born on august 9 1963 to a middle-income family whitney houston would become one of the biggest pop stars of all time whitney houston is the voice she would be listed in 2009 by guinness world records as the most awarded female of all time whitney houston is this big icon big time celebrity her personal life was under constant scrutiny because of her family life and her constant battle with drugs in spite of all the turmoil in her personal life whitney was a recording artist actress producer songwriter and a model whitney houston to me is a profound
singer not just a singer but a person known as the voice she sold over 170 million albums videos and singles worldwide making her one of the world's best selling musicians whitney houston to me is undoubtedly the greatest singer that the world has ever known whitney was the second child of john russell houston jr and gospel singer houston also known as emily drinkard houston was born into a family of strong and famous female singers known in the genres of gospel rhythm and blues pop and soul she was related to such famous figures as dionne and dede
warwick her godmother darine love and her honorary aunt aretha franklin i grew up in church i think probably her primary influence was her mother because her mother's a big church singer um also folks like roberta flack and gladys knight great soul singers that probably also came from church um but you know we're also pop singers as well she would go in the swimming pool at the empty swimming pool and because there were great acoustics and sing in the swimming pool when she was small and then i think she was kind of like almost in denial
sometimes like oh i can't really sing and then it was her mother that said oh yes you can and maybe just kind of pushed her into that next level whitney houston is is what we call a church baby whitney houston was born into the church and she lived church you know in the early days she she definitely got to start from singing actually in the choir in the gospel choir like most singers and i'm a singer and that's where i got my start at in church um you know she and you know i heard that
she had a quiet stir where she would really um what we call sing the house down you know in church where everybody's up on their feet and it was interesting for whitney houston because she was born into a family where it was seemingly that things were just really by divine order because her mom was the great gospel singer houston also she her cousin is the pipe the pop icon dion warwick and her godmother is check it out the queen of soul come on you know that that that pedigree right there just doesn't get any better
whitney houston when she was a child she was born in new york new jersey and at four years old they moved to west orange new jersey and she was raised there pretty much for the rest of her life a little bit more of a upper class middle class upper class area at first they were in a more poor lower class area but they moved away once the riots hit in newark new jersey for safety reasons of course and a better place to raise the family in west orange she started singing in the choir at age
11 at her baptist church and that was her first solo was at age 11. she was raised up around music her mom houston her auntie aretha franklin and her cousin dion warwick were all great gospel artists and it was beautiful that she had music around her and it was almost like she was just stepped into that atmosphere she did have struggles when she was a child with from birth with possibly never being able to sing let alone talk so that says something powerful about her and what she was supposed to do and her testimony behind
that houston did not begin performing until she was 11 years old she started out singing gospel at new hope baptist church here she performed as a soloist and also learned to play the piano houston met her best friend robin crawford as a teenager when she began attending mount saint dominic academy this was a catholic girls school in caldwell new jersey houston would later say of robin that she was the sister she never had whitney's mother continued to teach her daughter how to sing she continued to expose her daughter to the music of aretha franklin and
dion warwick in addition to that of chaka khan gladys knight and roberta flacked impacting her future as a singer and a performer she would still she was in high school at a catholic school in west orange new jersey but in the midst of that she would travel with her mom as her mom saying touring a different nightclubs and different venues and whitney houston would go with her and at times when whitney houston was with her uh touring she would her mom would call her up on stage and she would get to perform with her mom
live in front of people and her voice would touch the souls and pierce the hearts of everybody in the venue and that's actually kind of how she became the whitney houston her mother actually when she noticed that she had a talent and whitney actually said to her mother i want to sing which i remember saying that really kind of scared her like oh my gosh she has the bug but early on she actually would invite whitney along in a lot of her nightclub acts which is interesting because i know whitney that was that was really
a grooming ground for her which later actually got her her spot because during the her the early years when clive davis first seen her yes that he seen her in the nightclub actually in her mother's act he didn't come there absolutely just for whitney but she was a part of the act and he went wow like mother is great but wow you know you know he was able to obviously see what later we knew as the iconic whitney houston at the age of 14 whitney became a backup singer for the michael zager's band single called
