Sunday, 12 February 2012

Whitney Houston - Her life and TIMELINE

TIMELINE - Whitney Houston aka ‘The Voice’


"Six-time GRAMMY winner Whitney Houston was one of the world's greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades. Her powerful voice graced many memorable and award-winning songs. She had the perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female act of all time. Her list of awards also includes two Emmy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 300 million albums, singles and videos worldwide.


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.


Born into greatness


She seemed to be born into greatness. Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church's junior gospel choir at age 11.


After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification.


1963 - Birth of a legend


Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born Aug. 9, 1963, in Newark, NJ. Named Whitney Elizabeth Houston,  she was born to a middle class family, the third and youngest child of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr., who passed away in 2003, and gospel singer Cissy Houston.


Powerful female voices and the sound of choirs were in her ears before she could walk or talk. Cissy Houston, her mother, was a gospel singer and back-up singer who worked with the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Dusty Springfield. And with Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick all around her, there was little doubt that young Whitney would follow their career paths.


In her family's basement — which was Madison Square Garden in her imagination — she would belt out "Respect" and bask in the applause that she might have considered her birthright. By high school she was singing back-up for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and Lou Rawls and had also embarked on a modeling career that put her in the glossy spreads of Seventeen and Glamour magazines.


1982 – Music Mongul and Mentor, Clive Davis discovers Whitney


"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act - it was a showcase in Sweetwaters supper club in Manhattan ... 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.


Davis, the music mogul who has become legendary for his ear and his success in guiding the early careers of Rod Stewart, Carlos Santana, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson had discovered a gem. Davis saw in Houston a rare bundle of raw talent, beauty and pedigree. He spent two years and $250,000 to prepare and package her before releasing her 1985 debut album, "Whitney Houston," which would became a mega-seller.


1985 - Instant success aged 19


"Whitney Houston" became the first album by a new female artist to yield three No. 1 singles: "Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know" and "The Greatest Love of All." Critics moaned that the material was too flimsy for such a prodigious instrument, but Houston revelled in the success. She became a major crossover star and, with her church background and relatively wholesome aura, she was the rare female recording star who was young and attractive but not overtly sexualized on stage and on screen.


1986 – Greatest love of all world tour
Singing the love ballard witten by Michael Masser and Linda Creed and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 for Muhammad Ali's film 'The Greatest.' , Houston took to the world stage and captured audiences everywhere she sang.


1987 – Album “Whitney hits gold


Houston's follow-up album, "Whitney," in the summer of 1987, delivered hit after hit with "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go." For her career, her sales totals would become dizzying: By some accounting, she sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos in the pre-digital marketplace.


1988 - What the New York Times said about Houston


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."


1989 - Houston accused of being ‘too white’


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."


1992 – Houston marries ‘bad boy’ Bobby Brown


Houston married Bobby Brown in 1992 after three years of courtship. Some saw her marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those criticising her for being too white. 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.


1993 – Bobbi Christina is born


The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993. Over the years, instead od of setting down into family life, Bobby Brown would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
1989 - When Houston met Brown


The two superstar singers met at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards and married three years later. To some, it seemed an odd match, the glamorous pop star and the onetime New Edition bad boy. 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 explained to Rolling Stone. "I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."


1991 - Houston gives an unforgettable performance


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.


Houston's stirring rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl became a signature as well and a massive fundraiser for the American Red Cross. More than sales units, Houston had stepped to the centre of pop culture in a way that would make her a powerful influence on several generations of singers, especially Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson.


1992 – Bodyguard


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.


1995-1998 - More film hits: "The Preacher's Wife"


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."


1990s – Drug addiction


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."


2001 – Battling emotional pain and anorexia


She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumours spread she had died the next day. Her crude behaviour 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.


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.
Cancelled 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.


2002 - Houston blames her rocky marriage on Brown


"The biggest devil is me," the singer told ABC's Diane Sawyer in a notorious 2002 interview. "I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy."


In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. Brown was at Houston's side as she said that. She described their 14-year marriage as tumultuous and tarnished by Brown's run-ins with the law and allegations of sexual infidelity. It became fodder for the tabloids and entertainment shows and for a year was on display in the reality show "Being Bobby Brown."


2007 - Divorce


Houston divorced Brown in 2007, winning custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. At the court session in Orange County, Houston testified that her daughter could not depend on her father. "He's unreliable," Houston said, according to the Associated Press. "If he says he's going to come, sometimes he does. Usually he doesn't."
2009 – Comeback kid


The world looked in awe and thankfulness as 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.


2008 - Bobby speaks out about marriage in his book




In his autobiography, Brown wrote that their marriage "was doomed from the very beginning," saying that they separated in the first year and several times in the years after. He said he believed she had married him "to clean up her image." Brown also admitted he was not faithful to Houston.


2010 – Houston declares herself drug-free


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.


2012 - Last re-union with Bobby Brown


Bobby was siad ‘in and out of crying fits’ after the death of his ex-wife Whitney Houston
But Bobby Brown decided the show must go on and still took to the stage to perform with his band New Edition, just hours after the iconic singer’s sudden and tragic passing.
During his concert in Mississippi, the 43-year-old tearfully shouted, 'I love you, Whitney,' as he blew kisses to the sky according to the Mail. Bobby told the crowd: 'I would like to say, "I love you, Whitney." The hardest thing for me to do is to come on this stage.'




Bobby was reported to have received huge applause as he came onstage late, after apparently breaking down just before the show was due to begin. A source told the publication that Bobby broke down during his performance of the ballad Tenderoni, and asked the audience to sing along as he sobbed.


He was then unable to finish the song and walked off, with the concert finishing shortly afterwards.


2012 – Farewell


Farewell Whitney Houston, you will really be missed. Her death was a big blow to Clive Davies one if the main forces behind her successful music career. Not only did it take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where he was planning the Grammy’s but Davis was Whitney Houston's mentor and champion since she was in her teens. He was with her through the good times and stuck with her through the worst.


Houston leaves behind her mother, Ciccy Houston and her18 year old daughter Bobbi Christina.
The Star
With Jermain Jackson
The Actress
Young Diva
With Brandy
With husband, Bobby Brown
Beautiful looks shered her into stardom
Giving her best
Bodyguard became a top film
Houston came back renewed in 2009
On stage with Bobby
Receiving one of her many awards
With 'The Greatest',  Muhammed Ali
Doing what she did best- n stage singing
With her protigee and mentor, Clive Davies
Early singing days with mum, Cissy at a club
Houston with daughter, Bobbi
Giving a bow after a fantastic career
Daughter Bobbi followed Houston to thousands of shows
Looking fabulous, Whitney Houston
Latest pictures of Houston out with ex-husband Bobby and daughter
Houston the legend whose influenced generations of girls with her voice
With Bobby
Daughter Bobbi with Bobby a few days ago
Fabulous model looks which earned many cover shoots on international magazines
Happy days?
The Model
On tour - singing her latest hit
Houston at the Michael Jackson tribute: Anorexia, drug abuse and depression were all to blame
With her cousin, Dionne Warwick
With her mum and dad, 1983
With Mum and  Dionne
Famous friendships - MJ
Clive Davies was with her through all her triumphs and tribulations - to the very end
With actor, Kevin Cosner in the Bodyguard
She left behind daughter, Bobbi aged 18 and her mum

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