 plus grandes voix »6, sixième sur la liste Online Magazine COVE’s list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists avec un score de 49.5/50, et quatrième sur Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers list7,8.
Vie privée
En 1990, Whitney Houston s’installe dans la villa qu’elle a acheté à Mendham, une ville résidentielle du New Jersey. Elle s’éprend de l’artiste et chanteur Bobby Brown.
Le 18 juillet 1992, ils se marient devant 800 invités. Whitney reconnaîtra plus tard l’avoir fait pour de mauvaises raisons. Brown apporte un certain poids dans cette union, notamment trois enfants nés de deux précédentes relations. Ensemble ils ont un enfant, Bobbi Christina, née le 4 mars 1993.
2000 est une année difficile pour Whitney. Elle est arrêtée à l’aéroport de Hawaï aux États-Unis en possession de marijuana. Incapable d’assister à une remise de prix aux Oscars, il s’avère que c’est son mari, Bobby Brown, qui consommait de la marijuana, parmi d’autres drogues. La prestation qu’aurait dû donner Whitney aux Oscars fut jouée par Faith Hill. Mais la relation particulièrement instable et violente qu’elle vit avec son mari Bobby, qui a en outre admis plusieurs infidélités, l’entraîne dans l’enfer de la drogue, tout comme dans une série de scandales médiatiques.
En septembre 2006, Whitney Houston décide de divorcer de Bobby Brown et annonce l’enregistrement d’un nouvel album (produit par Clive Davis, son ancien mentor), le premier depuis trois ans, qui devait marquer son grand retour sur le devant de la scène. Mais elle a perdu sa voix et le grand retour est annulé après quelques concerts car ce fut une catastrophe.
La chanteuse perd sa résidence d’Atlanta, qui est saisie en novembre 2006 pour non-paiement d’une dette de 1,4 million de dollars ; elle conserve sa grande résidence du New-Jersey. Bobby Brown, 38 ans alors, est arrêté en février 2007 pour un arriéré dans le paiement de la pension alimentaire à ses deux enfants (nés d’une précédente union).
Le divorce, prononcé le 24 avril 2007 après 14 ans de vie commune, entraîne la vente des biens communs.
En 2008, Whitney Houston fait une nouvelle fois la une des journaux du monde entier. Cette fois-ci, c’est sa fille de 15 ans, Bobby Kristina, qui est en cause. La jeune fille aurait en effet tenté de se suicider après avoir attaqué sa mère avec un couteau. Bobby Kristina est la fille de Whitney Houston et de Bobby Brown, de qui la diva a finalement divorcé après des années de disputes, de drogues et de mauvais traitements. Apparemment, la fille de Whitney Houston ne se serait pas encore remise du divorce de ses parents. C’est lors d’une dispute avec sa mère survenue en février que Bobby Kristina a essayé de poignarder sa mère avant de retourner le couteau contre elle-même. La jeune Bobby Kristina est entrée à l’hôpital psychiatrique Peachford d’Atlanta, où elle est restée trois jours en observation. La jeune adolescente ne voudrait plus vivre avec Whitney Houston, qui n’a pas eu le droit de visiter sa fille.9
Projets inachevés
Après la parution en 2010 du livre de Terry McMillan Getting To Happy, qui n’est autre que la suite du bestseller Waiting to Exhale parut en 1992, Whitney Houston fut pressentie pour reprendre son rôle de Savannah Jackson dans l’adaptation cinématographique du livre aux côtés de Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon et Loretta Devine. Bien que ces dernières aient déjà signé pour le film, la participation de Whitney Houston restait incertaine, aucune annonce officielle n’ayant été faite. Whitney Houston n’a pas tenu de rôle au cinéma depuis 1996, avec La Femme Du Pasteur.
Des rumeurs relayées par Bobbi Christina Brown (la fille de Whitney Houston) sur Twitter ont fait référence en 2011 à des répétitions pour une tournée américaine. Cette fois encore, aucune annonce officielle de la maison de disques n’avait été effectuée.
Le 23 septembre 2011, Whitney Houston avait confirmé sa présence dans le film Sparkle. Elle devait être la productrice exécutive sur ce film, avec un scénario de Mara Brock Akil et réalisé par Salim Akil, pour y interpréter le rôle d’une chanteuse de Gospel.
Discographie
Albums studio
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
Bande-son
1992: The Bodyguard
1995: Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album
1996: The Preacher’s Wife: Original Soundtrack Album
Compilation et autres
2000: Whitney: The Greatest Hits
2001: Love, Whitney
2007: The Ultimate Collection
Singles
Années 80
1985 : “all at once”
1985 : You Give Good Love
1985 : Saving All My Love For You
1986 : How Will I Know
1986 : Greatest Love Of All
1987 : I Wanna Dance With Somebody [Who Loves Me]
1987 : Didn’t We Almost Have It All
1988 : Where Do Broken Hearts Go
1988 : So Emotional
1988 : One Moment In Time
1988 : Love Will Save The Day
Années 90
1990 : I’m Your Baby Tonight
1991 : My Name Is Not Susan
1991 : Miracle
1991 : All The Man That I Need
1991 : I Belong To You
1992 : I Will Always Love You
1992 : I’m Every Woman
1992 : I Have Nothing
1993 : Queen Of The Night
1993 : Run To You
1995 : Exhale [Shoop, Shoop]
1995 : Why Does It Hurt So Bad
1997 : Step By Step
1997 : My Heart Is Calling
1998 : When You Believe [Duet With Mariah Carey]
1999 : Heartbreak hotel
1999 : My Love Is Your Love
1999 : It’s Not Right But It’s Okay
1999 : Could I Have This Kiss Forever (en duo avec Enrique Iglesias)
Années 2000
2000 : I Learned From The Best
2001 : The Star Spangled Banner
2002 : Whatchulookinat
2003 : Try It On My Own
2003 : One Of Those Days
2003 : Love That Man
2009 : I Look To You
2009 : Million Dollar Bill
Références
Dépêche AFP
Dépêche Associated Press
(en)Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48, CNN
http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/cinema/diaporama/07/bandes-originales-films-les-plus-vendues/2.shtml
The Voice.
Blender Magazine’s 22 Greatest Voices, Blender. Consulté le January 13, 2010
The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, Rolling Stone. Consulté le January 13, 2010
100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists, COVE. Consulté le January 13, 2010
http://expresse.excite.fr/whitney-houston-attaquee-par-sa-fille-de-15-ans-N665.html
Liens externes
Site officiel
Whitney Houston sur l’Internet Movie Database – Version plus complète en anglais
Ce document provient de « http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whitney_Houston&oldid=75496565 ».
Dernière modification de cette page le 12 février 2012 à 14:02.
Droit d’auteur : les textes sont disponibles sous licence Creative Commons paternité partage à l’identique ; d’autres conditions peuvent s’appliquer. Voyez les conditions d’utilisation pour plus de détails, ainsi que les crédits graphiques. En cas de réutilisation des textes de cette page, voyez comment citer les auteurs et mentionner la licence.
Wikipedia® est une marque déposée de la Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., organisation de bienfaisance régie par le paragraphe 501(c)(3) du code fiscal des États-Unis.