life as a party only a year later she would sing backup vocals for chaka khan's hit single i'm every woman this song would later become an even bigger hit for whitney on the soundtrack from her movie the bodyguard during this time whitney also sang backup for lou rawls and jermaine jackson during a concert at carnegie hall while singing with her mother whitney was noticed by a photographer and began working as a fashion model during the early 80s her career kind of just escalated and started from singing at carnegie hall with her mother and a photographer
had seen her and knew that she could be something great in the business approached her and was one of the first uh african-american models to grace the cover of 17 magazines so that was huge um i remember seeing it she was there with the ice cream cone with the white girl um so it was it's definitely a landmark she also did work for such magazines such as glamour cosmopolitan and young miss she even appeared in a tv commercial for canada dry the combination of her charm and her good looks made her one of the most
popular teen models of her time however in spite of her modeling career whitney continued to build her career as a singer she worked with such producers as michael beinhorn bill laswell and marlon beasey on an album called one down by material houston's contribution to this album was on the song called memories robert kriskow of the village voice stated that her work on the song was one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard she later appeared as a lead vocalist on a track for a paul jabara album in 1983 when it was released by columbia
records houston's mother had turned down previous offers from several recording agencies including michael zagar in 1980 and electra records in 1981. she declined record deals during high school the reason she did that was because her mom didn't think it would be a great idea for her to get a record deal while still in high school she wanted her to finish high school first and she wanted to make sure that whitney had a fulfilling childhood before she tackled that beast however in 1983 gary griffith a representative from arista records saw whitney perform in a nightclub in
new york city he was so taken with her that he convinced the head of arista records clive davis to make sure that he had made the time to see her perform davis was so impressed that he offered a worldwide recording contract that whitney ended up signing so she was busy doing the modeling thing and then she and about doing that and then she and her mother would go to different nightclubs and try to you know to do her own music career and they went to this one nightclub and clyde davis was there clyde davis is
obviously we know that was the the wind beneath whitney's wings he was her um mentor producer um he was the person that is responsible responsible for everything that we see and know about whitney houston far as to look especially in the 80s in the 90s clive davis was one of the heads at arista records and a big time producer star maker and he he knows the game he knows uh when he sees something and the star quality and the potential that that person may have and of course he uh grabbed whitney as as quickly as
he as possible i'm one of clive's representatives told him he had to see this girl he had to hear this girl's voice and he did he went and he was blown completely away by whitney houston's sound and her her pronunciation and just her love and passion behind the music when she's saying it wasn't just singing she would literally sing from her soul and from the depths of her heart and her spirit she later made her first national televised debut with davis at her side on the merv griffin show we went on the marv griffin show
and pretty much said hey he put her in the rams of rikla franklin i'm sorry and in the rams up barbara streisand you know in a point where it's like who is this girl that's like somebody coming telling us now that this person is going to take over whitney houston and and and all the other greats that we know and it's like oh my god do you realize what you're saying but this was something that he was able to hit and hit it on the mark because the things that she did after that was just
unbelievable in 1983 um arista records and clive davis ended up signing whitney in order to make sure that no other label signed whitney away davis wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for this album including the right material and producers so she first recorded a duet with teddy pendergrass called holdme that appeared on his album called love language released in 1984 this song gave whitney her first taste of success as it became a top 5 r b hit released in february 1985 with the help of michael masser kashif jermaine jackson and narada michael walden
whitney houston's self-titled album was hailed by rolling stone magazine one of the most exciting new voices in years the new york times pronounced the album an impressive musically conservative showcase for an exceptional vocal talent it was a record that at first didn't quite get a lot of commercial and a lot of marketing because people weren't too sure but as time went by overseas it went pretty much global it was huge the record ended up going from mediocre to the top it went from number three i think on top 200 billboards and it went to number
