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Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer – 7 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."
"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.
"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.
Wow. Just... wow. :(
Monkey love killed her. :(
CNN is talking about it, so it ain't a joke.
Dead as a MRF :(
Was Bobby Brown's plot successful?
An ancient American Scipioism.
motherfucker.
Wow, that's too bad though not exactly unexpected. :(
I thought she was older than that.
That's a shame.
Peace, Lady.
Unexpected to me. She was that gorgeous woman in those 1980s videos to me :(
Good grief, rather sad and both myself and Tricky are older. :(
Oh my god. :( :(
Wow, was surprised and saddened to hear this. :(
Wow, shocked and dismayed to hear it. :(
Dismay, sure, but shock?
RIP.
A long time ago when I was younger I had an apartment downtown Toronto-- really east-end, Greektown.
Anyways, I was freelancing at the time, which mostly meant staying in the apartment waiting for the phone to ring.
Meanwhile, downstairs from me lived a woman about my age.
For about a week, all day, every day, she played Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You from the Bodyguard soundtrack. I could hear it through the floorboards and heating grates. It grated on me. It drove me batty. I took to drink, rarely slept, lost weight, became insane. I was a conservative until then.
So really, when I think of Whitney I think back to that sad, sad week in 1993.
That woman who lived below me, disappeared after that week, and has never been seen since. :ph34r:
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on February 11, 2012, 09:40:34 PM
Dismay, sure, but shock?
RIP.
Sure - I mean she'd already took the step of finally getting rid of toxic Bobby.
Quote from: Josephus on February 11, 2012, 09:44:43 PM
A long time ago when I was younger I had an apartment downtown Toronto-- really east-end, Greektown.
Anyways, I was freelancing at the time, which mostly meant staying in the apartment waiting for the phone to ring.
Meanwhile, downstairs from me lived a woman about my age.
For about a week, all day, every day, she played Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You from the Bodyguard soundtrack. I could hear it through the floorboards and heating grates. It grated on me. It drove me batty. I took to drink, rarely slept, lost weight, became insane. I was a conservative until then.
So really, when I think of Whitney I think back to that sad, sad week in 1993.
That woman who lived below me, disappeared after that week, and has never been seen since. :ph34r:
LMAO, great tale.
:(
Wow.
Just one of those celebrity horror stories that you figured, yeah, she's all fucked up and just a big joke. But you wouldn't expect a death out of it.
I blame Bobby.
It was his prerogative. That's what happens when a good church girl gets mixed up with ghetto life.
Quote from: Jaron on February 11, 2012, 11:46:10 PM
It was his prerogative. That's what happens when a good church girl gets mixed up with ghetto life.
"You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 11, 2012, 11:42:43 PM
Wow.
Just one of those celebrity horror stories that you figured, yeah, she's all fucked up and just a big joke. But you wouldn't expect a death out of it.
Yeah, it's not like no celebrity has even gone down this path before.
Couldn't stand her music, but always kinda felt sorry for her effed up life.
Quote from: dps on February 12, 2012, 12:03:59 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 11, 2012, 11:42:43 PM
Wow.
Just one of those celebrity horror stories that you figured, yeah, she's all fucked up and just a big joke. But you wouldn't expect a death out of it.
Yeah, it's not like no celebrity has even gone down this path before.
What I meant was, I expected to be annoyed with her silly bullshit for a lot more years.
Not surprising. RIP
They should just play this on the Jumbotron at every Super Bowl from now on, insead of giving us another shitty Stephen Tyler version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHmdu_I_0zI
There is no justice in this world when Whitney Houston dies and Whitney Cummings lives.
Quote from: Martinus on February 12, 2012, 04:18:53 AM
There is no justice in this world when Whitney Houston dies and Whitney Cummings lives.
I was hoping this was about Whitney C losing her show. :(
In other news, while standing in line saw a drunk kid who fell over and people laughed. He fired back - don't laugh, Whitney died today!
never really knew her, except from mad tv skits :P
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
That's Tina Turner, you godless douche. :lol:
That's right. I thought she was too young to have done that. Oh well.
I'll just leave now, and hope that Lindsey Lohan sees her future in this and decides to clean her worthless self up yo.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:12:56 PM
I'll just leave now, and hope that Lindsey Lohan sees her future in this and decides to clean her worthless self up yo.
Not sure I see the comparison. Lindsay Lohan has been using since she was hatched and has no talent. :hmm:
Just an example. Hollywood's greatest delight is in making young idiots destroy themselves.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 12, 2012, 01:11:49 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
That's Tina Turner, you godless douche. :lol:
:lol:
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 12, 2012, 01:11:49 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
That's Tina Turner, you godless douche. :lol:
Whitney Who, Stun.
Quote from: garbon on February 12, 2012, 01:23:49 PM
Not sure I see the comparison. Lindsay Lohan has been using since she was hatched and has no talent. :hmm:
She managed to look prettier than Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls. Considering how they look now, that's hard to believe. Though I think McAdams' character's perma-scowl had something to do with it.
Too bad, bum deal.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
:lol:
Lindsay Lohan was actually quite a gifted child actress.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 12, 2012, 03:28:54 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
:lol:
Lindsay Lohan was actually quite a gifted child actress.
She hasn't been hawt since Freaky Friday.
