Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, and record producer. Commonly referred to as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded performers of all time. Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of more than 220 million records worldwide. A cultural icon, she broke down gender and racial barriers through her artistic achievements and music videos. Known for her vocal delivery, gospel singing style, crossover appeal, and live performances, Houston was ranked second on Rolling Stones list of the greatest singers of all time in 2023.
Houston became one of the first black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. She signed to Arista Records at the age of 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), topped the Billboard 200 for 14 and 11 weeks, respectively. The former remains the best-selling debut album by a solo artist, while the latter made her the first woman to debut atop the US and UK charts. Houston took a more urban turn with her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), and performed an acclaimed rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. She then starred in the films The Bodyguard (1992), Waiting to Exhale (1995), The Preacher's Wife (1996) and Cinderella (1997), and produced the film franchises The Princess Diaries (2001–2004) and The Cheetah Girls (2003–2006). Soundtracks of The Bodyguard and The Preacher's Wife, respectively, rank as the best-selling soundtrack album and gospel album of all time, with the former winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and topping the Billboard 200 for 20 weeks.
Following the success of My Love Is Your Love (1998), Houston's first studio album in eight years, she renewed her contract with Arista Records for $100 million in 2001, one of the largest recording deals of all time. However, her drug use and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown tarnished her "America's Sweetheart" image, overshadowing her next albums, Just Whitney (2002) and One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003). After divorcing Brown, Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 with her final album, I Look to You (2009). On February 11, 2012, Houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 54th Annual Grammy Awards and was covered internationally along with her memorial service.
Houston's first two albums, along with The Bodyguard soundtrack, rank among the best-selling albums of all time and made her the first black artist to score three RIAA diamond-certified albums. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "I Will Always Love You" are among the best-selling singles ever; the latter remains the best-selling single by a woman and has been certified diamond by the RIAA. Houston scored eleven Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and remains the only artist to have seven consecutive singles top the chart. She has been inducted into multiple halls and walks of fame, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and the Grammy Hall of Fame (twice). Guinness World Records named Houston the highest-earning posthumous female celebrity. Her assets amounted to $250 million, earned over a 25-year career. Her life and career have been the subject of multiple documentaries and television specials.
Early life and family
thumb|upright|[[New Hope Baptist Church (Newark)|New Hope Baptist Church, where Houston sang in the choir as a child|alt=]]
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, at Presbyterian Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, to Emily "Cissy" (née Drinkard) and John Russell Houston Jr. Cissy was a Grammy-winning gospel and soul singer who was a member of The Drinkard Singers and the founder of The Sweet Inspirations before becoming a solo artist. John was a former Army serviceman who later became an administrator under Newark mayor Kenneth A. Gibson. According to her mother, Houston was named after actress Whitney Blake. Houston was given the nickname "Nippy" by her father.
Houston's parents were both African-American. Cissy Houston stated that she had partial Dutch and Native American ancestry. Houston was a cousin of singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick as well as a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Aretha Franklin was an "honorary aunt" while Darlene Love was Houston's godmother. Houston's paternal 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. Houston had three older brothers: paternal half-brother John III; maternal half-brother Gary, a basketball player and singer; and full brother Michael.
At three, Houston witnessed the Newark race riots of 1967. Following Cissy signing a solo recording contract in 1970, the Houston family relocated to a suburban area of East Orange, New Jersey, called Doddtown. Prior to moving to East Orange, the Houstons had raised their children on Newark's Wainwright Street. Houston's parents married in the spring of 1964, just months before Houston's first birthday. Initially a happy union, the marriage dissolved by Houston's teen years after Houston's father suffered a near-fatal heart attack. By 17, Houston's parents separated; divorcing over a decade later.
Houston was raised in the Baptist faith. She joined the church choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark at the age of five, and she also learned to play piano at New Hope. She 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 the age of 12 in November 1975. Around this same period, she told her mother that she wanted to pursue a career in music. Houston would be trained on how to sing by Cissy throughout her teen years. Houston's biggest musical influence was her mother. She was also heavily influenced by her successful cousins Dionne and Dee Dee. Other musical influences included Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack.
Houston attended Franklin Elementary School (now the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts) from first grade to sixth grade before transferring to Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey, at 13.
Career
1977–1984: Career beginnings
thumb|left|upright|Houston gave her first public non-church performance at Manhattan's [[The Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall as a teenager.]]