one a couple of songs on that album went to number one three different singles were used to promote the album by arista records the song someone for me was released in the uk and failed to make the charts there the single all at once was a release in europe and did well in the netherlands and belgium where it reached top five in their charts the first single in the us was you give good love it did not do well outside of the us but it peaked at number three on the u.s billboard hot 100 chart
and number one on the hot r b chart whitney's first album i mean when folks heard even the first track off of that i don't know how they couldn't be wowed or impressed because uh it was a voice that had never graced the radio had never quite been the fusion of of soul and gospel and pop music um being fused you know together and creating this new um potential pop superstar um and i think that's what people were excited about when they first heard you know the tracks off of her self-titled this resulted in strong
record sales in the us houston continued to play in nightclubs around the us to promote her album the song next to be released was saving all my love for you it was her first song to become a number one single in not only the us but the uk as well jeffrey osborne began touring and houston became his opening act for his nationwide tour she released thinking about you as a promotional single only to r b stations the song would peak at number 10 on the u.s r b charts about a year after its initial release
whitney houston topped the billboard 200 chart and remained there off and on for 14 weeks the single greatest love of all was the last single to be released it became her biggest hit when it peaked at number one on the hot 100 chart and remained there for three weeks this made houston the first female artist to have an album with three number one hits she became artist of the year and her album became the number one album of the year on 1986 billboard year-end charts becoming the first female artist to do so the greatest love
tour was her first world tour to mark the success of her album whitney houston the album was certified diamond in the u.s and sold 25 million copies worldwide proving that it was an international success houston was nominated for three awards at the 1986 grammy awards she won her first grammy here for best pop vocal performance female for saving all my love for you she wanna get a grammy and was presented the grammy award from her her auntie dion ward her performance during this show later earned her an emmy award for outstanding individual performance in a
variety or music program during the years of 1986 and 1987 houston won a total of seven american music awards and another from the mtv video music awards the 1987 grammy awards would nominate the greatest love of all for record of the year nomination rolling stone listed houston's debut album as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time houston's second album whitney was released in june of 1987 amid many expectations once again massr khashif and walden joined up to help produce the album with the help of jelly bean bonitas the similarities in music to the
first album caused many critics to complain for example rolling stone stated that the narrow channel through which this talent has been directed is frustrating in spite of the criticism the album still enjoyed commercial success actually was was was very interesting because again it went to actually create another milestone for her which it entered into the charts number one which was not heard of by any female artist at that time in that in that era of life so um it went on to to do great things that that that's where we actually got i single like
you know oh i want to dance with somebody you know and um other greats like um you know where the broken hearts go you know all of this came from that one album that again went on to just completely complete her and actually sent an arrow that's saying icon here and the first artist to debut at number one in both the us and the uk the first single that was released from the album i wanna dance with somebody became a huge hit worldwide it peaked at number one on the billboard 100 chart and even top
singles charts in many countries this was where she really became maybe the pop princess um of that of the 80 mid 80s she you know the first track was i want to dance with somebody and who in the world does not know that song her next three singles didn't we almost have it all so emotional and where do broken hearts go all made it to number one on the u.s hot 100 chart this gave houston a total of seven consecutive number one hits that broke the record of six that was shared by the beatles and
the bee gees she also became the first female artist to have four number one singles from a single album her album whitney was certified nine times platinum in the u.s for shipments over nine million copies and sold over 20 million copies worldwide in 1988 at the 30th annual grammy awards she was nominated for three awards of these houston won her second grammy for best female pop vocal performance for i wanna dance with somebody after this album houston began her moment of truth tour this tour was one of the 10 highest grossing tours of that year
the combined successes of her tours and her albums helped her rank number eight among entertainers according to forbes magazine among african americans she ranked third behind bill cosby and eddie murphy she was also the highest earning african-american woman you know i didn't expect anything i had no idea that it was going to be as major as it is but i i'm very pleased about it i sure am glad it did happen whitney houston was a huge supporter of nelson mandela she found out about the story and the struggles that this man had been through and
