RIP Whitney Houston (1963-2012)
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 9:36PM 
Jordin Sparks and Whitney in the forthcoming "Sparkle"Breaking news as CNN is currently investigating the discrepancies within the details but Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48, the day before the Grammys no less. She won six of the music industry's top prizes over the span of her career, the last in 2000 for "It's Not Right, But It's OK".
She'll always be remembered as one of the great voices of the 80s and 90s but her career had been quiet for a decade, plagued as it was with substance abuse. I'll personally never forget that chilling "crack is whack" Diane Sawyers interview but there were occasional intermittent signs that Whitney was on the mend. She had recently returned to acting filming a remake of Sparkle with "American Idol" alum Jordin Sparks.
That musical is currently in postproduction aiming for an August 2012 release date. Whitney's movie career previously was sparse and short but started with a supernova: The Bodyguard (1992) was a smash hit at the box office and the music was an even bigger deal launching a series of hits and becoming the bestselling soundtrack of all time.
Houston jumped from A list co-star to A list co-star: Kevin Costner to Angela Bassett to Denzel Washington. (I remember being miffed at the time that Angela Bassett had to take second billing but I was a possessed Bassett fan in college and hoping to see her snag a second nod for her literally fiery work in Waiting To Exhale.).
The song everyone remembers from The Bodyguard is of course Dolly Parton's immortal "I Will Always Love You". My fondest memory of the song is actually Dolly Parton related. My friends and I would always be like 'ka-ching. You get that money, Dolly!' whenever Whitney held that crazy note which was, appropriately, ALWAYS ♫ since she didn't seem to need to breathe and the song was always on. Mostly out of loyalty to Dolly and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas where 'I Will Always' was first movie-fied but maybe also because I go weak at the knees for a sparkly headdress or wrap, I was more partial to "I Have Nothing."
Rest in Peace, Whitney Houston. Your voice had plenty and you gave quite a lot of it to the world.
Reader Comments (25)
RIP :( to the best voice of all-time.
Gosh....so sad. I grew up to her music in the 80s and 90s. Such a tragic loss...a testament to the destructive nature of addiction, claiming another of our greatest talents. RIP Whitney...
I always enjoy the Whitney Houston bit in Hedwig.
Been listening to her song from Cinderella on repeat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd0fuaD-OwE
I'm crying my f*cking eyes off. I loved her so much and kept wishing for years that she would be OK at some point. Screw the career and the Voice and whatever. Just live!
But I guess life doesn't always win.
RIP Whitney
I will always love you, indeed.
I'am Devastated !!!!!! i feel die now !!!!!!
sad
This is the most shocking unshocking news I've ever heard, if that makes sense.
I hope that tomorrow's tribute at the Grammys is amazing-- I worry that they won't be able to put together a fitting tribute in a day's time.
It was inevitable,what a shame,an incredible voice and talent,all the young r n b stars have miss houston to thanks for showing that a black woman could cross over,rip x.
Very very very sad.
I cannot believe she's dead.
She was one of my fav singers... Best voice EVER!
R.I.P Withney!
We will always love you.
I just can't believe it. We will always love you Whitney.
I still can't believe it !!!!! still can't accepted ! I Can't....never can !
Re: "...most shocking unshocking..." - yep. We all knew she had her problems but I never dreamed she would die so young. Now Whitney Houston is another R.I.P. Whitney Houston.
So sad. I was obsessed with The Bodyguard soundtrack when I was in high school and I still remember going to see the movie with my sister the weekend the movie came out. Whitney will be missed.
RIP
She was a supernova when I was growing up - I was going to say that I don't think I can think (off the top of my head) of anyone who was so big, SO famous, and who flamed out as dramatically and as soon. (But then I just double-checked and Elvis died at 42. It happened when I was so young, I assumed he was older.) I mean, she was THE definition of a star when I was growing up; I never imagined she'd slide down the way she did. And I know that other people can't do your recovery for you, you have to do it for yourself, but - where were all the people in the industry who she made rich, and who she was friends with through the years?
Such a shame, and such a waste.
