Biography:

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed “the Voice“, she is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of music.^[1] Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 220 million records sold worldwide.^[2] She influenced many singers in the recording industry, and was known for her powerful, soulful vocals, vocal improvisation skills, use of gospel singing techniques in pop music, and live performances.^[3][4][5] Houston had 11 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the chart.^[a] Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, two Emmy Awards, and 30 Guinness World Records. Houston’s inductions include the Grammy Hall of Fame (twice), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Hall of Fame, and the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Houston began singing at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, as a child and became a background vocalist while in high school. She was one of the first black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. With the guidance of Arista Records chairman Clive Davis, Houston signed to the label at age 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. Hit singles from the albums, including “How Will I Know“, “Greatest Love of All” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)“, established her as a catalyst in the acceptance of black female artists on MTV. Her third studio album, I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, the title track and “All the Man That I Need“. Houston’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 received widespread media coverage.

Houston made her acting debut with the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992), which despite its mixed reviews became the tenth highest-grossing film to that date. Its soundtrack won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and remains the bestselling soundtrack album of all time. It generated multiple hit singles, including “I Have Nothing“, “I’m Every Woman” and “I Will Always Love You“; the latter won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, spent a then-record 14 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. Subsequently, she went on to star in the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996), and she recorded their respective soundtracks; the former scored her last Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)“, while the latter, produced by Houston herself, became the bestselling gospel album of all time. As a film producer, she produced multicultural movies and series such as Cinderella (1997) and The Princess Diaries and The Cheetah Girls.

Houston’s first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love (1998), spawned several hit singles, including the title track, “Heartbreak Hotel“, “It’s Not Right but It’s Okay” and the Academy Award-winning Mariah Carey duet “When You Believe“. Following the success, she renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million in 2001, one of the biggest recording deals of all time.^[6] However, her personal problems began to overshadow her career. Her 2002 studio album, Just Whitney, received mixed reviews, while her drug use and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown received widespread media coverage. After divorcing Brown, Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 chart with her final studio album, I Look to You (2009). In February 2012, Houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards, which took place the day following her death, and was covered internationally. Her life and career were dramatized in the 2022 biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Her assets amounted to $250 million, earned over a 25-year career.^[7]

Life and career

1963–1977: Early life and family

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, at Newark Beth Israel Hospital (now Newark Beth Israel Medical Center) in Newark, New Jersey,^[8] the daughter of Emily “Cissy” (née Drinkard) and John Russell Houston Jr. (1920–2003). Houston’s mother Cissy was a Grammy-winning gospel and soul singer, who was a member of The Drinkard Singers and the founder of The Sweet Inspirations, a popular session vocal group that recorded background vocals for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley.^[9][10][11] The group later earned a Grammy nomination for their hit, “Sweet Inspiration“.^[12] Cissy later left the Sweet Inspirations, starting a solo career that later resulted in two Grammy Award wins for gospel work.^[13] Her father John was a former Army serviceman who later became an administrator who worked for Newark mayor Kenneth A. Gibson.

Her parents were both African-American. On her mother’s side, Houston was alleged to have partial Dutch and Native American ancestry.^[14] Through Cissy, Houston was a first cousin of accomplished singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick as well as a distant cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Aretha Franklin became an “honorary aunt”, while Darlene Love later became Houston’s godmother.^[15][16][17] Through her father, her great-great-grandfather Jeremiah Burke Sanderson was an American abolitionist and advocate for the civil and educational rights of black Americans during the mid-19th century.^[18][19] Houston was the youngest child of her parents. She had three older brothers, paternal half-brother John III (1943–2021),^[20] maternal half-brother Gary Garland, a former basketball player and singer,^[21] and Michael Houston, a songwriter and road manager.^[22]

The family later relocated to a suburban area of East Orange three years following the Newark race riots of 1967. Houston attended Franklin Elementary School (now Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts) before transferring to Mount Saint Dominic Academy by sixth grade. Houston was raised in the Baptist faith by her parents and joined the church choir of the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark at age five where she also learned to play piano.^[23][24] Houston later recalled being exposed to the Pentecostal church nearby as well. Houston made her solo performance debut at New Hope singing the hymn “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah” at age 12.^[25] When Houston became a teenager, she told her mother that she wanted to pursue a career in music. Throughout her teenage years, Houston would be taught how to sing by Cissy.^[26] Along with her mother, cousins Dionne and Dee Dee and Franklin, Houston was also influenced by other singers such as Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Roberta Flack.^[27]