during his release what artists chose to to to take their time and she actually did a concert dedicated to nelson mandela even as uh as she when she was working in the fashion industry and stuff she wouldn't even have anything to do with any business or entity that had anything to do with the apartheid you know she was so in support of the nelson mandela effort and the individual himself and was very very vocal about that as well because of her support of nelson mandela and the anti-apartheid movement houston refused to work with agencies that
did business with apartheid south africa during her tour while in london houston and other musicians performed at wembley stadium to celebrate the 70th birthday of the still imprisoned nelson mandela over 72 000 people attended the concert while over a billion people watched the concert from home the concert itself raised over 1 million dollars for various charities while being able to bring attention to apartheid from this concert houston went straight to one in madison square garden houston performed this concert to benefit the united negro college fund and was able to raise a quarter of a million
dollars for this charity later this same year houston recorded a song for the summer olympics called one moment in time that became a top five hit in the u.s and number one in the uk and germany houston was still listed by forbes magazine as one of the top 20 highest earning entertainers for 1987-1988 houston was in attendance at a state dinner at the white house to honor the newly elected south african president nelson mandela in 1994. after his election she was the first major musician to visit south africa after apartheid was no longer in control
houston's concert was once again broadcast on hbo with money received going to multiple charities in south africa mandela's birthday she you know attended there performed and that gave her the motivation to start her foundation to help children around the world in 1989 whitney houston formed the whitney houston children foundation it was a foundation that she used to help raise funds for homelessness children that were either battling with cancer or aids and also just to empower children the empowerment of children to know that you are greater no matter what your circumstances are you're greater than that
and you can do whatever you dreamed of doing and whatever whatever you're gonna dream of doing it can happen a non-profit organization that has raised money for children from all around the world it helps children with cancer aids homelessness and self-empowerment her third album released in november 1990 called i'm your baby tonight had a more urban approach she produced it and chose producers for this album that included collaborations with la reid babyface luther vandross and stevie wonder this album had mixed reviews due to the new direction that houston had taken while rolling stone stated that
it was her best and most integrated album entertainment weekly thought her shift in style was superficial the album showcased houston's versatility with difficult rhythmic grooves soulful ballads and dance tracks in spite of the criticism surrounding the album houston topped the charts at number three on the billboard 200 and became certified four times platinum in the us while selling 12 million copies worldwide houston had many hits on this album i'm your baby tonight and all the man that i need peaked at number one on the billboard hot 100. the next song miracle reached number nine while
my name is not susan was in the top 20. the song i belonged to you hit the top of the r b charts and earned her a grammy nomination the last song was a duet with stevie wonder called we didn't know and it also hit the top 20 on the r b charts would you like to give her any advice give me some advice oh and well i wasn't going to say one thing i don't know you know yeah you know how you're giving me so good thank you i enjoyed it you know you're gonna
sing the star spangled banner you know that's right that's right at the what supervisor that's right so i'm going to tell you don't grab your crutch right after that [Applause] as war continued in the persian gulf houston gave one of the most memorable renditions of the star-spangled banner before super bowl 25 in january of 1991. she was the only performer to have turned the national anthem into such a popular hit when requests for performances ended up being released as a single along with the video of the performance this performance even reached the top 20 on
the us hot 100. all the money that houston received from this performance was donated to the american red cross golf crisis fund in deference to her assistance houston was named to the red cross board of governors her performance of the national anthem set the bar for all others after her rolling stone made the comment that she was able to stir such strong patriotism with her singing it even ranked number one for the nfl's list of 25 most memorable moments in their history vh1 listed her performance as one of the greatest moments that rock tv arista
records re-released the song again following the attacks on 911 sending all proceeds to the firefighters and victims of the attacks this time it was certified platinum by the recording industry association of america and the song hit number six in the hot 100 houston continued showing her patriotism by putting together a welcome home heroes concert in conjunction with hbo it was for the families and veterans fighting in the gulf war this free concert was held at the naval station in norfolk virginia hbo allowed everyone to be able to see the concert for free and it received
