Houston was a daughter of Cissy Houston (background singer as Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, a very successfull gospel artist) and a cousin of singer DionneWarwick, very successful R&B artist.Legendary Aretha Franklin was her baptize mom. Houston came into contact with music early in her life. Together with her mother, she toured as a teenager along various nightclubs and thus developed her voice. As a fourteenyear old girl in 1977 she was the lead vocalist on the song "Life's A Party" by the Michael Zager Band. Frontman Zager arranged a recording contract for the singer, but her mother felt that first Houston had to complete school, otherwise it was possible that her success might collapse. In 1978 Houston was one of the backing vocals on Chaka Khan I'm Every Woman, and in the nineties Houston would record his own version for the soundtrack, for the movie The Bodyguard. She was also modelling and was at the cover of magazines such as Glamour and Seventeen. In the early eighties, her career as a model was off the ground. She posed for Seventeen and was one of the first women with dark skin on the cover.
In 1983 Gerry Griffith (employed by record label Arista Records) saw Houston gig with her mother in a New York nightclub. He was impressed byher talent and brought in contact with Houston Clive Davis, head of the label. After a showcase, Davis was also captivated by her talent, and a recording contract soon followed. During the The Merv Griffin Show Houston made her American television debut.
Although in 1983 Houston signed a contract for several albums with Arista, did not immediately begun recording her first CD. Clive Davis wanted the right material for the singer and that took time.Houston was the first number on Hold Me, a duet with Teddy Pendergrass in 1985 on her album ended. The song also appeared as single and became a top 5-R & B hit in the United States and this was Houston’s first success in the charts. In February 1985,Houston's self-titled debut album, produced by Michael Masser,Kashif, Jermaine Jackson and Narada Michael Walden. The lead single Someone For Me album flopped and thereby threatened to go on the same side. The next single You Give Good Love reached third place in the Billboard Hot 100 and gave Houston its breakthrough. After the album rose still higher in the U.S. album chart. The jazzy Saving All My Love For You was the next success. Houston got her first U.S. number 1 hit with it. In England, this number holds the first position in the charts. The single How Will I Know (also No. 1 in the U.S.) was with his MTV music video, a rare achievement, since at that time still relatively few clips of African-Americans were shown on the TV. Houston was her debut with a large audience. In 1986, nearly a year after the appearance of her debut album, this was14 weeks in first place in the American album chart. With "Greatest Love Of All" Houston scored its third No. 1 below.During the Grammy Awards in Houston '86 received her first Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance for Saving All My Love For You. This was followed by a number of other American MusicAwards and an MTV Video Music Award.
Houston's second album, called simply "Whitney", appeared in June 1987. The production was held by the same people who were responsible for the sound on her debut album. In the U.S. and the UK the album debuted at No. 1 on the album charts. Houston became the first singer who got this done. In other countries the album reached the top as well. The four released singles I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Did not We Almost Have It All, So Emotional Where Do Broken Hearts Go and all reached the first place in the U.S. A total number was Houston's 1-success result in seven pieces, which they record The Beatles and Elvis Presley who defeated every six No. 1 hits in succession achieved. She is to this day the only artist who achieved number 1 hits for seven consecutive years. Love Will Save The Day was the last single from this album was drawn. It achieves the first place but was a U.S. Top 10 hit. The duet with her mother, “I know him so well” is only released on single in some European countries. Whitney won nine times platinum for sales of 9 million units in the U.S. alone; until now, the album sold 25 million worldwide. At the Grammys in 1988, the singer received her second award for Best Pop Vocal Performance for I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me). Shortly after the release of the album Houston also went for the first time on tour with the "Moment Of Truth World Tour. In April 1988 Houston was four times in a sold out Ahoy in Rotterdam.
For the 1988 Summer Olympics, the singer sang the song One Moment In Time, which again was a big hit. It did not come to the first place in the United States (Top 5) but in, inter alia, Germany and the United Kingdom. With the success of two albums to her name Houston was seen as the biggest sensation since Michael Jackson. On her third album I'm Your Baby Tonight, in 1990, the singer appeared a more urban-like way. The title track and All The Man That I Need was worldwide hit and U.S. number 1 hit. Other singles like My name is not Susan, Miracle, I Belong To You and We did not know (duet with Stevie Wonder) were also big hits. In 1991, Houston had the opportunity during the Super Bowl XXV, the American national anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner) to sing for an audience of millions. Her recording of the song also appeared on single and reached the American Top 20, with which she was the first artist ever was with the national anthem in the pop-up version kicked the charts.
Houston's love life was a huge speculation subject in the media from the beginning till the end. She dated actor Eddie Murphy, eentually fell in love with R & B star Bobby Brown in 1989. After three years they got married. With the success of her music Houston got offers for several films to be done, but she didnt feel like that initially, because she was too inexperienced. In 1984 she played a small role in the television series Gimme a Break!. In 1992, Houston made her film debut alongside Kevin Costner in the thriller The Bodyguard. Here she played a successful singer Rachel Marron, who was followed by a stalker and thus built up a close relationship with her bodyguard. For the film soundtrack, Houston’s few new songs were: I Will Always Love You (cover version of the songfrom Dolly Parton in 1974), I'm Every Woman (cover version of the song by Chaka Khan, who is also heard on the background), RunTo You, I Have Nothing and Queen Of The Night. All scored very high in the charts worldwide and the soundtrack of The Bodyguard sold 42 million copies. It also gave Houston a few Grammy's. 'I Will Always Love You "became an even bigger success than the original Dolly Parton version and is still considered one of Houston's greatest hits with a number 1-listing over almost the entire world. The single is one of the best selling ever.
At March 1993 Whitney’s daughter was born. At 1995, Houston played alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon in Waiting to Exhale, a drama about four African American women and their dealings with clients. The success of the film was minimal compared to blockbuster The Bodyguard. For the soundtrack of the movie she took the number Exhale (Shoop Shoop) on. The song was a worldwide hit around Christmas 1995 and was her eleventh U.S. number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Exhale was at number 1 for a week. In late 1996, The Preacher's Wife appeared in theaters, again not as successful as The Bodyguard. With the song Step By Step (from the movie soundtrack) Houston won both in America and in many European countries a top 20 hit. This was followed by her role as the Fairy Godmother in the television musical Cinderella (Cinderella), a film in which she played alongside Brandy, Jason Alexander and Whoopi Goldberg.
After the beginning of the nineties mainly dominated by movies and accompanying soundtracks, turned back to Houston in 1998 for her first studio album in eight years. My Love Is Your Love appeared later that year. Initially, a greatest hits CD was planned, but eventually it was decided that there was enough material for a new album. The singles It's Not Right, But It's Okay, Heartbreak Hotel, When You Believe (duet with Mariah Carey for the animated The Prince Of Egypt), My Love Is Your Love I Learned From The Best became worldwide hits. The album sold10 million copies. In 2000 followed the previously scheduled The Greatest Hits of all great successes and some new songs, including the duet with Enrique Iglesias: Could I Have This Kiss Forever, which landed at No. 1 in the Netherlands.
In the eighties and nineties Houston was seen as a good girl, but that changed at 2000s. Concerts and activities were canceled on TV and photo sessions, rehearsals and interviews, and she was often hours late. She also began to lose weight again. At January 2000, Houston and Brown were caught with marijuana in their luggage at an airport in Hawaii. Initially she denied being an addict. During the 30th Anniversary Special for Michael Jackson in September 2001, Houston was so skinny and the pictures filled the days after the newspapers. Houston's spokeswoman said: "Whitney is suffering from stress due to personal problems and stress within her family and does not eat." In 2002, Houston gave an interview to Diane Sawyer for her latest album. However, during the interview her experiences with drugs and alcohol were discussed more than the new CD. The statements "We do not do crack. We do not do that. Crack is wack." were worldwide coverage in the press and caused a lot of parodies. During late 2002 she released the album Just Whitney and 4 million copies were sold. The singles Whatchu look in at, Try It On My Own and One Of Those Days flopped. End of 2003 followed the Christmas album One Wish: the Holiday album, again it was not hit.
After years of rumors and speculation in the media, Houston and Brown divorce became a fact on September 2006. After three years of musical experimentation, including Alicia Keys, Danja, Stargate, Akon and David Foster, in 2008 Houston was ready to make a comeback with I Look to You. The single Million Dollar Bill was seen by many as her best work in ages. The success of the song fell from the charts, and sales of the latest album with 2.5 million copies was not comparable to the success of the albums from the eighties and nineties, but Houston's label was satisfied with the results . I Look to You achieved in many countries the top 10 album charts and was in the U.S. Houston's first No. 1 album since the soundtrack of 'The Bodyguard' in 1992.
In early September 2009, the singer appreared in an interview at The Oprah Winfrey Show, her first public interview in seven years on television. They talked about Houstons separation and drug history. The interview was done in the United States. To celebrate her comeback, in 2009 Houston launched her first world tour since 10 years. The Nothing But Love World Tour took her to various parts of the world. The reviews about her last performances were very poor, which resulted in many boos in concerts in England and included fans who left the concert because the singer had lost her glory. On her website was to read that she was working on a comeback on the silver screen. She plays Emma at the film Sparkle. The film was released in May 2012.
In recent years, came the news of problems with her husband Bobby Brown and rumors of drug use. In 2005, she went to therapy at the Crossroads Centre on the Caribbean island of Antigua. On April 24, 2007 she divorced Brown and got custody of their daughter Bobbi Kristina.
Houston died on February 11, 2012 at the age of 48. The singerwas found dead in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Whitney Houston did not seem to be killed by drowning, as initially thought. On February 18, 2012 funeral ceremony took place at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey . It is the gospel choir Whitney joined as a child. The ceremony was attended by a total of 1500 guests, which include Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Elton John and Kevin Costner. Fans were not welcome at the ceremony. They funeral was live on the internet and American television.On February 19, Whitney was in the cemetery to be buried at Westfield, where she lies next to her father.
Your favorite artist pictures, videos and more! See your favorite posts:
