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Biography
From the moment Whitney Houston first opened her mouth to sing, it
was obvious that she was bound for greatness. As the daughter of
'Cissy Houston' (qv), a successful rhythm-and-blues backup singer,
and a niece of the even more renowned singer 'Dionne Warwick' (qv),
young Whitney grew up steeped in music. She dutifully sang in the
New Hope Baptist Junior Choir, aspiring to nothing higher than
being a backup performer like her mother. But by the time she was
11, it was readily apparent that hanging in the background wasn't
in the cards for her. When Whitney took center stage one evening to
sing a solo, the power of her performance moved many in the
congregation to tears. Despite her shrinking-violet tendencies,
Houston's combination of exceptional beauty and her stunning,
church-inflected soprano propelled her into the spotlight. Houston
first put her talent to use professionally as a teenager by singing
backup for 'Chaka Khan' (qv) and 'Lou Rawls' (qv). A sleek and
exotic-looking young woman, Houston dabbled successfully in teen
modeling, gracing the covers of such magazines as Seventeen and
Glamour. At the same time, she studied acting and dancing, appeared
in television commercials and sitcoms, and made occasional singing
dates. But these diversions were mere warm-up exercises for the
singing career she was destined for. Adequate preparation for her
inevitable rise to global pop superstardom was the ultimate concern
of Houston and her family, and several weeks after her 18th
birthday she signed a management contract with Gene Harvey. Under
his guidance, Houston continued her modeling career, took more
acting and dancing classes, and worked on her voice. After a couple
of years spent developing her vocal virtuosity and making industry
contacts, Houston was ready for the big time. In 1985, she signed
with Arista Records, because its president, 'Clive Davis' (qv), had
a proven track record of picking hits for his singers, not to
mention a reputation for letting artists take their time to mature.
A period of two years passed before her debut LP was released, and
in the interim, Houston increased her profile by performing for
industry bigwigs, appearing on television shows, and helping her
advisers choose songs for her album. Applying a fluid, soaring
technique to R&B, soul, and disco arrangements, Houston's eponymous
debut spun off three No. 1 singles—"Saving All My Love for You,"
"How Will I Know," and "The Greatest Love of All"—and sold more
than 13 million copies to become the best-selling debut of all time
by a female solo artist. (Houston's multiplatinum titleholder was
toppled by 'Alanis Morissette' (qv)'s Jagged Little Pill in 1996.)
"Saving All My Love for You" earned Houston her first Grammy award
(she has won a total of five thus far), and she spent the next two
years touring in support of the album. More record-setting success
was to come with Houston's 1987 follow-up effort, Whitney. Not only
was it the first album by a female to enter the charts at No. 1,
but she became the first artist in history to score seven
consecutive No. 1 hits, surpassing milestones set by the Beatles
and the Bee Gees. Houston's acting and dancing lessons paid off in
her dynamic MTV videos, and her galvanizing rendition of the "Star
Spangled Banner" at the 1990 Super Bowl. Houston promoted Whitney
by heading back out on tour, and in 1990, she released I'm Your
Baby Tonight, a more danceable, technically impressive effort. Five
years of constant touring had begun to take their toll, however,
and Houston decided to take some time off to acquaint herself with
the palatial, $11 million Mendham, N.J., mansion she had purchased.
Houston's down time allowed her a chance to get her personal life
in order. After being romantically linked with 'Jermaine Jackson'
(qv), 'Eddie Murphy' (qv), and quarterback Randall Cunningham,
Houston took up with bad-boy rhythm-and-blues artist 'Bobby Brown
(I)' (qv). In 1992, the Prom Queen of Soul and the bad-ass captain
of the glee club were married before 800 well-wishers. Many in the
crowd couldn't help but be skeptical. Brown brought a certain
amount of baggage into the marriage--like three out-of-wedlock
children by two women, for starters--but despite all the couple's
highly publicized contretemps since the wedding day, Houston
continues to profess her love for Brown. She once offered this
vehement assessment of her husband: "I've got a good man. He takes
care of me. I don't have to be scared of anything because I know he
will kick every ass... disrespect him and you've got a problem."