the highest ratings ever for hbo shortly thereafter houston left for her i'm your baby tonight tour after eight years of focusing on movies and soundtracks houston finally made it back to the studio to record her next album my love is your love was released november 1998 and debuted at number 13 on the billboard 200 chart it would not move any higher on the charts there was a greater diversity of musical styles on this album so my love is your love came out eight years later after the last album and was very different had more of
a pop edgy hip-hop very soulful urban urban feel to it a different whitney that most of us had never experienced before this was the first time we really seen whitney houston really really really really embrace her r b side i was i would say that you know because the songs were very edgy and they was and they brought a new tone they were not the the classic traditional ballad singing whitney that we knew of even though it had a few ballots on the actual album most of them was were really were really r b hits
when he collaborated with artists like missy elliot and kelly price um which are you know also come those folks also come from the church so she probably felt a little at home working with them it had been a while since whitney had really put out a pop album so people were ready for it and she uh there were some great more urban tracks more dancing tracks tracks with other artists those could collaborate with others so it was a new um category for whitney i think when she stepped into my love is your love for the
next two years numerous singles became hits for houston when you believe a duet with mariah carey for the movie prince of egypt became an international hit when it hit the top 10 in several countries it won an academy award for best original song it's not right but it's okay earned houston her sixth grammy award for best female r b vocal performance altogether the album sold 4 million copies in the us certifying it platinum four times it sold 11 million copies worldwide this album earned houston some of the best reviews in her career it was called
whitney's sharpest and most satisfying so far by the village voice in 1999 houston began her my love as your love world tour [Music] the european leg of her tour was the highest earning tour in europe for that year in 1999 houston was also named the top selling r b female artist of the century by the riaa in addition she won the artist of the decade and the mtv europe music award for best r b [Music] whitney the greatest hits was released in may 2000 worldwide the album reached the top 10 in many countries number one
in the uk and number five in the us it included four new songs that had not been on any albums before including her rendition of the star-spangled banner in addition there was a vhs and dvd that was released featuring music videos some live performances and interviews the album was certified three times platinum in the us with sales outside of the us at 10 million in march 2007 arista records released another compilation album called the ultimate collection outside the us i look to you was released in august 2009 the album debuted at number one on the
billboard 200 giving houston her best opening sales of 305 000 copies this became her first number one album since the bodyguard it was also her first studio album to reach number one since 1987 and her album whitney as houston's musical success increased she began to get offers to do movies she continued to hold off feeling that the timing was not right so as her pop superstar career progressed of course whitney's approached by other entities you know we want you to do this can you act so can you be in a movie um and lo and
behold the bodyguard how many times have you seen that movie 62 times 62 times i've seen it a lot she played a famous singer who was being stalked by a crazy fan and needed to hire a bodyguard to protect her just seeing from whitney videos and a lot of things that we were able to see naturally in her concerts it wasn't a it wasn't a far-fetched for someone to say you know i think she would be a good actress bodyguard with whitney houston is my favorite movie of all time not just because of my love
for whitney houston but because that movie literally put her in a position to where people not only could see her no longer as just a singer but an actual phenomenal actress she played that role with a passion and a fire that nobody else could have played it with with her co-star co-actor being kevin costner which was unbelievable to put those two together it was like a powerhouse in spite of the fact that the movie was listed by usa today in 2007 as one of the 25 most memorable movies of the last 25 years there was
still controversy regarding the romance between the african-american houston and caucasian kevin costner houston was trashed for her acting in this movie she received a razzie award nomination for worst actress washington post stated that she was basically playing herself according to the new york times she lacked passion with costner i saw her growing she was getting better and better there was also controversy over the belief that the advertising of the movie hid the fact that there was an interracial relationship going on houston's comment to rolling stone was people know who whitney houston is i'm black you
