Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (Newark, New Jersey, 9 August 1963 – Beverly Hills, 11 February 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, businesswoman and model. Nicknamed 'The Voice', she is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with more than 330 million records sold worldwide. In 2023, Rolling Stone named her the second greatest singer of all time.

Houston influenced many popular music singers and was known for her powerful, moving voice, her vocal improvisation skills and her use of gospel singing techniques in pop music.

She had eleven Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and is the only artist to have seven consecutive number-one singles on the chart. Houston achieved greater fame when she entered the film industry. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, sixteen Billboard Music Awards, two Emmy Awards and twenty-eight Guinness World Records. Her inductees include the Grammy Hall of Fame (twice), the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Houston was influenced as a singer by her mother, who was also a singer. She began singing in church as a child and became a backing singer while at high school. She was one of the first Black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. Under the guidance of Arista Records president Clive Davis, Houston signed with the label at nineteen. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both reached number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. Houston's third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), produced two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: the title track and 'All the Man That I Need'.

Houston made her acting debut in the romantic thriller The Bodyguard (1992), which became the tenth highest-grossing film up to that date despite receiving poor reviews for its screenplay and lead performances. She recorded six songs for the film's soundtrack, including 'I Will Always Love You', which won the Grammy for Record of the Year and became the best-selling physical single by a woman in music history. The Bodyguard soundtrack won the Grammy for Album of the Year and remains the best-selling soundtrack album of all time. Houston went on to star in and record soundtracks for Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996). Houston produced the soundtrack for the latter, which became the best-selling gospel album of all time. As a film producer, she produced multicultural films, such as Cinderella (1997), and series, such as The Princess Diaries and The Cheetah Girls.

Houston's first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love (1998), generated several hit singles, including the title track, 'Heartbreak Hotel' and 'It's Not Right but It's Okay'. Following its success, she renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million, one of the largest record deals of all time. However, her personal problems began to overshadow her career.