Post by Rob Durkee on Feb 11, 2012 22:49:27 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Whitney Houston, the singer-actress whom the Guinness Book of Records labeled "the most awarded female act of all time," has died at the age of 48. According to Wikipedia, her body was found at the Beverly Hills HIlton Hotel today (February 11, 2012). It's believed she was in town for Sunday's Grammy Awards program.
At presstime, no cause of death was released. However, it's been well known that Houston's life, particularly since she married Bobby Brown 20 years ago, has been plagued by drugs. According to the Associated Press, she has confessed to using cocaine and marijuana in addition to taking pills. Her marriage to Brown ended around 2006 or 2007. In a famous interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer 10 years ago, Houston confessed, "The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy."
The list of accomplishments credited to Whitney Houston are nearly endless. An entire web site is devoted to them. According to the Guinness firm, she's won 415 career awards, including 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, six Grammys and two Emmys. She's in third place among the solo women with the most #1 pop hits with 11. Only Mariah Carey (17) and Madonna (12) have had more. Houston has sold over 55 million records in the USA alone.
The one song Whitney Houston is best remembered for is "I Will Always Love You." Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1974 and nearly sold it to Elvis Presley. However, when Elvis insisted that he gain at least partial song writing credit for the song, the deal fell through. Parton twice made it a #1 hit on the country chart but Houston took the song to even greater excellence. Whitney's version of "I Will Always Love You" was a pop chart-topping hit for at least 14 weeks. To this day, it ranks as the biggest selling single for a solo woman with over 12 million copies sold. The song came from "The Bodyguard," a hugely successful movie whose soundtrack album has sold the most copies (17 million) of any soundtrack LP. Her "Whitney" was the first album by a solo woman to debut at #1 on the LP chart.
Whitney Houston was born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey as part of a musical family. She had Dee Dee Warwick and Dionne Warwick as cousins. Her godmother was Aretha Franklin. Her mother, Cissy, sang with the Sweet Inspirations, who had a Top 40 pop with a title nearly the same as the act name with "Sweet Inspiration." The Sweet Inspirations were backup singers for Elvis Presley's 1970's concerts.
Whitney got into singing with her church choir, then eventually sang backup for Chaka Khan and Jermaine Jackson. She was also a model, then broke through with the 1984 duet with Teddy Pendergrass, "Hold Me." Clive Davis of Arista Records discovered her and the rest was music history.
After scoring two Cash Box pop Top 10's in 1985 with "You Give Good Love" (#3) and "Saving All My Love For You" (#10), Houston had four straight #1's with "How Will I Know," "Greatest Love Of All," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All." After taking "So Emotional" to #4, she got another #1 with "Where Do Broken Hearts Go." Among her other #1's on the Cash Box chart have been "I'm Your Baby Tonight," "All The Man That I Need," "I Will Always Love You," "I'm Every Woman" and "I Have Nothing."
Although "One Moment In Time" stalled at #6 on the Cash Box chart in 1988, the song gained fame as part of what legendary countdown host Casey Kasem called "the most important letter I ever read." When Casey launched his "Casey's Top 40" show with Westwood One in January, 1989, he made this Whitney Houston song the first Request And Dedication song. A girl named Chelsea had written Casey about her unique tenth birthday party. Instead of bringing presents to her birthday party, Clelsea asked that everyone bring canned food to help the local food shelter. She requested that Casey play "One Moment In Time" for the homeless. When Casey's adopted daughter, Liberty, was born, he asked friends and relatives to likewise bring food to the celebration.
Whitney Houston was also the first performer to take a version of our national anthem into the Top 40 of the music charts. Sung prior to Super Bowl XXV, her rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" not only was a hit in 1991, but a hit again in late 2001 to benefit the victims of the 911 tragedy.
In addition to the drug problems, other controversies plagued Houston's life. Her refusal to credit her black musical roots led to her being booed at the 1989 "Soul Train" awards. Though it was certainly not her fault, the Grammy people ruled that she wasn't eligible for the Best New Artist award because she had sung background vocals prior to her becoming a successful solo artist. That ruling proved to be even more controversial when Jody Watley wasn't ruled ineligible for the Best New Artist Award. She won it despite clearly singing with the group Shalamar prior to her making it big with solo hits.
Perhaps the best tribute to Whitney Houston was the way Clive Davis described his discovering her: "The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club...it was such a stunning impact. To hear this young girl breathe such fire into a song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine."