can't hide that fact despite all the criticism and the controversy the movie was very successful at the box office it grossed more than 121 million dollars in the us and 410 million dollars worldwide you know people had different mixed reactions as they most of the time do with films and especially with singers becoming actors and all that kind of thing but what i do think is that that the lasting impression that the term the bodyguard and the soundtrack that goes with it um just transcends you know the people that know anything about it know the
quality and the level of craftsmanship and artistry that went into those projects houston greatly contributed to the soundtrack of the movie she was the executive producer and created six songs for the album the lead song from the movie had originally been recorded by dolly parton in 1974. however houston's version was acclaimed by many and would eventually become her signature song i will always love you was not going to be the the song in the bodyguard it was going to be what becomes of a broken heart but i had seen during that year wait uh that
song came out in another movie and i thought i didn't want to duplicate that i will always love you reach number one on the billboard hot 100 for 14 weeks and was number one on the r b charts for 11 weeks it was also number one on the adult contemporary charts for five weeks this earned i will always love you the honor of becoming the first single to top all three charts simultaneously for five weeks houston earned another honor with this song it was certified platinum four times by the riaa and houston became the first
female artist with a single to reach that level in riaa history it also became the best-selling single by a female artist in the us in addition the song reached worldwide success and hit number one in almost every country during christmas of 1992 the soundtrack for the bodyguard sold over a million copies in that week alone she had two additional singles i'm every woman and i have nothing both songs reach the top five and houston became the first female to ever have three singles in the top 11 simultaneously the album was certified platinum 17 times in
the u.s alone it also had worldwide sales of 44 million and earned the bodyguard the title of the biggest selling album by a female on the list of world's top 10 best-selling albums in 1994 houston won three grammys for the album including two of their highest honors album of the year and record of the year she also won eight other awards that year at the american music awards she followed up her success with another concert tour called the bodyguard world tour from 1993 to 1994. between her records concerts albums and movies houston was listed as
the third highest paid female entertainer of 1993 through 1994 according to forbes magazine the bodyguard was more acting for me than savannah believe it or not why because i'm familiar with savannah i'm familiar with that african-american woman situation you know what i'm saying i can dig that i understand that i know women like that strong women who say you know i've been through this and i've gone through that but guess what i'm still standing you know rachel marin was way far from my character our worlds are the same we come from the same place as
far as entertainment is concerned but as far as our characters she's totally different from me houston's second film was waiting to exhale in 1995. she starred with angela bassett loretta devine and leela roshone the film was about four african-american women and their struggles with relationships it was like a sisterhood was bonded a sisterhood was created within that movie we didn't exhale gave women power to say no or gave them power to say yes to something that they deserve or to stop and walk away from something that they didn't need in their life let alone that
they deserve better and that's what that movie did they used whitney houston in that film she really made that film i have to say that i love all the other actors i look up to angela bassett with all my heart as an actress but whitney houston literally made that movie houston played the lead role in this film according to her she chose this role because she saw it as a breakthrough for the image of black women because it presents them both as professionals and caring mothers the movie opened at number one and grossed 67 million
dollars in the us alone and 81 million dollars worldwide although nominated for outstanding actress in a motion picture by the naacp she lost to her co-star angela bassett the soundtrack for this movie was co-produced by houston and babyface babyface had originally wanted houston to do all the vocals however she felt the film was about empowerment of women and wanted more women represented on the vocals women with vocal distinction as she put it the album debuted at number one and was certified seven times platinum in the u.s it has since been listed as one of the
100 best movie soundtracks the preacher's wife in 1996 was houston's third movie it co-starred denzel washington she earned 10 million dollars for this movie making her not only one of the highest paid actresses in the industry but the highest paid african-american actress houston received the best reviews to date it was said of houston by the san francisco chronicle that she is rather angelic herself displaying a divine talent for being virtuous and flirtatious and that she exudes gentle yet spirited warmth especially when praising the lord in her gorgeous singing voice houston won an award for outstanding
actress in a motion picture [Music] once things started to happen to me once i became famous and all of these things you know people were saying about me you know that weren't true and um hurt me houston has been associated throughout the 80s with stars such as eddie murphy or football star randall cunningham both of whom she had dated then in 1989 houston met r b singer bobby brown at the soul train music awards bobby brown and whitney houston wow wow wow we know we know all the things that we can say and speculate about
