biography of Whitney Houston (USA)

Whitney Elizabeth Houston 

(August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded performers of all time.  As a cultural icon,  her chart achievements and music videos influenced the breaking down of gender and racial barriers.

Houston 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.

Houston's first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love (1998), found critical and commercial success, and 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 album, Just Whitney (2002).

Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of more than 220 million records worldwide.  Her first two albums, along with The Bodyguard soundtrack, rank among the best-selling albums of all time and made her the only black artist to score three RIAA diamond-certified albums. Guinness World Records named Houston the highest-earning posthumous female celebrity.  Her assets amounted to $250 million, earned over a 25-year career. 

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.

 Houston was a cousin of singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick as well as a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Aretha Franklin became 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.

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 at Newark's Wainwright Street.

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 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 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. She graduated from Mount Saint Dominic in 1981

MINI BIO :

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born into a musical family on 9 August 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of gospel star Cissy Houston (née Emily Lee Drinkard) and John Russell Houston, Jr., and cousin of singing star Dionne Warwick.

She began singing in the choir at her church, The New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, as a young child and by the age of 15 was singing backing vocals professionally with her mother on Chaka Khan's 1978 hit, 'I'm Every Woman'.

She began working as a featured vocalist for the New York-based funk band Material and it was the quality of her vocal work with them that attracted the attention of the major record labels, including Arista with whom she signed in 1983 and where she stayed for the rest of her career.
The album itself sold 3 million copies in its first year in the US and went on to sell 25 million worldwide, winning her the first of her six Grammies.

The 1987 follow-up album, 'Whitney', which included the hits 'Where Do Broken Hearts Go' and 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', built on her success but it was the 1992 film The Bodyguard (1992) that sealed her place as one of the best-selling artists of all time. 
That same year she married ex-New Edition singer Bobby Brown with whom she had her only child, their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown in March 1993.

Her 2009 comeback album 'I Look To You' was positively received and sold well, but promotional performances were still marred by her weakened voice. Her final acting performance was in Sparkle (2012) (a remake of the 1976 movie, Sparkle (1976)), released after her death.

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's girl next door charm helped her to land in fashion spreads for Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Young Miss. Houston continued her music career during this period, recording demos of gospel recordings.

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 was introduced to a national audience in June 1983, performing the song "Home" from the Broadway musical The Wiz on The Merv Griffin Show.

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. After seeing her perform in New York, Michael Masser paired Houston with Teddy Pendergrass, on the duet, "Hold Me", which appeared on his album, Love Language.

 Houston's mother Cissy wrote that while at New Hope, Houston "got saved" and she later told her that she "accepted the Savior into her life" at around 12 years old.  Houston's recording of "Do You Hear What I Hear", from the Christmas compilation album, A Very Special Christmas (1987), has constantly appeared on the Billboard gospel charts since 2011.

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. The two singers occasionally collaborated on songs, including the hit record, "Something in Common".

Starting in April of the following year, the reality show Being Bobby Brown was taped and later premiered on Bravo, in June 2005. In September 2006, a year after Being Bobby Brown aired, Houston filed for legal separation from Brown, later filing for divorce the following month, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was granted on April 24, 2007. 

TRIVIA  : 

• Because she passed away the night before the 54th Grammy Awards (2012), the host for the evening, LL Cool J, opened the show with a tribute and a prayer in her honor.
• Her mother was at one time a background singer for Elvis Presley.
• "I Will Always Love You" is the best-selling single by a female artist, and the biggest selling non-charity single of all time, with world sales of nearly nine million copies.
• She was a fashion model before she started singing professionally.
• Her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away at age 22 on July 26, 2015 having been in a medically induced coma for the past 6 months after being found unconscious face down in her bathtub.
• Her album "Whitney" (1987) became the first female album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts.
• Delivered her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown via emergency Caesarean section after a 14-hour labor.
• Cousin of Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick.
• Her family moved from Newark to East Orange, New Jersey in the wake of rioting in Newark when she was 4 years old.
• Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
• Favourite movie was Sparkle (1976). She would later release a remake of the film in 2012 starring Houston herself and Jordin Sparks. It was also unfortunately her last film before passing away.
• When Whitney won her first Grammy Award at age 21 for the Michael Masser / Gerry Goffin song "Saving All My Love for You", the trophy was presented to her by Dionne Warwick and Julian Lennon (Shrine Auditorium / February 25, 1986).
• On the afternoon of February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in her hotel room at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. She was pronounced dead at 3:55pm PST.
• She is the only female artist to have three albums sell over nine million copies each: "Whitney Houston" (1985), "Whitney" (1987) and "The Bodyguard" (1992).
• Had a Mezzo-Soprano vocal range and could sing at 3.2 octaves.
• Daughter of Cissy Houston (gospel-blues singer).
• She was offered the role of Grace Hitchens on Glee (2009), which she turned down. Eve was then cast instead.
• Friends with Deborah Cox, Loretta Devine and Vivica A. Fox.
• Born at 8:55PM 
• During one of her live performances, she fell down a step and snapped a strap on her bra.
• She was a lifelong Democrat.

• Whitney Houston (1985)
• I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)
• My Love Is Your Love (1998)
• I Look to You (2009)

Films starred

• The Bodyguard (1992)
• The Preacher's Wife (1996)
• Sparkle (2012)