Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is a Grammy award winning, American R&B singer, actress, film producer, and former model. She is well-known for her powerful vocals, melismatic vocal inflections, and expansive vocal range..[1][2][3][4]
Houston was one of a few black artists to receive heavy rotation on MTV in the 1980s during a male rock dominated time, in the network's early years. AOL Black Voices said "Though her success seemed like a lightening rod, it was always validated by Whitney's polished and powerful vocal abilities - making her known as "The Voice".[5] She is the only female artist to have two albums in the top 35 best selling albums in the US, and is the only artist to have a record seven consecutive Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit singles[6]. Houston has sold over 170 million records worldwide.[7] Houston is considered one of the 100 most fascinating black women of the 20th century according to Ebony magazine.[8]
After marrying R&B singer Bobby Brown at the height of her career, rumors of drug and spousal abuse led to a decline in her album sales and her public image. Her personal troubles would be talked about more than any of her music, regularly appearing in the tabloid press. Houston began looking and sounding less like the singer people came to know and she stopped making public appearances. Houston underwent two drug rehab programs in 2005 and 2006. After a successful second program in 2006, Houston divorced Bobby Brown and gained custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina. She has since been working on her 7th studio album with music mogul and close friend and mentor Clive Davis.[9]

Early life

Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, and is the third and youngest child of John and Cissy Houston. She was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. As a teenager, she attended a Roman Catholic single-sex high school, Mount Saint Dominic Academy. Houston’s mother Cissy, her first cousin (Dionne Warwick), and godmother (Aretha Franklin) are all notable figures in the gospel music, rhythm and blues and soul music genres. At the age of eleven, Houston began to follow in their footsteps and started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark.

Music career

Early career: 1977–1984

Houston spent much of her teenage years touring night clubs with her mother. In 1977, at fourteen years of age, Houston was featured as the lead singer on the Michael Zager Band’s single “Life’s a Party.” Zager subsequently offered to help obtain a recording contract for the young singer, but Cissy declined, wanting her daughter to finish school first. Then in 1979, at age sixteen, Houston sang background vocals on Chaka Khan’s hit single "I'm Every Woman", a song she would later turn into a bigger hit for herself on her monstrous selling "The Bodyguard" soundtrack album. In the early 1980s, Houston worked as a fashion model, snagging the cover of Seventeen magazine and appearing in a Canada Dry soft drink commercial. While modelling, and touring nightclubs with her mother, she continued her recording career, working with producers Michael Bienhorn, 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” (composed by Hugh Hopper, lyrics by Robert Wyatt), which Robert Christgau of the The Village Voice called "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard" upon the album's release.[10]
Houston had previously been offered several recording contracts (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 night club and was impressed. He convinced Clive Davis, Arista's label head, to take time to see Houston perform at the nightclub. Davis, too, was impressed after the performance and offered her a worldwide recording contract, which Houston signed. Later in the year, Whitney made her national televised debut alongside Davis on the The Merv Griffin Show.
Houston signed with Arista in 1983 but did not began work on her album immediately. Arista put forth the deal to make sure no other label signed the singer from under them. At first, Davis had a hard time finding material for Houston to record. Many major producers would pass on her.[11] Houston first recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled “Hold Me,” which appeared on his album, Love Language. The single became a Top 5 R&B hit, and would also appear on her debut album as well.

Debut: 1985–1986

When Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album was released in February, it initially sold modestly and failed to make in impact. The plan was to first appeal to a black audience, hence the release of the lead single “You Give Good Love,” which peaked at #3 on the U.S. .[12]Billboard Hot 100 while going #1 on the R&B Charts. With the song's success, the album began climbing the charts. The follow-up singles, “Saving All My Love for You,” “How Will I Know,” and “Greatest Love of All” all peaked at number one on the pop singles chart and all would help establish a cross-over base. By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for 14 consecutive weeks [13]. It became an international success, selling over thirteen million copies in the United States alone —making it the best-selling debut album by a female artist. To date, the album has sold approximately 25 million copies worldwide.[14] The album received mainly positive reviews. Many praised the new voice with Rollingstone calling her "one of the most exciting new voices in years" [15] The same year, Houston launched her first headlining tour called The Greatest Love Tour. Because of her duet "Hold Me" in 1984, Houston was ineligible for 'Best New Artist' at the 1986 Grammys. Many felt it was unfair because she the award was hers to lose. [16]. However, she did win her first Grammy award for ‘Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female’ for “Saving All My Love for You”. At the same award show, Houston performed her Grammy-winning hit; the performance won Houston her first and only Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. [17] Houston also won two American Music Awards for ‘Favorite Soul/ R&B Video’ and ‘Favorite Soul/ R&B Single’ for “Saving All My Love” and “You Give Good Love” respectively; and a MTV Video Music Award for ‘Best Female Video of the Year’ (“How Will I Know”). Houston's grand entrance into the music industry was listed as one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years according to USA Today.[18]