this relationship but bobby and whitney houston very interestingly they met at the soul train award back in the day and um it was told that the two you know had had a flirty little personalities with each other and both was interested in each other and from that form the bobbin whitney houston that we know of i'm guessing that it was love at first sight they dated for a while i guess from from that point destined to be together and get married and that's what they did she loved him i have friends that can vouch that
knew hers whitney and bobby that she she loved him bobby was like an escape for her well like a key to the real world being with bobby she had a sense i guess to somewhat feel normal herself when they got married it was like shocking to the whole world because most people i think assumed whitney would marry somebody completely different on a whole nother spectrum and instead she married this wild crazy you know outrageous guy but that's who he was to us to the world but come to come to find out he was very loving
and nurturing and caring about her as a woman and individual things that he would do for her that most people in the world would never even think that he would do because we saw him as bobby brown you know the crazy on stage an outrageous guy but he had another side to him that was more mellow more more calm more loving more embracing more joyful and to give her that security that everything's going to be okay early in her career houston had a good girl image this lasted through the late 1990s when her behavior changed
she was often late for interviews rehearsals and other obligations or she didn't even show at all rumors about drug usage with brown began circulating with the increase in missed performances and her weight loss in january 2000 she and her husband were boarding a plane and were found with marijuana in their possession at this time the charges were dropped against them houston failed to show up when clive davis was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame she had been scheduled to perform she was later fired by friend and musical director bert bacharach instead of
being allowed to perform at the academy awards her publicist gave the situation a sore throat spin but this was later contradicted in a book about the academy awards called the big show high times and dirty dealings backstage at the academy awards written by steve pond houston would also admit later that she had been fired to make matters worse later in the year houston's longtime friend and executive assistant robin crawford resigned appearances during 2001 showed a whitney houston that was thin and frail furthering rumors of drug abuse in 2002 in an interview with diane sawyer houston
was promoting her new album she was asked about the drug usage and the rumors houston responded first of all let's get one thing straight crack is cheap i make too much money to ever smoke crack let's get that straight okay we don't do crack we don't do that crack is wack however houston did admit to using other drugs including cocaine at one time bobby brown and whitney houston yes they both did weed you know coke you know and when you know you mess around with drugs and when i what i've known people the best around
with drugs they you know they get chaos they get chaotic being bobby brown was a reality tv program that began in 2004 it revolved around his life and that of whitney houston it provided a very clear look into the lives of bobby and his family airing in 2005 the show would reveal the dysfunction of bobby and whitney's relationship and its effect upon their daughter bobby christina she ended up being a mediator and more of an adult figure than either of her parents the show only aired for one season as whitney refused to do it again
in september 2006 after years of controversy and fighting houston separated from bobby brown and filed for divorce the following month having a marriage in the limelight in this industry is the hardest thing that you could possibly ever have the hardest thing you could possibly do because every second you step foot outside of your house the cameras are on you people are watching any little thing that happens they're going to create a story from it so it was almost like her and bobby didn't have that full essence and chance to be the couple that they could
have been and then other things are to get involved with drugs use and and little things which happens to a lot of people over the world but because they're in the limelight it was created to be way bigger and more out loud and put out there way more than anybody else in the world because they were bobby brown and whitney houston it seems like from from when they met till when they were married there was a strong chemistry and they were together for several years and i think that's when a lot of the um more
detrimental uh factors came into play when it comes to whitney and her um you know addiction problems and um uh decline in appearances and career overall um i think that's probably where it started because um like i said i think bobby brown was um not the best of influences bugs you know really it really it it really declines progress that we all know now that we have even more studies and we can just see some of the um the results that it have initially but you know really with drugs and outside pressures meaning the rumors
