Houston, Whitney

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American R&B, pop singer, songwriter, actress, film producer, and former model. Houston debuted in the mid 1980s with the release of her self-titled album, and later released a record seven consecutive number-one hits on the U.S. more...

Billboard Hot 100 chart. She was also one of a few African-American artists who received heavy rotation on early MTV in the 1980's. Houston continued her success in the 1990's with the release of several movies and soundtracks, particularly The Bodyguard (1992), which became one of the best-selling albums of all time, and spawned her highly successful signature song "I Will Always Love You" (a remake of Dolly Parton's original). By the turn of the millennium, however, her popularity and success had entered a decline due to a tumultuous marriage, erratic public appearances and highly publicized allegations of drug abuse.

Throughout her career, Houston has sold over 170 million records , and she is the only female artist to have two albums in the top 35 of the best selling albums in the U.S. She has influenced a generation of singers such as Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Beyonce Knowles and has won twenty-one American Music Awards (a record for a solo artist), and six Grammy Awards.

Biography

Early years

Houston was born in East Orange, New Jersey to John and Cissy Houston. Houston's mother (Cissy), first cousin (Dionne Warwick) and godmother (Aretha Franklin) were all established Gospel/R&B/Soul singers, which resulted in the young Houston always being in the presence of music while she was growing up. At the age of 11, she started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist church in Newark, New Jersey, and would later go on to accompanying her mother in concert. Although a Baptist, she attended a Catholic high school. After singing background on her mother's 1978 album Think It Over, she started as a back up singer for many other established acts, such as Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and Lou Rawls. In 1980 at the age of 17, she was featured as the lead vocalist on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's A Party", who previously scored a hit with the single "Let's All Chant". Zager was so impressed that he offered to obtain her a record deal but she declined. In the early-1980s, she started appearing as a model in various magazine advertisements and snagged the cover of Seventeen magazine. During these modeling years, she also continued to balance her burgeoning singing career by working with producers Michael Bienhorn, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called "One Down". It was projected to contain eight songs, each one featuring a different lead vocalist. Houston contributed the ballad "Memories" and received favorable reviews from the Village Voice when the album debuted.

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