Continued success: 1987–1991

Houston’s second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987, and became the first album in history by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US and the UK album chart, as well as topping the charts in several countries around the world. The album's first four singles, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn't We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100—which brought her a total of seven consecutive Hot 100 number-one hits; breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. The album's fifth, and final single, “Love Will Save the Day” also peaked in the Top 10 on the Hot 100. Whitney was certified nine times platinum in America, and sold approximately 20 million worldwide.
Houston won her second Grammy in 1988, for ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ (“I Wanna Dance With Somebody”) and embarked on the worldwide The Moment of Truth tour. The same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, “One Moment in Time,” which peaked at number five in the U.S., while reaching number one in the UK and Germany.
With the success of her first two albums, Houston was a cross over superstar. However, many critics complained that her music was "bland" and that she sounded "too White". Then at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, Houston's name was called out for a nomination before the audience booed her.[19] This led the pop singer to take a more urban direction in her music. I'm Your Baby Tonight, Houston’s third studio album, was released in November 1990 and featured collaborations with 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. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified four times platinum in the US, selling ten million worldwide. The first two singles, “I’m Your Baby Tonight” and “All The Man That I Need” each hit number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts respectively. The third and fourth singles: “Miracle,” and “My Name Is Not Susan” peaked at numbers nine and twenty, respectively —the fifth single, "I Belong to You", peaked in the Top 10 on the R&B charts, while yet another single, the duet with Stevie Wonder entitled, "We Didn't Know", made the R&B Top 20. The sales of the album were down drastically compared to her previous efforts.
Whitney performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. Her recording on the song was released as a commercial single, reaching the top twenty on the U.S. Hot 100; making her the only artist to turn the national anthem into a chart hit (ten years later, the song was re-released after the September 11, 2001 attacks, this time peaking becoming a Top 10 hit.) Houston donated her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. This legendary performance of the national anthem was named number one in the NFL’s 2003 list of Top 25 greatest moments in NFL history.[citation needed]. VH1 also listed it as the 12th greatest moment that rocked TV.[20]
In 1991, Houston embarked I’m Your Baby Tonight World Tour, which Rolling Stone poll voters voted “Worst Tour of the Year.”[21] The tour didn't sell out as much as her previous tours.