the tabloids all of these things combined broke up whitney houston and bobby the divorce was finalized april 24 2007 after houston asked the court to fast-track their divorce in february custody of their daughter went to houston whitney houston once said in the song the ride with you was worth the fall and that is how i would describe whitney houston and bobby brown that ride was worth the fall in the end she sold the house that had been featured in the reality show that she and brown had done then brown took houston back to court to
try to change the terms of the custody agreement he also attempted to collect child and spousal support from houston the judge dismissed everything oprah winfrey was the person selected to interview whitney for her first time in seven years in september 2009 houston admitted to using drugs with her ex-husband who would lace marijuana with rock cocaine she told oprah that by 1996 she was using drugs on a daily basis houston stated that during that time she was losing herself yeah i'm just i'm pretty cool i'm all right i'm good i'm good where i'm at at this
moment you know it's a lot of work in 2011 whitney gave a performance in tribute to dion warwick at clive davis's annual pre-grammy party that was not up to her usual standards she ended up in a rehabilitation program again as an outpatient stating that she had a drug and alcohol problem representatives for houston stated it was part of her long-standing recovery process houston had been rehearsing on february 9 2012 with others for the grammy awards her last public performance was earlier in that day when she joined kelly price on stage to sing jesus loves me
two days later at the age of 48 on february 11 2012 whitney houston was found dead in her suite at the beverly hilton hotel submerged in a bathtub paramedics arrived at the scene and attempted to revive her they were unable to and houston was pronounced dead at 3 55 pm all that was known was that there was no evidence of foul play cause of death was not immediately known preliminary toxicology reports have just been announced there were drugs in her system when she accidentally drowned there was evidence of long-term cocaine usage it is still not
known how much cocaine was in her system in addition to cocaine the toxicology screen showed marijuana xanax flexural and benadryl in her system the heart disease that was discovered also contributed to her death her sister-in-law and manager patricia houston commented on the results we are saddened to learn of the toxicology results although we are glad now to have closure i have to believe that there was some divine order in her passing because it did happen the day before the grammys which whitney's best performances were at the grammys and you know back in in her in
her prime in her day and that's what people remember there's nothing like seeing whitney houston singing that white dress and open up our arms with an orchestra and just just be there's nothing else like that on the planet an invitation only memorial was held on february 18th at the new hope baptist church in newark new jersey many people that she had worked with and performed with over the years attended and performed at her service the service had initially been scheduled for two hours but ended up lasting four houston was buried on february 19 2012 in
fairview cemetery in westfield new jersey beside her father john russell houston the reaction of course from the music community because she's influenced so many of the people that were going to the show as well as the rest of the world and and and not only musicians but people in general just people that have a heart that can that that are spoken to through music um she she touched so everyone i think was uh of course shocked and devastated and sad um i just i look at it as like whitney was my elvis she was my
elvis the grammys that houston had been planning to attend and perform at went on as scheduled however they quickly turned into a memorial for whitney houston at the start of the evening clive davis spoke about her passing he said by now you have all learned of the unspeakably tragic news of our beloved whitney's passing i don't have to mask my emotion in front of a room full of so many dear friends i am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years whitney was a beautiful person
and a talent beyond compare she graced the stage with her regal presence and gave so many memorable performances here over the years simply put whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked that we carry on whitney definitely left her mark upon the music industry and the world hopefully her family especially her daughter will be able to remember the good that she did and learn from her mistakes not repeat them houston did produce and star in one final film that is to be released posthumously in a remake of sparkle houston stars
with jordan sparks and mike epps houston had obtained the production rights in 2001. the movie is scheduled to be released in august of 2012 by tristar pictures so i believe now people is going to embrace her memories her records her movies even more than they ever had her influence and influence is not even a really really a strong enough word um her i guess maybe even her if you could imagine like a grasp on um the musicians or the music industry in general aspiring artists they don't even have to be singers but just the genre
of of musicality that she created that was hers is is a stamp on the history of music it is it is the it's a it's a it's a high standard and she will always be regarded as the best the voice the singer the diva but she was a legend