Houston's professional career began when she joined her mother's band as a background singer at fourteen while Cissy performed at Manhattan cabaret clubs. Houston gave her first solo during Cissy's performance at Manhattan's Town Hall in February 1978, performing "Tomorrow" from the Broadway musical, Annie, where she received her first standing ovation. Houston began a career as a session vocalist backing up artists like her mother, Michael Zager, the Neville Brothers, Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. Houston was the featured vocalist in Zager's disco song "Life's a Party" (1978).
Houston became a fashion model in 1980 after being spotted at Carnegie Hall and signed first with Click Models before moving onto the Wilhelmina Models agency, where she landed the cover of Seventeen. Houston's girl next door charm helped her to land in fashion spreads for Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Young Miss. Houston's vocal talent made her sought after for recording deals, but were turned down by her mother, who insisted that Houston finish high school.
Signing with Tara Productions in September 1981, Houston hired Gene Harvey as her manager, with Daniel Gittleman and Seymour Flics also playing part in managing her. During 1982, Houston auditioned for both Elektra Records and CBS Records. Houston's feature on the song "Memories" from Material's album One Down, led to critical raves, with then-Village Voice critic Robert Christgau calling it "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard". Producer Paul Jabara later featured her on the ballad, "Eternal Love", issued off his album, Paul Jabara & Friends.
After seeing Houston perform at the Seventh Avenue South nightclub in Manhattan, Gerry Griffith—then the A&R representative for Arista Records—convinced label head Clive Davis to see her perform at the Sweetwaters nightclub the following evening. Upon viewing the performance, an impressed Davis offered Houston a recording contract. With her parents present, Houston signed on April 10, 1983.
Houston was introduced to a national audience in June 1983, performing the song "Home" from the Broadway musical The Wiz on The Merv Griffin Show. During this period, Houston almost landed a role on The Cosby Show before pulling out on the show due to her emerging career. Houston landed a cameo role on Gimme a Break!, was featured in a Canada Dry commercial and also sang commercial jingles, including one for the restaurant brand, Steak & Ale.
Houston did not begin work on an album immediately. The label wanted to make sure no other company 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. Released in May 1984, the song was Houston's first hit, reaching the top ten of the US R&B and adult contemporary charts. Houston also received notice in 1984 after being paired up with Jermaine Jackson, with whom the duet, "Take Good Care of My Heart", was featured on Jackson's Dynamite album, while also appearing with Jackson performing the song and another duet, "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do", on an episode of As the World Turns. All three songs eventually appeared on her debut album.
1985–1986: Whitney Houston and rise to international prominence
Whitney Houston was released on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1985. The album received mixed to positive reviews in its initial run, with most of the positive remarks aimed at Houston's vocal ability. Rolling Stone called Houston "one of the most exciting new voices in years" while The New York Times called the album "an impressive, musically conservative showcase for an exceptional vocal talent". Debuting at number 166 on the Billboard 200 on March 30, 1985, the album reached the top ten 23 weeks later. It reached number one in March 1986, where it stayed for 14 weeks—the longest run of any debut album by a woman.
Whitney Houston spawned four top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100, tying a then-record set by Cyndi Lauper and Madonna for most top ten singles off an album released by a female artist. The first single, "You Give Good Love", peaked at number three and attracted some notoriety after advice columnist Ann Landers included it in her list of rock songs deemed "trashy music" on her Ask Ann Landers column; Houston quickly addressed Landers's comments in an interview with The Chicago Tribune. The three follow-up singles "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All" topped the Hot 100 back-to-back, setting a new record for a female artist for most number one hits off a single album. Two days after achieving her first number one hit, Houston opened at Carnegie Hall. In addition, the ballad "All at Once" became an international hit in Europe and Japan.
A global success, Whitney Houston reached the top ten in twenty global territories, including the UK, and topped the charts in six others, including Canada and Australia. The album has since been certified Diamond in the United States for sales of 14 million copies, with over 25 million units sold worldwide, becoming the best-selling solo debut album in music history and the best-selling debut album by a female artist. The album is also listed in the Guinness World Records as the best-selling R&B studio album by a female artist in history.
In a May 25, 1986 article on The New York Times, journalist Stephen Holden declared Houston "the new queen of pop". The album's success was attributed to performances on late-night talk shows, a format not often accessible to emerging black talent at the time and exposure on music video stations, including MTV, which at the time was receiving harsh criticism for not playing enough videos from artists of color while favoring predominantly white acts. Houston stated the channel rejected the clip to "You Give Good Love" for "being a very R&B kind of song", only for them to play the clip for "Saving All My Love for You" due to the song "hit(ting) so hard and explod(ing) so heavy" that they "had no choice but to play it". In December, the video to "How Will I Know" was submitted and accepted by MTV brass and sent the video to heavy rotation almost immediately after it debuted that month and later led to Houston's music regularly being played on the channel, the first occurrence for a black female artist. The success of the "How Will I Know" video resulted in Houston winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video in September. In July 1986, her first major world tour, The Greatest Love World Tour, was launched and Houston performed on four continents for 54 shows until that December.