Very sad but perhaps the saddest part is that i'ts not surprising. She now joins Judy Garland, Billie Holliday, Dinah Washington, Janis Joplin, Helen Morgan, Dorothy Dandridge, Amy Winehouse talented singers all, who for one reason or another couldn't handle the pace and died far too young from the effects of substance abuse. I know there has been no determination of cause of death for her but at 48 and for it to happen so suddenly her drug abuse was surely a factor if not the cause.
i used my "bodyguard" tape RIP Whitney and when i heard her death ,i though about Patrick Bateman on her album Whitney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1qHvJKbwjE
So tragic and such a waste. She'd probably be here today if she hadn't ever met Bobby Brown and her life spiraled out of control. I wonder what the press will do with her legacy in the coming weeks, especially when the autopsy report is revealed. And what are they going to do with "Sparkle"? This is too much to take. RIP to THE VOICE. Luv U, Whit!
One of the things that i find discouraging -- and bear with me a bit here because it's a touchy subject -- is that when amazingly talented people die young because of the tragic disease of addiction people tend to easily forgive them but i can't help but notice that the people who are strong enough to just live out their lives and not self-sabotage are often treated absurdly rudely by a public who doesn't want them to age and grow. So it's weird in the same week to basically see Madonna attacked and then prep for Whitney's canonization .
it's just something i'm thinking about. I'm happy for Whitney to be remembered primarily for her great talent (as Michael Jackson is -- people seemd to shove all the past animosity aside for his messy life after his death -) but i wish people would go easier on entertainers who just keep working their assees off to entertain us. I find that endurance is not often as well regarded as tragic short careers and that's weird.
Of the few movies she made, Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella" was my favorite. Great songs, Brandy as Cinderella, Bernadette Peters as the wicked stepmother, Art Nouveau backgrounds, fun all around.
And I agree with Nathaniel's point - I do admire the survivors, who keep working and slogging away. Like Tony Bennett's duets, they make an artistic thread between eras and styles. Isolation, whether through wealth or poverty, seems to be an artistic roadblock.
This is a good online memorial site to Whitney Houston - you can light a virtual candle or send virtual flowers for free - http://www.memorialmatters.com/memorials.php?page=WhitneyHouston
Another icon lost.
What a shock on this beautiful Grammy day.
RIP Whitney.
I have some stuff which I just created as a tribute to our great great pop Diva Whitney, kindly check it.
liveoncampus.com/wire/show/3176643?user=whitney-houston
Another icon lost.
What a shock on this beautiful Grammy day.
RIP Whitney.
I have some stuff which I just created as a tribute to our great great pop Diva Whitney, kindly check it.
liveoncampus.com/wire/show/3176643?user=whitney-houston
@Nathaniel - Personally, I don't hear anyone saying something about Whitney that wasn't being said before as well. Her talent and how much we love her? We would talk about it whenever it was relevant.
And though, thankfully, I didn't read any snarky comments, I got the impression that there were some of them too. As was the case with Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson.
Re: Madonna, I think she is not the best example. She is a unique case. I'm not sure how to put this but I think it's because she became a huge artist not by making everyone respect her (like Whitney did with her voice) but by making everyone care. She became the icon of free sexual expression and people really dig watching someone becoming less and less able to seem sexual.
Not the case with men, of course. Men have the "right" to be horny and unabashedly provocative (it wouldn't even be considered provocative) and later age without anyone paying much attention to the fact that the youthful hotness is gone.
But it's not just that. People just can't deal with a woman being "too" successful. Whitney oversings, Madonna is an old whore, Mariah tries to be slutty and seems ridiculous, Celine is too nice and happy and boring, Barbra is too bossy and arrogant.
I'm not sure I nailed the negatives people see in these women but you get my point. And some of it might be true, of course. But people wouldn't care to mention anything were those ladies less successful.
Especially Madonna.. ,Who would "forgive" a woman, without a great voice, being sexually provocative and extravagant?? This society? (Even if it has, in part, changed because of her)
Look at Gaga. People practically hate her now because she doesn't always make good songs (such a crime) and she keeps being eccentric (like she should just get lazy and look normal. How impressive!).
I'm not sure I answered to what you asked but I hope I made a contribution of some sort :p