Whitney Houston (born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey, death announced February 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California) was a Grammy and Emmy Award winning American R&B/pop singer, actress, former fashion model, record and movie producer. Whitney Houston is one of pop music’s best-selling music artists of all-time, with more than 200 million combined albums, singles, and videos sold worldwide. She was known for her soulful dramatic mezzo-soprano voice, vocal power, range and melismatic skill. She was labeled the “Queen of Songs” by Arsenio Hall, who described her as “the first lady of song”. She was also known to millions as “The Voice”, a nickname given to her by Oprah Winfrey. Also known as the “Queen of Pop/Soul”, or soulful-pop music.
Whitney’s debut album was released in 1985 to critical and commercial international success, and she went on to release seven consecutive number-one hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. She was one of a handful of African-American artists who received heavy-rotation on MTV during the network’s early years in the 1980s. Her 2nd Album “Whitney” became the first female album to debut #1 in history, she also got a #1 debut on the Hot 100 with her track “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” from the soundtrack “Waiting to Exhale” which was the 2nd Female Song to debut #1 in history, the track won a Grammy in 1997 for “Best R&B Song”
Houston continued her success into the 1990s with the release of several films and their corresponding soundtrack albums, the most popular of which was The Bodyguard (1992), which produced the worldwide number-one hit single I Will Always Love You. According to Songfacts, I Will Always Love You stayed at US #1 for 14 weeks, which was a record at the time, and for a while was second to “We Are The World” as the biggest-selling single ever. Houston’s albums in the 2000s have been less successful.
Her personal life became the subject of controversy because of allegations of drug abuse, especially after repeated cancellations of public appearances and erratic behaviour.
In mid 2009, Houston released her seventh and final studio album, “I Look To You.” The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. It became another Platinum seller. It was stated in the UK Newspaper “The Mirror” that Houston was thinking about recording her eighth studio album.
Her death was announced by her publicist on February 11, 2012. She was survived by her mother, Cissy Houston, two brothers, and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, who died three years later.
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