Whitney Houston: Dead

[Miss Philicia]

http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/11/whitney-houston-dead/

[phildinftlaudy]

I just saw this online and on t.v .- totally devastated - very sad.

http://music.yahoo.com/news/whitney-houston-superstar-records-films-dies-005927033.html

[Rev. Moon]

That is too sad.  She was such a talented woman. 

[Miss Philicia]

obligatory remix post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS6swVDspEI

[J.R.E.]

http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2012/february/381420/Publicist:-Whitney-Houston,-superstar-of-records,-films,-dies


Last Updated: Saturday, February 11, 2012 8:24 PM
66
LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night - the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."

"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," "You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.

"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.

"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.

Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

[denb45]

Well I'm not surprised at all, it was bound to happen sooner or later   

[OneTampa]

Just saw it online as I sat down at my PC.

Very sad.  I am sure her daughter and other family members are devastated.

[denb45]

here's a FACTOID......Whitney Houston had ten top-10 songs in the 1980s. Seven of them went to # 1.   

[skeebo1969]

   Wow...... my heart sank when I saw the post.

   

[Jody]

I'm so sorry to hear of this tragic news, regardless of drug or alcohol abuse it is still always a surprise.  I didn't realize she was only 48.  RIP Whitney, a great talent.

Jody

[WillyWump]

Nooooooooo No No No. 


That. Amazing. Voice.


At last she's in peace.

[Rev. Moon]

A few stolen moments is all that we share...

[GSOgymrat]

What sad news. She really had a beautiful voice back in the day.

[WillyWump]

What sad news. She really had a beautiful voice back in the day.

The Bodyguard Soundtrack. Especially "I Will Always Love you", of which the last few notes are absolutely ridiculous.

such a loss.

[northernguy]

What a shame, what a waste.  Some may not have liked her choice of material, but she had an incredible voice in her prime.

[Hellraiser]

A few stolen moments is all that we share...

Liza Minelli is still alive...

As for Whitney, I was hoping she would regain her former glory with "Million Dollar Bill" and retire with grace, but I suppose it wasn't meant to be.  Now for the question on everyone's minds...what caused her death I wonder?

[spacebarsux]

Very sad news. She had such a powerful voice.

[tednlou2]

I had stopped by the TV station to talk to some friends, when this came over the wire.  Everyone stopped to watch national news coverage.  Very sad.  I was hoping for her comeback.  It will be interesting to see how the Grammys deals with this tomorrow night. 

I wasn't a huge fan of her earlier work.  However, I loved "I wanna dance with somebody,"  "One Moment in time,"  "My love is your love,"  "How will I know," and "It's not right, but it's okay."  I think I have those song titles right.  Loved the remixes.   

"My Love Is Your Love"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jN-AGl7ntA 

[Rev. Moon]

Liza Minelli is still alive...

nobody ever said that she was dead, sweepie

[Miss Philicia]

Whitney's final public performance: Thursday, February 9, 2012 "Yes, Jesus Loves Me"

http://youtu.be/6rEfD7aLOnc

[Ann]

Well I'm not surprised at all, it was bound to happen sooner or later   

Yeah, everyone dies sooner or later.


48 - far too young. Her songs were the background music to many memorable moments in my life.

RIP Whitney.

[Theyer]

SAD sad sad sad.
She had a beautiful voice

[mecch]

How sad and tragic.  Far too young indeed!

She was a spectacular talent who deserved nothing less than superstardom.

We've been looking for, waiting for, rooting for and mourning that talent for years, and now this.  Its grim. 

[mecch]

Liza Minelli is still alive...

Yes, Liza's till kicking!  Hey, don't bury one of the last old timey show biz battleaxes yet!

[mikeyb39]

set aside all her problems, we all have our demons unfortunately, it makes me sad that we are losing our greatest artists these days.  I grew up to whitney's music in high school and college, her music brings back good memories

R.I.P

[mecch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WH1Ma50QUk&ob=av2n
All the Man That I Need


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J538b-OLRU
It's Not Right But It's OK
The album version was good, and its one of the few Houston songs I heard in clubs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfKNHYB2YcM&feature=related

I didn't remember So Emotional in the 80's in clubs. Wedding parties, yes!
But here's a mix that -- now I hear it, yes, now I remember. Places like Uncle Charlies, Private Eyes, and The Pavilion, and PTown.   What a happy sound!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAyd33srKLY

Her songs are all so romantic!  So simple.