Houston was ranked the top new pop artist of 1985 by Billboard; the following year, her debut was the best-selling album of the year. The album was nominated for five Grammys, including Album of the Year. She won her first Grammy for "Saving All My Love for You" in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category. Later, a performance of the song at the ceremony won Houston an Emmy for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. She won her first seven American Music Awards from the album, out of a record 13 nominations. Houston's debut album is listed as one of Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200 list. Houston's entrance into the music industry was considered one of the 25 musical milestones of the last 25 years, according to USA Today in 2007.
1987–1989: Whitney
thumb|upright|Houston performing during the 1987–1988 [[Moment of Truth World Tour]]
Houston's second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987. Mostly produced by Narada Michael Walden, critics complained that the material was too similar to her previous album. Rolling Stone said, "the narrow channel through which this talent has been directed is frustrating". Regardless of mixed reviews, the album enjoyed commercial success. On June 27, Houston became the first woman in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with the album. Houston was also the first artist ever to enter number one in the US and UK simultaneously, while also reaching number one in every country it charted.
The album's first single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", was a massive hit worldwide, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the charts in 17 countries, including Australia, West Germany and the UK. Three more singles from the album — "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" — reached number one on the Hot 100 within a six-month stretch. On April 23, 1988, Houston became the only artist in history to achieve seven consecutive number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", breaking the previous record of six held by the Beatles and the Bee Gees. Houston also broke an all-time record for most number ones recorded by a solo female artist at the time and broke her own record by producing four number one singles off the same album. When the fifth single, "Love Will Save the Day", peaked at number nine on the chart, Houston joined a small list of artists to have more than five top ten singles off an album. Whitney has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, with ten million sold in the United States alone, where it has been certified Diamond.
Whitney earned Houston a second Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, while "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" won her a second Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Houston went on to win four American Music Awards, six Billboard awards and her first Soul Train Music Award for the album.
Houston launched her second world tour, the Moment of Truth World Tour, in July 1987. The North American leg of the tour grossed more than $20 million, becoming one of the top ten tours on the continent, as well as the top female tour. An expansive tour, the singer toured 160 dates in four continents, including nine sold-out dates at London's Wembley Arena. During that period, Houston recorded one of the main theme songs for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, "One Moment in Time", which later became a top five US hit and hit number one in the UK, Germany and Europe and won Houston a Sports Emmy Award.
Houston participated in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute at London's Wembley Stadium in support of the then-imprisoned civil rights activist and the anti-apartheid movement. Houston had refused work in South Africa due to the country's then strict apartheid laws. The concert aired on June 11 of the year, was watched by half a billion viewers and raised $1 million in charities, raising awareness of apartheid. That August, Houston held a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden to fund HBCUs, raising a quarter of a million dollars. Houston's philanthropy continued in 1989 when she founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, a nonprofit organization that has raised funds for the needs of children around the world. The organization cares for homelessness, children with cancer or AIDS and other issues of self-empowerment.
Houston's unprecedented success during this era caused Forbes magazine to take notice. In 1987, she ranked 8th place among the highest-paid entertainers in show business, earning $43 million, only trailing Bill Cosby and Eddie Murphy. She ranked 17th place in 1988.
1990–1991: I'm Your Baby Tonight and "The Star-Spangled Banner"
alt=|left|thumb|upright|Houston performing "Greatest Love of All" on the Welcome Home Heroes concert in 1991
With the success of her first two albums, Houston became an international crossover superstar, appealing to all demographics. However, some black critics believed she was "selling out". They felt her singing on record lacked the soul that was present during her live concerts. At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Houston's name was called out for a nomination, a few in the audience jeered. while Entertainment Weekly, at the time thought Houston's shift towards an urban direction was "superficial".
Commercially, the album was a success, peaking at number three on the Billboard 200, staying inside the top ten for 22 weeks, becoming the tenth best-selling album of 1991, while topping the Top R&B Albums chart, staying there for eight weeks. As a result, Houston earned four Billboard Music Awards, including the top-selling R&B album of 1991. Houston returned to the top of the Hot 100 with the title track and "All the Man That I Need", helping Houston to set another chart record by being the first female soloist to have multiple number one pop songs on three albums at least.