Whitney Houston (1963-2012)
The news was reported by her publicist, Kristen Foster, who said that the first responders from the fire department and hotel staff tried to revive her after she was found by her bodyguard, but to no avail. Police who have been investigating said their was no sign of foul play or drug use at the scene.
She was scheduled to attend Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party tonight. Davis was responsible for much of her recorded success through his Arista label.
At her best, Houston could handle everything from lush ballads to upbeat dance numbers to straight up soul and, at one time, set a modern record with seven straight number 1 singles.
Houston was born into music royalty. Her mother was soul/gospel singer Cissy Houston and her cousin was pop diva Dionne Warwick. As a teenager, she was already singing backup on her mother's albums along with artists like Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan.
After a short time as a model and an actress, she returned to music where she was discovered by Davis singing in a club. Her first hit was in support of Teddy Pendergrass on Hold Me which reached number 5 on the R&B and 6 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1984.
The next year, she released her self-titled debut album which became an immense hit, going thirteen-times platinum in the U.S. and spawning the hits Thinking About You (1985/#10 R&B), You Give Good Love (1985/#3 Pop/#1 R&B) and the first three of seven consecutive number ones, Saving All My Love For You (1985/#1 Pop/#1 R&B/#1 Adult Contemporary), How Will I Know (1985/#1 Pop/#1 R&B/#1 Adult Contemporary) and Greatest Love of All (1986/#1 Pop/#3 R&B/#1 Adult Contemporary). Another cut from the album, All at Once, became a big radio hit but was never released as a single.
Her next album, Whitney, finished off her extraordinary run with I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) (1987/#1 Pop/#2 R&B/#1 Adult Contemporary), Didn't We Almost Have It All (1987/#1 Pop/#2 R&B/#1 Adult Contemporary), So Emotional (1987/#1 Pop/#5 R&B/#8 Adult Contemporary) and Where Do Broken Hearts Go (1988/#1 Pop/#2 R&B/#1 Adult Contemporary).
By 1990, Houston started to abandon the big ballads and dance numbers to take on a more urban sound, which didn't produce quite the success to which she was accustomed. She also started reigniting her acting career, scoring a huge hit her first time out with 1992's The Bodyguard. The soundtrack included three hits, including the biggest of her career, a cover of Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You.
1992 may have been a recording and acting peak for Houston, but it was also the start of trouble in her life. She married former New Edition member Bobby Brown leading to what could only be described as a tumultuous fifteen years. The pair broke up in 1995, only to reconcile, but their many years together were fraught with abuse charges and drug addiction. In 2000, she was arrested for Hawaii on marijuana charges and, in 2005, the reality program Being Bobby Brown showed a fairly unflattering side to the singer. The pair divorced in 2007.
Her recording career was also on the skids. 1998's My Love is Your Love peaked at number 13, eventually selling 2.7 million copies in the U.S. 2002's Just Whitney made the top ten but, in a day of dwindling sales, only sold 737,000 while her final studio album, I Look to You, made it to number 1 and eventually sold a million.
She also lost her hold on the singles charts with her last Pop number 1 being Exhale (Shoop Shoop) from 1995 and her last R&B chart topper being 1999's Heartbreak Hotel.
Her final tour, supporting I Look to You, was a tabloid's dream, full of subpar performances which, in the day of YouTube, were seen by millions of people. As late as May of 2011, her reps were reporting that she was once again seeking help for drug and alcohol abuse.
Houston's final work was in a remake of the film Sparkle as the mother of the lead character played by Jordan Sparks. Word was that she was upbeat on the set and looking forward to the film's release.
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