[Miss Philicia]

Her songs were the background music to many memorable moments in my life.

RIP Whitney.

Really? For some reason you don't seem like a Whitney fag to me.

On that note I will clearly state that better Whitney than Mariah (in life, not death) -- can I have a witness?

[Ann]

Really? For some reason you don't seem like a Whitney fag to me.

Her songs were played on the radio incessantly in the 90s. Hard to escape her songs - and I'm glad I didn't, akchully. I didn't like all her stuff, but a lot of it was very good.

On that note I will clearly state that better Whitney than Mariah (in life, not death) -- can I have a witness?

Witness!

Someone said to me earlier today - "isn't that the woman who sang My Heart Will Go On?" Nooooooooo..... puhLEEZE!

[Miss Philicia]

Someone said to me earlier today - "isn't that the woman who sang My Heart Will Go On?" Nooooooooo..... puhLEEZE!

Oh, Celine Dion is absolutely the worst.

[Miss Philicia]

***BREAKING*** TMZ EXCLUSIVE

Prescriptions Found, Possible Drowning

No illegal drugs have been found in the hotel room where Whitney Houston died -- at least not yet -- but prescription drugs were present, and it's possible the singer drowned in the bathtub ... TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us ... when EMTs arrived Whitney's body was already removed from the bathtub so it will take an autopsy to determine if she OD'd, drowned or died from some other cause.

Informed sources tell us ... Beverly Hills cops -- who were still searching the room at the time this story was posted -- found various pill bottles. There was no evidence that Whitney was drinking alcohol in the room.

Whitney's body was just removed from the room on a gurney.  It will go to the morgue for an autopsy to determine cause of death.

[mecch]

Many cultivated types have decried the fact that Celine and Whitney have/had amazing instruments put to mediocre mass-appeal pop.  Neither were ever going to appeal very often to people with rarified tastes nor people who don't LOVE the kind of pop they made with enormous success. 

Superficial as it is, Whitney always got extra points and affection from me for also being physically beautiful and rather luminescent (unlike Celine and Mariah, for example). 

And finally, perverse yes, but she had a fabulous glamour when she was whacked out, with ratty hair and minks, on crack runs, in her lowest moments.  I'll respect her dignity not linking photos here, but some of you other perverse types know exactly what I'm talking about.  It was painfully sublime. As were her interruptions to Prince's show, etc. etc.  We didn't want to see her in that state, but she did it with megawatt antistyle, that's for sure. 

[Miss Philicia]

she had a fabulous glamour when she was whacked out, with ratty hair and minks, on crack runs, in her lowest moments. 

Child please -- I can see women like that from my living room window roaming Broad Street at 4 AM.

[Rev. Moon]

On that note I will clearly state that better Whitney than Mariah (in life, not death) -- can I have a witness?

Testify!

Mariah needs some major remixing to make most of her music not annoying.  And her vocal acrobatics can get on mah delicate nerves. 

Give me some "I'm Every Woman" (and if any queen bothers to point out the fact that it was a remake Ima cut huh) or "You Give Good Love".

Oh, Celine Dion is absolutely the worst.

Unless we are talking about the faboolous MK remix of "Misled". 

[Miss Philicia]

Unless we are talking about the faboolous MK remix of "Misled". 

... and speaking of MK, there's a very over-looked mix he did of Bobby Brown (sorry, can't find the dub which is better because his vocals are stripped out)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EmYDmKbu9U

[mecch]

Child please -- I can see women like that from my living room window roaming Broad Street at 4 AM.

Exactly!  And are these crackheads global superstars and are those furs Dior? 

[Rev. Moon]

... and speaking of MK, there's a very over-looked mix he did of Bobby Brown (sorry, can't find the dub which is better because his vocals are stripped out)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EmYDmKbu9U

How about a remix of her fantastic (and not very-well-known) duet with Aretha?  There is a remix of this tune by Clivillés & Cole, circa 1989, but no one has uploaded it.  This is the Howard Prince mix.

Aretha & Whitney - It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be

[mecch]

Wow that's nice.