Hollywood success: 1992–1998

In November 1992, Houston made her big screen debut, opposite Kevin Costner, in The Bodyguard, which garnered over $120 million at the US box office [22]. Whitney performed six songs on the films adjoining soundtrack album, which was certified 17x platinum in the United States[23] (with worldwide sales of 42 million[24], according to Whitney's official site) and went onto become the best-selling soundtrack album ever. Houston’s recording of “I Will Always Love You” peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks and topping the charts in nearly every other country including the big markets of the UK, Germany, France and Australia. The song has sold approximately 10 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling single by a female solo artist. Follow-up singles “I'm Every Woman” and “I Have Nothing” also peaked in the top five. The album won Album of the Year and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards. Following the success of the film, Houston embarked on another expansive worldwide tour in 1993, which concluded in 1994 with a televised concert in South Africa. During this time, Whitney also recorded “Something in Common,” a duet with new husband Bobby Brown.
In December 1995, Houston starred in her second film, the critically acclaimed Waiting to Exhale. The movie and its soundtrack struck a chord with African American women and is considered a cultural classic. After grossing $67 million at the box office, it proved that a movie targeting black audiences can cross over to a white audience and make money. [25] [26] Whitney contributed three songs to the critically acclaimed soundtrack album including the smash “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)”, which would become a cultural favorite amongst African American women for its honest answers of the heart's self-generating questions. The song is one of Houston's most critically acclaimed songs for its subtle and soulful approach. After debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song spent a record 11 weeks at the #2 spot. Houston also contributed two other songs: “Count on Me”, which peaked at eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; the third, “Why Does It Hurt So Bad” peaked at #26. The album, which in addition to Houston featured a bevy of contemporary R&B female recording artists, was certified seven times platinum in America, and sold thirteen million worldwide[24], according to Whitney's official site.
In late 1996, Houston returned to the silver screen in the Penny Marshall-directed The Preacher's Wife, alongside Denzel Washington. Houston recorded the gospel motion picture soundtrack album, which sold six million copies worldwide and scored pop hits with “I Believe in You and Me” and “Step by Step”. With the soundtrack, Houston has recorded the largest selling gospel album of all time. It also fulfilled her long time desire to record a gospel album.
In 1997, Houston co-produced and starred in (along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters) a made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella.

Back to the studio: 1999–2001

After spending much of the early and mid 1990s working on films, with their adjacent soundtrack albums as an outlet for new music, Houston's fourth studio album in eight years 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 produced enough new material for a full-length studio album. Recorded and mixed in only six weeks, it featured production from Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliott. The album had a more funkier and edgier sound than past releases and saw Houston handling urban dance, hip hop, reggae, mid-tempo R&B, torch songs, and ballads all with great dexterity. The album's first single, the Academy Award-winning "When You Believe" (duetted with Mariah Carey for 1998s The Prince of Egypt soundtrack) became a Top 10 hit in the UK, Germany, and France, and reached the Top 20 of the U.S. Hot 100. The next three singles, Heartbreak Hotel”, which featured Faith Evans and Kelly Price; “It's Not Right but It's Okay”, which won Houston her sixth Grammy Award, and “My Love Is Your Love” all reached the US Top 5 and became international hits. The album's fifth single, "I Learned from the Best," peaked inside the US top forty, at number twenty-seven. All singles, except "When You Believe", also became number one hits on the U.S. Dance/Clubplay Chart. The album went on to be certified four times platinum in the U.S., with worldwide sales of ten million. In 1999, Houston participated in VH-1’s Divas’ Live ‘99, alongside Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, Cher, Brandy and Chaka Khan. The same year, Whitney hit the road with her worldwide My Love Is Your Love tour.
In April 2000, Whitney: The Greatest Hits was released. The double disc set peaked at number five on the Billboard Top 200, and reached number one on the UK chart. While the ballads were left unchanged, the album is notable for featuring house/club remixes of many of Houston’s past up-tempo songs, in place of their original version. Also 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”, all of which failed to crack the Billboard Top 40. Along with the album, an accompanying DVD was also released of the music videos to Houston’s greatest hits. The greatest hits album was certified triple platinum in the US, with worldwide sales of ten million. The same year, Houston performed on the televised special commemorating Arista Records twenty-fifth anniversary.
In August 2001, Houston signed the biggest record deal in music history with Arista/BMG. She renewed her contract (worth $100 million) to deliver six new albums on which she would also earn royalties. Within weeks Houston's rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" would be re-released after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Houston would donate her portion of the proceeds.

