Reflections of The Beautiful and Talented Miss Whitney Houston

On Saturday February 11, 2012, the world received news of the shocking death of R&B singing icon, Whitney Houston. Miss Houston was found dead at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The cause of her death has yet to determined. Whitney Houston is considered one of the best singers of her era. In the year 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time. Her powerful voice and accomplishments as a singer will probably never be matched. In this article I’m going to reflect on this beautiful and talented woman, who was truly a gift to the world. 

I grew up during the 80’s and 90’s, so I was a kid when Miss Houston was doing her thing as a singer. I actually recall my mother having a cassette tape of her first and self-titled album, “Whitney Houston”. The songs that I recall greatly from that album include; “You Give Good Love”, “Saving All My Love For You”, “How Will I Know”, and one of my favorite songs from her, “All At Once”. “All At Once” is a song that I still listen to from time to time to this day. In 1987 she released her second studio album titled, “Whitney”. One of her most popular songs from this album was “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. I remember watching the video to that song as a young child. 

In 1992 Miss Houston starred along with Kevin Costner in the movie, “The Bodyguard”. This movie spawned a list of great singles from Whitney that included; “I Have Nothing”, “Queen of The Night”, “Run to You”, and her cover of the Dolly Parton song; “I Will Always Love You”. Houston also recorded a cover of the famous Chaka Khan song, “I’m Every Woman”. I hadn’t watched “The Bodyguard” in a very long time, so I watched it last night to reflect upon Miss Houston. Other popular movies that she starred in include; “The Preachers Wife”, and Waiting to Exhale”. During the 90’s she married R&B singer, Bobby Brown, who was known for his own solo career, and his work with the group, New Edition. Houston and Brown have a daughter from their marriage named, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown. 

Houston and Brown’s marriage was very much in the public eye, and rumors of drug use began to circulate. At one point security guards at an airport discovered marijuna in both Houston and Brown’s luggage. Houston is also remembered for her interview in 2002 with ABC’s, Diane Sawyer. Houston divorced Brown in 2006, and looked to rebuild her career and image. Houston was most recently romantically linked to singer, Ray J. In 2009 Miss Houston released her final album, “I Look to You”, which received positive reviews from most critics. 

Whitney Houston and her daugher Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown

The magnitude of Whitney Houston’s death is similar to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Houston could easily be viewed as the female version of what Michael Jackson was musically. I recall as a kid telling other kids in school that I was related to Miss Houston since I have the same last name as her. Of course it didn’t work, but I tried anyway. Whitney Houston will be greatly missed, and I hope and pray that her soul rests in peace. The song below, “All At Once” can describe how quickly and shocking her death has hit us. Despite her troubles in life, I will continue to remember her as the great singer and beautiful woman that she was. Thanks for reading.

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001365/

http://greginhollywood.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston#Voice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bodyguard