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Historical records matching Whitney Houston
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About Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know", influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.
Thanks to hit singles like Saving All My Love For You and I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Whitney Houston became one of the biggest female pop music stars of the 1980s and 1990s. Her first four albums, released between 1985 and 1992, amassed global sales in excess of 86 million copies.
She was born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey to John and Emily “Cissy” Houston (née Drinkard). Her father was an Army serviceman and her mother's vocal group, the Sweet Inspirations, sang backup for Aretha Franklin.
Houston began singing in church as a child. While still in high school, she sang backup for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls and modeled for fashion magazines. At age 19 she signed with Arista Records, whose president, Clive Davis, groomed the gospel-based singer for crossover pop success. Her debut album, Whitney Houston (1985), yielded three number one singles: “Greatest Love of All,” which became her signature; “Saving All My Love for You”; and “How Will I Know.” Whitney (1987) delivered four more number ones and earned Houston her first Grammy Award (for the single “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”). In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown (divorced 2007) and made her motion-picture debut in The Bodyguard; the film featured her rendition of Dolly Parton's “I Will Always Love You,” which stayed at number one for 14 weeks. The film sound track dominated the Grammys the following year, and Houston won the awards for album of the year, record of the year, and best female pop vocal performance. In the mid-1990s she continued acting, in films such as Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), and the sound track of each film generated hit singles for her.
In 1998 Houston released My Love Is Your Love, which did not sell as well as previous efforts but was praised by the critics and earned her another Grammy Award. In 2000 she signed a new multi-album contract with Arista for $100 million, but personal difficulties soon overshadowed her recording career. Houston's relationship with Brown provided fodder for the tabloids, as did her health and financial issues. Her 2002 album, Just Whitney, was a personal response to her detractors, but its sales were disappointing compared with earlier efforts. Other than a lackluster holiday album, One Wish (2003), Houston spent subsequent years in a state of virtual retirement.
In February 2009 she began a comeback effort with a four-song set at Clive Davis's pre-Grammy Awards gala. The performance was greeted warmly, and in June Houston announced that an album of new material would be available later that year. I Look to You was released in August to positive reviews, and standout songs included the up-tempo “Million Dollar Bill” (penned by Alicia Keys) and the title track, a slow-building ballad written by R. Kelly.
Sources: Wikipedia, Biography, Who2
See also
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Whitney Houston's Timeline
| 1963 |
August 9, 1963
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Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States
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| 1993 |
March 4, 1993
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Livingston, Essex County, New Jersey, United States
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| 2012 |
February 11, 2012
Age 48
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Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California, United States
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February 19, 2012
Age 48
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Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, Union County, New Jersey, United States
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