Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress.
Houston was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. ==Life and career== ===1963–1984: Early life, family, and career beginnings=== Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey.
After the 1967 Newark riots, the family moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey, when she was four.
50 in November 1968).
In 1977, aged 14, she became a backup singer on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's a Party".
The final single, "Greatest Love of All" (a cover of "The Greatest Love of All", originally recorded by George Benson in 1977), became Houston's biggest hit yet; the single peaked at No.
In 1978, at 15, Houston sang background vocals for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. Houston attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey; she graduated in 1981.
In 2019, several years after Houston's death, Crawford stated that their early relationship had included sexual activity, but that Houston ended this for fear of others' reactions. In the early 1980s, Houston began working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother.
(Houston had been offered deals by recording agencies before—by Michael Zager in 1980, and by Elektra Records in 1981—but her mother declined them on the grounds that Whitney had yet to complete high school.) Later that year, Houston made her national television debut alongside Davis on The Merv Griffin Show.
The show gave HBO its highest ratings ever. ===1992–1994: Marriage, motherhood, and The Bodyguard=== Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to musician Jermaine Jackson, American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy. She then met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards.
In 1978, at 15, Houston sang background vocals for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. Houston attended Mount Saint Dominic Academy, a Catholic girls' high school in Caldwell, New Jersey; she graduated in 1981.
(Houston had been offered deals by recording agencies before—by Michael Zager in 1980, and by Elektra Records in 1981—but her mother declined them on the grounds that Whitney had yet to complete high school.) Later that year, Houston made her national television debut alongside Davis on The Merv Griffin Show.
In 1982, under the suggestion of longtime friend Valerie Simpson, Houston signed with Tara Productions and hired Daniel Gittleman, Seymour Flics, and Gene Harvey as her managers.
She also appeared as a lead vocalist on one track on a Paul Jabara album, entitled Paul Jabara and Friends, released by Columbia Records in 1983. In 1983, Gerry Griffith, an A&R representative from Arista Records, saw Houston performing with her mother in a New York nightclub.
The single was released in 1984 and gave Houston her first taste of success, becoming a Top 5 R&B hit.
She was not eligible for the Best New Artist category because of her previous hit R&B duet recording with Teddy Pendergrass in 1984.
She is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need", and was certified quintuple platinum by RIAA.
It would also appear on her debut album in 1985. ===1985–1986: Whitney Houston and rise to international prominence=== With production from Michael Masser, Kashif, Jermaine Jackson, and Narada Michael Walden, Houston's debut album Whitney Houston was released in February 1985.
Houston's subsequent singles from this and future albums would make her the first African-American woman to receive consistent heavy rotation on MTV. By 1986, a year after its initial release, Whitney Houston topped the Billboard 200 albums chart and stayed there for 14 non-consecutive weeks.
1 album of the year on the 1986 Billboard year-end charts, making her the first woman to earn that distinction.
The album had become an international success, was certified 13× platinum (diamond) in the United States alone, and has sold 22 million copies worldwide. At the 1986 Grammy Awards, Houston was nominated for three awards, including Album of the Year.
Houston's performance of the song during the Grammy telecast later earned her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Houston won seven American Music Awards in total in 1986 and 1987, and an MTV Video Music Award.
The success of the tours during 1986–87 and her two studio albums ranked Houston No.
After Houston rose to stardom, she and Crawford were rumored to be lovers, which they both denied in 1987.
Houston's performance of the song during the Grammy telecast later earned her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Houston won seven American Music Awards in total in 1986 and 1987, and an MTV Video Music Award.
The album's popularity would also carry over to the 1987 Grammy Awards, when "Greatest Love of All" would receive a Record of the Year nomination.
Following Houston's breakthrough, doors were opened for other African-American women such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker to find notable success in popular music and on MTV. ===1987–1991: Whitney, I'm Your Baby Tonight, and "The Star-Spangled Banner"=== Houston's second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987.
Following the release of the album, Houston embarked on the Moment of Truth World Tour, which was one of the ten highest-grossing concert tours of 1987.
With her world tour continuing overseas, Houston was still one of the top 20 highest-earning entertainers for 1987–88 according to Forbes. In 1989, Houston formed The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, a nonprofit organization that has raised funds for the needs of children around the world.
She is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need", and was certified quintuple platinum by RIAA.
Whitney has been certified Diamond in the US for shipments of over ten million copies and has sold a total of 20 million copies worldwide. At the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, Houston was nominated for three awards, including Album of the Year.
Houston also won two American Music Awards in 1988 and 1989, respectively, and a Soul Train Music Award.
On June 11, 1988, during the European leg of her tour, Houston joined other musicians to perform a set at Wembley Stadium in London to celebrate a then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday.
In the same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, "One Moment in Time", which became a Top 5 hit in the US, while reaching number one in the UK and Germany.
Houston also won two American Music Awards in 1988 and 1989, respectively, and a Soul Train Music Award.
With her world tour continuing overseas, Houston was still one of the top 20 highest-earning entertainers for 1987–88 according to Forbes. In 1989, Houston formed The Whitney Houston Foundation For Children, a nonprofit organization that has raised funds for the needs of children around the world.
At the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards, when Houston's name was called out for a nomination, a few in the audience jeered.
The show gave HBO its highest ratings ever. ===1992–1994: Marriage, motherhood, and The Bodyguard=== Throughout the 1980s, Houston was romantically linked to musician Jermaine Jackson, American football star Randall Cunningham and actor Eddie Murphy. She then met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards.
I'm not ashamed of it." Houston took a more urban direction with her third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight, released in November 1990.
I'm Your Baby Tonight peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified 4× platinum in the US while selling 10 million total worldwide. During the Persian Gulf War, on January 27, 1991, Houston performed "The Star-Spangled Banner", the US national anthem, at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium.
6 in the Hot 100 and was certified platinum. Later in 1991, Houston put together her Welcome Home Heroes concert with HBO for the soldiers fighting in the Persian Gulf War and their families.
After a three-year courtship, the two were married on July 18, 1992.
Her first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner.
On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown (March 4, 1993 – July 26, 2015), the couple's only child.
Houston revealed in a 1993 interview with Barbara Walters that she had suffered a miscarriage during the filming of The Bodyguard. With the massive commercial success of her music, film offers poured in, including offers to work with Robert De Niro, Quincy Jones, and Spike Lee, but Houston never felt the time was right.
In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone, Houston commented that "people know who Whitney Houston is – I'm black.
It topped the US Dance Club Songs chart, and peaked at number two in the UK, becoming Houston's highest-charting single in the country since 1999.
Following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, the single was rereleased, with all profits going towards the firefighters and victims of the attacks.
USA Today listed it as one of the 25 most memorable movie moments of the last 25 years in 2007.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress.
On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and was featured prominently in international media.
On March 4, 1993, Houston gave birth to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown (March 4, 1993 – July 26, 2015), the couple's only child.
In 2019, several years after Houston's death, Crawford stated that their early relationship had included sexual activity, but that Houston ended this for fear of others' reactions. In the early 1980s, Houston began working as a fashion model after a photographer saw her at Carnegie Hall singing with her mother.
A bonus track from the album's Japanese edition, "Higher Love", was remixed by Norwegian DJ and record producer Kygo and released posthumously in 2019 to commercial success.
Houston was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. ==Life and career== ===1963–1984: Early life, family, and career beginnings=== Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey.
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