1978–1984: Early career

After placing second place at a statewide talent showcase in 1977, Houston began singing background for her mother’s band on the cabaret club circuit in New York City. On February 18, 1978, a fourteen-year-old Houston made her non-church performance debut at Manhattan’s Town Hall singing the Broadway standard “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie, receiving her first standing ovation.^[28] Later that year, Houston sang background on mother Cissy’s solo album, Think It Over, with the title track later reaching the top 5 of the Billboard disco chart. The album’s producer Michael Zager recorded her lead vocal on his disco song, “Life’s a Party”, with the album of the same name released later in 1978.^[29] Houston’s session vocal career took off when she sang background for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls on their respective albums, Naughty and Shades of Blue, both released in 1980.^[30]

Houston became a fashion model after she was discovered by a photographer who filmed her and her mother during a performance for the United Negro College Fund at Carnegie Hall. She became one of the first black women to appear on the cover of a fashion magazine when she appeared on the cover of Seventeen.^[31] She would also appear inside other magazines such as Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Young Miss. Her looks and girl-next-door charm made her one of the most sought-after teen models.^[30] In February 1981, Houston recorded three demo recordings of gospel music with producer and music executive Steven Abdul Khan Brown in hopes of Houston getting signed to a recording deal.^[32] Khan Brown later would claim the demos helped Houston secure her deal with Arista Records in early 1983.^[32] During this period, Houston was sought after for record deals between 1979 and 1981 by the likes of Michael Zager and Luther Vandross.^[29][33] The offers, however, were turned down by her mother because she wanted Houston to finish school.^[29] Weeks after graduation, Houston signed with Tara Productions, under the advice of her cousin Dionne, and hired Gene Harvey as her manager, with co-managers Daniel Gittelman and Seymour Flics, also working closely with the singer.^[34][35][36]

Houston would see her profile raised after being hired to sing on the song “Memories” by the band Material, later released on their 1982 album, One Down. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution “one of the most gorgeous ballads you’ve ever heard”.^[37] Later in 1982, she recorded the soul ballad, “Eternal Love”, by producer and songwriter Paul Jabara, which was later featured on Jabara’s 1983 album, Paul Jabara & Friends, with its original title including Houston’s name on the cover.^[38] The song was later covered by R&B singer Stephanie Mills for her album, Merciless that same year. During this time, she was sought after by Elektra president Bruce Lundvall, who offered her a contract at the end of 1982. In March 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative for Arista Records, saw Houston performing with her mother at the Seventh Avenue South nightclub in Manhattan. He convinced Arista head Clive Davis to make time to see her perform at another nightclub called Sweetwaters the following week. Davis was impressed and immediately offered a worldwide record deal, which Houston eventually signed on April 10, 1983; since she was only nineteen, her parents also signed for her. Two weeks later, on April 29, Houston performed on The Merv Griffin Show, after an introduction from Davis.^[39] Her performance later aired on June 23.^[40] She performed “Home“, a song from the musical The Wiz.^[41]

Houston did not begin work on an album immediately.^[42] The label wanted to make sure no other label signed her away and Davis wanted to ensure he had the right material and producers for her debut album. Some producers passed on the project because of prior commitments.^[43] Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass, “Hold Me“, which appeared on his gold album, Love Language.^[44] The single was released in 1984 and gave Houston her first taste of success, becoming a top ten hit on the R&B and adult contemporary charts.^[45] It would also appear on her debut album in 1985. She also appeared as a duet vocalist and background singer on Jermaine Jackson‘s Dynamite and Kashif‘s Send Me Your Love albums. During this early period, Houston continued to model, appeared in a commercial for the Canada Dry soft drink, and also began singing commercial jingles, including one for the restaurant brand, Steak & Ale.^[46]

Credits: