Upon first glance at her family tree, it almost seems predestined that Whitney Houston would become one of pop’s most legendary voices. Her mother, Cissy Houston, used her own powerhouse vocals as a backup singer for a plethora of artists, including soul queen Aretha Franklin. Whitney could also claim 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick as her cousin. Franklin was brought into the family as Whitney’s godmother, providing a source of guidance to Houston as her career took off. Of course, all the pedigree in the world couldn’t be solely responsible for the immense talent that Whitney possessed and that the world now mourns.
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Part of Houston’s talent was her jaw-dropping range and the mastery with which she wielded it. During her prime, Houston’s mezza-soprano voice could span three octaves, from raspy, crooning lows to dizzying highs. However, years of drug abuse (she had confessed to using cocaine, marijuana and pills) ultimately took a toll on the singer’s once astoundingly magnificent voice, giving it a frayed, scarred quality.
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Nearly every year from 1986 (a year after she released her debut album Whitney Houston) until 2000, Houston was a Grammy nominee. The first Grammy she ever won (for Best Pop Vocal Performance) had her beat out such pop luminaries as Madonna, Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt and Tina Turner. (To top it off, the award was presented to her by her cousin, Dionne Warwick.) Throughout her career, she brought home the statue six times.
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Perhaps one of the most iconic love songs in history, Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” spent an astonishing 14 weeks at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, setting a record at the time as the longest-running number one single in history. (The mark was later passed by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day.”) In total, Houston achieved 11 No. 1 hits, the sixth most of any artist in history.
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The only child from Whitney Houston’s tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown, 18-year-old Bobbi Kristina, was recently rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles, reportedly out of fears that she may try to take her own life. Though the two women had their troubles, Whitney and Bobbi reportedly remained close even in the days prior to Whitney’s sudden passing.
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Whitney Houston was married only once in her life, to former New Edition singer Bobby Brown. Houston’s pristine, immaculate façade juxtaposed oddly with Brown’s bad-boy image and reputation, but the marriage lasted 15 years (not always happy) years. Drug and alcohol abuse often came between the two of them, and in 2003, Brown was arrested for misdemeanor battery after allegedly striking Houston during an argument. The following year, Brown was jailed for a parole violation regarding a previous drunk-driving conviction and, a few months later, he was in jail again for missing three months of child-support payments. The couple separated in 2006 and was divorced in 2007.
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Throughout her career, Whitney Houston won an enormous total of 22 American Music Awards, more than any other female artist before or since. She is tied with Michael Jackson for the most AMAs won in a single year (eight).
Whitney Houston grew up singing in church choirs. She could take the vocal soul and power that gospel taught her and turn it into pop. She was only 15 when she started singing in her mother’s acts at clubs, and later she began doing backup vocals for acts as huge as Chaka Khan. At 19, her big break came: Clive Davis saw her perform at a New York City nightclub and signed her to Arista Records. “It had such a stunning impact,” Davis once said of watching Houston perform. “To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song, I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine.” Houston’s debut album hit shelves the next year and Davis’s investment proved to be an immensely profitable one.
Houston was one of few artists who could boast having every single one of her studio albums go platinum. Her debut album set the tone for what America’s appetite for Whitney would become: it sold over 14 million copies. All seven of Whitney’s studio-produced albums would go on to sell over a million copies—and that’s not counting the two film soundtracks that Houston was featured prominently in (The Bodyguard and The Preacher’s Wife).
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No single factor could account for the fact that Houston sold more than 55 million records in the U.S. alone before she passed away, making her one of the top-selling artists of all time. Perhaps it was the irresistible combination of her supermodel good looks and huge, warm smile—or perhaps it was the unearthly quality of her voice matched with the often angelic air she gave off. Whatever it was, it sold and it sold really, really well.