Commercial decline: 2002–2005

In December 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney. The album featured collaborations with then-husband Bobby Brown, as well as Missy Elliott, and received poor reviews upon its release[27]. Rolling Stone said the album "only shows an artist vainly trying to reach for what her future once could have been." [28]. The album debuted at #9 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the highest opening week sales of any album she had ever released, but all of the singles, “Whatchulookinat,” “One of Those Days,” and “Try It on My Own” failed to reach the top forty on the Hot 100 singles chart and the album quickly fell of the Billboard Top 200 after a the disastrourous Prime Time interview with Diane Sawyer to promote the album. Just Whitney would be certified platinum in the U.S. with cumulative worldwide sales of over three million, Houston's lowest sales of any album.
In late 2003, Houston released One Wish: The Holiday Album, a specialty album of traditional Christmas songs. The single "One Wish" reached the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary Chart as the album sold approximately 400,000 copies in the U.S. It eventually became Houston’s lowest selling album and the first not to achieve gold status in the US.
In 2004, Whitney embarked on an international tour, the Soul Divas tour with Natalie Cole and cousin Dionne Warwick in Europe, before embarking on solo dates in the Middle East, Russia, and Asia. In September 2004, she gave a surprise performance at the World Music Awards, in tribute to long time friend Clive Davis. Houston received a thunderous standing ovation for her performance. After the show, Davis and Houston announced plans to go into studio to work on a new album. [29]However, no further updates would surface and no album was released due to Houston's drug problems.

Divorced, healthy, and motivated: 2006–present

It was reported by a festival called 'Live and Loud KL 07' that Whitney Houston would be performing. The date of that festival will be December 1st 2007. This festival will be held in Malaysia - http://www.lnlkl.com/artist.php?val=1&snum=1

Film and television career

• During the early-mid 1980s, as Houston was working on launching a music career, she auditioned for acting roles; including the part of Sondra Huxtable on The Cosby Show, which eventually went to Sabrina Le Beauf. In 1984, Houston appeared on an episode of Gimme a Break, and an episode of Silver Spoons in 1985.

• Houston’s first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner. The film was successful at the box office, grossing more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide. Reviews, however, were mixed, and Houston received two Razzie Award nominations.

• In 1995, Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon in the film Waiting to Exhale, about four African-American women struggling with relationships. The film grossed $67 million in the U.S. and [$82 million worldwide][4].

• In 1996, Houston starred in the holiday comedy The Preacher's Wife, with Denzel Washington which earned approximately fifty million in the US.

• In 1997, Houston co-produced and starred in (along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters) a made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein‘s Cinderella.

• In 2003, Houston appeared in an episode of Boston Public, where she performed “Try It on My Own.”

• In 2005, Houston appeared on then-husband’s Bobby Brown reality TV program Being Bobby Brown, which provided a view into the domestic goings-on in the Brown household.

Of late, Houston has served as an executive producer of many successful Hollywood films including the Disney films The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and the Disney made-for-television films The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2: When in Spain.

Personal life

Marriage to Bobby Brown

Houston 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. On March 4, 1993 she gave birth to their child, daughter Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown. In December 2003 Brown was arrested and charged with battery after an altercation with Whitney. [30]
In September 2006, the couple legally separated. The following month, on October 16, 2006, Houston filed for divorce from Brown.[31] On February 1, 2007 Whitney asked the court to fast track their divorce.[32] The divorce became finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston granted custody of the couple's daughter.
On April 26, 2007, Brown filed court papers with the Orange County Superior Court to set aside the divorce judgement that ended his marriage to Houston. In the filing, he claims the marriage was ended under false pretenses and sought child support, possible spousal support, and a change in the judgement that gave full custody of their daughter to Houston. The papers also claim that Brown was essentially homeless at one point and severely depressed during that time. A court hearing was set for June 2007.[33]

Drug and health issues

On January 11, 2000, airport security discovered marijuana in the luggage of both Houston’s and husband Bobby Brown’s luggage at a Hawaiian airport, but the two boarded the plane and departed before authorities could arrive. Charges were later dropped against her and Brown, but rumors of drug usage among the couple would surface. Later that year Houston was scheduled to perform at the Academy Awards, but she was fired from by musical director and long time friend Burt Bacharach. This, along with many cancelled concert appearances, led to more speculation about her health. The next year, Houston made an appearance at Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special.

John Houston dispute

In 2002, Houston became involved in a legal dispute with her father, and one-time manager, John Houston. Houston sued his daughter for $100 million (but lost); stating that she owed his company previously unpaid compensation for helping to guide her career, as well as for helping to manage the various controversies that had surrounded it in recent years.[34] Both of them appeared on television and disputed the other's claims.[35] John Houston died in February 2003. The lawsuit was dismissed on April 5, 2004, after Kevin Skinner, the man who claimed to own John Houston Entertainment, failed to participate in pre-trial discovery.[36]