Brown's boozing and womanizing ways and sporadic run-ins with the
law may have made Houston an occasional object of pity and
criticism in some observers' eyes, but others argue that she is the
one who is hard to put up with. She has earned a reputation as a
prima donna for her frequent episodes of tardiness--in one
unpleasantly conspicuous instance, she arrived two hours late to a
White House dinner honoring 'Nelson Mandela' (qv), at which she was
the featured performer (she breezed in with the excuse, "I just got
off tour," even though her final appearance had been four days
previously). During an Anaheim, Calif., concert appearance in
August 1994, Houston tearfully requested that the spotlight be
turned away from her and onto audience members Sidney and Justin
Simpson, the children of O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson. Considering
the fact that Nicole had been murdered just two months before, the
request seemed bizarre, and singularly mortifying. Since 1990,
Houston has managed to maintain her easily won eminence, despite
the fact that she has greatly curtailed her output. Not that she
hasn't been busy: navigating through some perilous straits in her
personal life, the pop diva managed to bear a daughter, Bobbi
Kristina, and conquer the world of film. Her first feature,
_Bodyguard, The (1992)_ (qv), banked more than $400 million
worldwide, and boasted the most successful soundtrack ever
released, with sales in excess of 33 million units, due largely to
Houston's soaring interpretation of the 'Dolly Parton' (qv) classic
"I Will Always Love You." In 1995, Houston rounded out the cast of
_Waiting to Exhale (1995)_ (qv), a film about successful black
women looking for good men. Exhale became something of a
phenomenon, as did its Whitney-heavy soundtrack. Her third film,
_Preacher's Wife, The (1996)_ (qv), didn't fare quite as
spectacularly at the box office, but the soundtrack for the film
presented her with an opportunity to get back in touch with her
gospel roots. Houston is known for her charitable bent, making
significant contributions to the United Negro College Fund, the
Children's Diabetes Fund, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and
several AIDS-related organizations, and she established the
'Whitney Houston' (qv) Foundation for Children, Inc., a nonprofit
organization whose work assists homeless children and children with
cancer and AIDS. One noncharitable appearance the diva was supposed
to make was at "Blessing '97" on Nov. 29, 1997. The event, billed
as the largest mass wedding ever, was to earn the diva a cool $1
million for 45 minutes onstage. But when the press seized upon the
pending appearance for the Moonies (the controversial Unification
Church started by Reverend 'Sun Myung Moon' (qv) and his wife, Hak
Ja Han Moon), Houston released a statement declaring that she
didn't know "Blessing '97" was a Moonie affair. Two hours before
the wedding began, she backed out citing "illness," leaving both
the Moonies and her own band, which had already set up, in the
lurch. While rumors still cloud the rocky 'Bobby Brown (I)' (qv)
union, the pairing persists, despite ongoing legal troubles. In
June 1998, various tabloids reported that the two were on the verge
of officially separating, a month shy of their sixth anniversary.
They were proved wrong when the two singers celebrated that
occasion, their marriage still intact several months later, and
apparently remaining that way. In August, news of a significant
duet in divadom was made public: 'Whitney Houston' (qv) and 'Mariah
Carey' (qv) were in the studio together. The strong-lunged,
octave-jumping singers recorded "When You Believe," the theme song
from the animated DreamWorks pic _Prince of Egypt, The (1998)_
(qv), which tells the story of Moses. 'Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds'
(qv) was on hand to referee, er, produce the single. Dispelling
rumors of competitiveness, the Houston and Carey appeared together
at the MTV Video Music Awards in September--wearing the same dress
no less. After some canned banter ("Nice dress," Carey offered.
"Yeah, you look pretty good, too," Houston answered) the women
presented Will Smith with the Best Male Video Award. The _Prince of
Egypt, The (1998)_ (qv) soundtrack landed in stores Nov. 17, the
same day as Houston's new solo album, My Love Is Your Love. Guests
on her first full-length studio recording in eight years include
Missy Elliott, 'Faith Evans' (qv), and 'Wyclef Jean' (qv). The disc
also sports a special hidden track, "My Love," produced by 'Lauryn
Hill' (qv). As for "When You Believe," the track appears on the
movie soundtrack, Houston's album, and Carey's new hits collection,
#1's--all released the same day. Octave overload? Hardly. Retailers
the world over will undoubtedly make plenty of room on store
shelves for the dueling--and dueting--divas.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Whitney Houston