[denb45]

Whitney Houston was nothing more than a R&B POP singer from the 80s

that's all she was to me, despite all of her her drug use...

you folks give these Pop artist way to much power 

even after their demise, it's kinda ridiculous to me 

[Rev. Moon]

you folks give these Pop artist way to much power 

even after their demise, it's kinda ridiculous to me 

Whut, you mean I shouldn't spend the next few days crying in bed, surrounded by my multiple copies of 'I'm Your Baby Tonight' and 'The Bodyguard' (while watching several repeats of Waiting to Exhale)?  Let a queen drown in her heartache and despair, you cold-hearted macho man 

[Miss Philicia]

How about a remix of her fantastic (and not very-well-known) duet with Aretha?  There is a remix of this tune by Clivillés & Cole, circa 1989, but no one has uploaded it.  This is the Howard Prince mix.

Aretha & Whitney - It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be

Well girl, buy it for 94 cents because even I don't own that one.

Also, hope you didn't sleep on the CJ Mackintosh mixes of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-02np_4pOnE

[denb45]

Whut, you mean I shouldn't spend the next few days crying in bed, surrounded by my multiple copies of 'I'm Your Baby Tonight' and 'The Bodyguard' (while watching several repeats of Waiting to Exhale)?  Let a queen drown in her heartache and despair, you cold-hearted macho man 

I blame Bobby Brown!!! for her demise, I always thought she could do way better then him 

[Rev. Moon]

Well girl, buy it for 94 cents because even I don't own that one.

Ooh, and it even has the 1989 Vogue Dub.  I'll make ya a copy when I get it.

[Miss Philicia]

Ooh, and it even has the 1989 Vogue Dub.  I'll make ya a copy when I get it.

yes please, STAT

[skeebo1969]

  I don't think it's ever done better... You can almost feel the power coming from her voice towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS4v431Mlak&feature=fvst

[WillyWump]

  I don't think it's ever done better... You can almost feel the power coming from her voice towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS4v431Mlak&feature=fvst

Omg yes. Amazing. That is how it should be done, so powerful yet so effortless.

[mecch]

Whitney Houston was nothing more than a R&B POP singer from the 80s

that's all she was to me, despite all of her her drug use...

you folks give these Pop artist way to much power 

even after their demise, it's kinda ridiculous to me 

Well obviously you arent moved much by Pop talent.  Pop singing is an art.  She had enormous talent.  And some of us follow artists for many years, not just the glory years.  The ups and downs, too. 

I'll be sad when Liza goes.  Wouldn't call her a "singer and actress from the 70's and that's it."  Geez.

[RAB]

  I don't think it's ever done better... You can almost feel the power coming from her voice towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS4v431Mlak&feature=fvst

I agree Skeebo, that performance at the 91 Superbowl set the gold standard for singing the national anthem.

I get goose bumps hearing her performance.

It's not an easy song to sing to begin with (which is why so many performers muck it up), but she nailed it.

RIP Whitney

RAB

[denb45]

I agree Skeebo, that performance at the 91 Superbowl set the gold standard for singing the national anthem.

I get goose bumps hearing her performance.

It's not an easy song to sing to begin with (which is why so many performers muck it up), but she nailed it.

RIP Whitney

RAB

I gave up on Pop Culture more than 20 yrs. ago when I was about 35 yrs old, I still like the oldies tho, what do you expect, I'm 55 yrs old and proud of it  old fart here 

[Solo_LTSurvivor]

I gave up on Pop Culture more than 20 yrs. ago when I was about 35 yrs old, I still like the oldies tho, what do you expect, I'm 55 yrs old and proud of it  old fart here 

I implore you girls to get up and twirl in this moment of great sadness...

http://youtu.be/czDR51JtnWo

[bocker3]

  I don't think it's ever done better... You can almost feel the power coming from her voice towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS4v431Mlak&feature=fvst

I still get chills listening to this rendition.  It is the one that ALL should be compared against and I doubt it will ever be topped.

I didn't get to hear it live, as I was in Desert Storm at the time, but when I got home they were still buzzing about it and managed to track down an audio tape of it (ah... life pre-youTube).

I hope it is moments like this that people remember and not her low points -- no matter how much people on here try to "glamorize" her struggles with addiction.  Addiction is a horrible disease that will do all it can to end one's life.

Mike