In devastating news, Whitney Houston’s publicist has confirmed that the legend died today at the age of 48. One of the greatest voices of all time has been silenced.
Houston debuted on the Merv Griffin show after being discovered by record industry mogul, Clive Davis. She was a beautiful phenom and quickly rolled off hit after hit, starting with her first album, Whitney Houston. The Greatest Love of All changed my life. It was so monumental to see a woman of her beauty and talent sing a song of such love and inspiration.
I wanted to be her, wear her clothes, sound like her. From that moment on, there wasn’t a move she made that I didn’t follow. I was able to see her in concert once, one of the only tours she ever did. She didn’t have dancers surrounding her, or a fancy stage with large effects, she just sang. That is all Whitney needed to do, was share her incredible instrument with her admirers.
Whitney’s career success seemed limitless, winning critical praise and consistently topping the charts. She won two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards during her record-breaking career. Her album Whitney was the first female album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts. She has sold 200 million albums worldwide.
Whitney changed America’s National Anthem by singing like no one has ever before or since. It brought a country at war a moment of glory for all the world to see.
As is well known, Whitney fell prey to drugs and suddenly, everything went sideways. Many people tried to rescue her and there were times when it seemed to be coming back together. Sadly, it appears that she was being propped up more than being on the road to actual recovery. Fortunately, the recent haunting images of her are far outweighed by the many special and magical moments she created over the course of her illustrious life.
Her successes as a musical artist and movie star will live on forever. She is an icon. Her untimely death is simply unfathomable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecA3w33Muk4
Whitney Houston’s isolated vocal track on “How Will I Know.”