I never thought she was. Lindsay has a voice I can't stand. A female Harvey Fierstein.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 12, 2012, 03:37:55 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 12, 2012, 03:28:54 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
:lol:
Lindsay Lohan was actually quite a gifted child actress.
She hasn't been hawt since Freaky Friday.
She's got big boobies
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 12, 2012, 03:37:55 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 12, 2012, 03:28:54 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
:lol:
Lindsay Lohan was actually quite a gifted child actress.
She hasn't been hawt since Freaky Friday.
Siege?
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 12, 2012, 03:37:55 PMShe hasn't been hawt since Freaky Friday.
:yes:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2012%2F02%2F09%2Farticle-2098618-11A55B91000005DC-270_634x911.jpg&hash=40fa6ce414763fa466be56716a3dc4444a7daf13)
25 years old but she's hit the wall. Hard.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on February 12, 2012, 01:09:05 PM
I only knew her from Beyond Thunderdome. She lived longer than most rich celebrity druggies.
:lmfao:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moviespad.com%2Fphotos%2Flindsay-lohan-mean-girls-efb60.jpg&hash=b3667f11d9b89e84f644055c255848e977992d24)
Too old and too fat for Siegey, but still hot to normal guys. :contract:
She can still clean up well nowadays, her prison photos weren't bad. Definitely going downhill though.
The drugs and the anorexia scarred her. Plus the bleached hair. Blekth.
It was a total surprise to me. I had no idea about her troubles. I assumed that she remained the same way she was in Bodyguard.
Quote from: Legbiter on February 12, 2012, 04:49:34 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 12, 2012, 03:37:55 PMShe hasn't been hawt since Freaky Friday.
25 years old but she's hit the wall. Hard.
God, she looks like she's pushing forty.
Quote from: Razgovory on February 12, 2012, 09:50:26 PM
God, she looks like she's pushing forty.
None of us look great after all the booze and speed. :sleep:
So what do people think are her best songs? I have these four -
Run to you
I will always love you
Greatest love of all
Saving all my love for you
Any other suggestions? :unsure:
Quote from: Monoriu on February 14, 2012, 10:47:10 AM
So what do people think are her best songs? I have these four -
Run to you
I will always love you
Greatest love of all
Saving all my love for you
Any other suggestions? :unsure:
Toss up between I have nothing or I will always love you. But IMO the latter edges out. Brillant vocals.
keep reading the title as "Whitey, NO!". thought i'd share.
Quote from: HVC on February 14, 2012, 11:05:40 AM
keep reading the title as "Whitey, NO!". thought i'd share.
Same here. :unsure:
I miss chubby Lindsay :(
Quote from: 11B4V on February 14, 2012, 10:58:04 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on February 14, 2012, 10:47:10 AM
So what do people think are her best songs? I have these four -
Run to you
I will always love you
Greatest love of all
Saving all my love for you
Any other suggestions? :unsure:
Toss up between I have nothing or I will always love you. But IMO the latter edges out. Brillant vocals.
I was always partial to "How Will I Know", and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". So snappy, with really cool bass and keyboard riffs. Consummate '80s pop fare.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 14, 2012, 02:32:34 PM
Quote from: 11B4V on February 14, 2012, 10:58:04 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on February 14, 2012, 10:47:10 AM
So what do people think are her best songs? I have these four -
Run to you
I will always love you
Greatest love of all
Saving all my love for you
Any other suggestions? :unsure:
Toss up between I have nothing or I will always love you. But IMO the latter edges out. Brillant vocals.
I was always partial to "How Will I Know", and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". So snappy, with really cool bass and keyboard riffs. Consummate '80s pop fare.
:hug:
Also My Name Is Not Susan.
Quote from: 11B4V on February 14, 2012, 10:58:04 AM
Toss up between I have nothing or I will always love you. But IMO the latter edges out. Brillant vocals.
Great vocals but sick to death of that song. Even more overplayed than the one from Titanic.
Also, it's Dolly Parton's song. Credit where credit is due :mad:
Quote from: Caliga on February 14, 2012, 07:25:51 PM
Also, it's Dolly Parton's song. Credit where credit is due :mad:
Cover blows the original away though.
For obvious reasons I prefer Dolly Parton over Whitney Houston. :)
Not the Dolly Parton of today, though. :yuk: Hello, plastic surgery addict.
Quote from: Caliga on February 14, 2012, 07:31:24 PM
For obvious reasons I prefer Dolly Parton over Whitney Houston. :)
You are racist and hate the black?
:rolleyes:
Somewhere I have a pic of me groping Dolly Parton's plaque at the County Music Hall of Fame. :)
Quote from: Caliga on February 14, 2012, 07:35:39 PM
:rolleyes:
Somewhere I have a pic of me groping Dolly Parton's plaque at the County Music Hall of Fame. :)
That still doesn't refute my assertion. ^_^
I like the blacks. :)
Have you ever split the black oak? :ph34r:
No, but I would. There's this black temp at work who has a mighty fine rack. :cool:
Quote from: Caliga on February 14, 2012, 07:25:51 PM
Also, it's Dolly Parton's song. Credit where credit is due :mad:
Dolly's making a mint off Whitney's death.
Good. Dolly reinvests her fortune in the paradise that is the Smokies. :cool:
Ugh, Pigeon Forge.