Whitney Houston, the singer-actress whom the Guinness Book of Records labeled "the most awarded female act of all time," has died at the age of 48. According to Wikipedia, her body was found at the Beverly Hills HIlton Hotel today (February 11, 2012). It's believed she was in town for Sunday's Grammy Awards program.
At presstime, no cause of death was released. However, it's been well known that Houston's life, particularly since she married Bobby Brown 20 years ago, has been plagued by drugs. According to the Associated Press, she has confessed to using cocaine and marijuana in addition to taking pills. Her marriage to Brown ended around 2006 or 2007. In a famous interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer 10 years ago, Houston confessed, "The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy."
The list of accomplishments credited to Whitney Houston are nearly endless. An entire web site is devoted to them. According to the Guinness firm, she's won 415 career awards, including 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, six Grammys and two Emmys. She's in third place among the solo women with the most #1 pop hits with 11. Only Mariah Carey (17) and Madonna (12) have had more. Houston has sold over 55 million records in the USA alone.
The one song Whitney Houston is best remembered for is "I Will Always Love You." Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1974 and nearly sold it to Elvis Presley. However, when Elvis insisted that he gain at least partial song writing credit for the song, the deal fell through. Parton twice made it a #1 hit on the country chart but Houston took the song to even greater excellence. Whitney's version of "I Will Always Love You" was a pop chart-topping hit for at least 14 weeks. To this day, it ranks as the biggest selling single for a solo woman with over 12 million copies sold. The song came from "The Bodyguard," a hugely successful movie whose soundtrack album has sold the most copies (17 million) of any soundtrack LP. Her "Whitney" was the first album by a solo woman to debut at #1 on the LP chart.
Whitney Houston was born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey as part of a musical family. She had Dee Dee Warwick and Dionne Warwick as cousins. Her godmother was Aretha Franklin. Her mother, Cissy, sang with the Sweet Inspirations, who had a Top 40 pop with a title nearly the same as the act name with "Sweet Inspiration." The Sweet Inspirations were backup singers for Elvis Presley's 1970's concerts.
Whitney got into singing with her church choir, then eventually sang backup for Chaka Khan and Jermaine Jackson. She was also a model, then broke through with the 1984 duet with Teddy Pendergrass, "Hold Me." Clive Davis of Arista Records discovered her and the rest was music history.
After scoring two Cash Box pop Top 10's in 1985 with "You Give Good Love" (#3) and "Saving All My Love For You" (#10), Houston had four straight #1's with "How Will I Know," "Greatest Love Of All," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All." After taking "So Emotional" to #4, she got another #1 with "Where Do Broken Hearts Go." Among her other #1's on the Cash Box chart have been "I'm Your Baby Tonight," "All The Man That I Need," "I Will Always Love You," "I'm Every Woman" and "I Have Nothing."
Although "One Moment In Time" stalled at #6 on the Cash Box chart in 1988, the song gained fame as part of what legendary countdown host Casey Kasem called "the most important letter I ever read." When Casey launched his "Casey's Top 40" show with Westwood One in January, 1989, he made this Whitney Houston song the first Request And Dedication song. A girl named Chelsea had written Casey about her unique tenth birthday party. Instead of bringing presents to her birthday party, Clelsea asked that everyone bring canned food to help the local food shelter. She requested that Casey play "One Moment In Time" for the homeless. When Casey's adopted daughter, Liberty, was born, he asked friends and relatives to likewise bring food to the celebration.
Whitney Houston was also the first performer to take a version of our national anthem into the Top 40 of the music charts. Sung prior to Super Bowl XXV, her rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" not only was a hit in 1991, but a hit again in late 2001 to benefit the victims of the 911 tragedy.
In addition to the drug problems, other controversies plagued Houston's life. Her refusal to credit her black musical roots led to her being booed at the 1989 "Soul Train" awards. Though it was certainly not her fault, the Grammy people ruled that she wasn't eligible for the Best New Artist award because she had sung background vocals prior to her becoming a successful solo artist. That ruling proved to be even more controversial when Jody Watley wasn't ruled ineligible for the Best New Artist Award. She won it despite clearly singing with the group Shalamar prior to her making it big with solo hits.
Perhaps the best tribute to Whitney Houston was the way Clive Davis described his discovering her: "The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club...it was such a stunning impact. To hear this young girl breathe such fire into a song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine."
