One of Her Best Performances
Whitney Houston
(August 9, 1963 ~ February 11, 2012)
Early Life
Whitney was born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey to a very musical family. Her mother is Cissy Houston, her cousin is Donnie Warwick, and even her godmother was Aretha Franklin. She grew up singing gospel music in her church’s choir. Cissy was very stern with education, and made sure that Whitney inherited those values. Even though Whitney sang back-up for famous bands and singers like Chaka Khan, her mother would not let her accept any recording offers until she finished high school.
Career
Whitney started performing in nightclubs as a teenager with her mother and gained the attention of big time record companies. At 19, she signed with Arista Records, and her debut album was an instant hit. She made hit after hit from there, even starring in the movie, “The Bodyguard”, showing off her acting skills. She was the main character, and even recorded songs for the movie, among many, we received her famous “I Will Always Love You” rendition. She later starred in the movie, “Sparkle” alongside Jordan Sparks in 2012.
Personal Life
After a 3 year engagement, Whitney and Bobbie Brown, part of the group New Edition, married in 1992. After meeting Bobbie, Whitney’s career started to fall apart. She became addicted to drugs and was having major health problems, even having to cancel shows all the while losing her beautiful voice due to the drug use. Things got so bad that Whitney’s mother had to intervene, worried about her health and well being. Bobbie and Whitney had their only child, Bobbi Kristina on March 4, 1993. Bobbie and Whitney divorced in 2007, and Whitney got sole custody of Bobbi. Whitney soon after returned to the studio and came out with another album, and starred in another movie.
Death
Whitney died on February 11, 2012 in her bathtub in an “accidental” drowning. It was said that her bathtub was extremely hot, indicating that she probably was not sitting in the bathtub, but that she fell in. She also had bruises on her forehead and was lying face down when she was found. She had had heart disease and there were drugs in her system, including marijuana and cocaine. Her 18 year old daughter was so distraught that she was taken to the hospital, she died an eerie repeat death of her mother 3 years later in 2015. Bobbi was also found in her home face down in a bathtub with marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and morphine in her system. It was unclear whether her death was an accident or intentional. A lawsuit was filed against Bobbi’s husband claiming that he allegedly gave “Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage.”