A legendary life cut short. Whitney Houston‘s vocals were so powerful that producer Clive Davis famously called her “The Voice” — and her fellow singers agreed she more than deserved the title.
“Whitney wasn’t just a singer with a beautiful voice. She was a true musician,” Faith Evans — who collaborated with Houston on the 1998 track “Heartbreak Hotel” — told Vibe in January 2015. “Her voice was an instrument and she knew how to use it. Whitney mastered the use of her voice. From every run to every crescendo she was in tune with what she could do with her voice, and it’s not something simple for a singer — even a very talented one — to achieve.”
Born in Newark, New Jersey, the “How Will I Know” songstress began singing in her church choir when she was just 5 years old. Her mother, Cissy Houston, helped her with vocal training, and by the time she was a teenager, Whitney was singing backup for Cissy — a successful gospel artist — and other musicians.
The Bodyguard actress grew up surrounded by music thanks to her mother, cousin Dionne Warwick, godmother Darlene Love and close family friend Aretha Franklin. At age 19, Whitney signed her first record contract after blowing Davis away with her performance. She went on to become one of the bestselling artists of all time, releasing seven studio albums over the course of her career. The 1992 soundtrack for The Bodyguard, featuring six songs performed by Whitney, remains the bestselling soundtrack album of all time.
As the Grammy winner racked up accolades in her professional life, however, her personal life was often marked by periods of turmoil. Her tumultuous marriage to fellow singer Bobby Brown made headlines over the years, as did her struggles with drug abuse.
During a 2009 comeback, Whitney said her romance with the New Edition member was one of the reasons for her addiction battles. “He was my drug,” she said in a tell-all interview. “I didn’t do anything without him. I wasn’t getting high by myself. It was me and him together, and we were partners, and that’s what my high was —him. He and I being together, and whatever we did, we did it together. No matter what, we did it together.”
The couple, who shared daughter Bobbi Kristina, split in 2006. Before Whitney’s 2012 death, she seemed to be in the midst of another comeback, producing and starring in the film Sparkle alongside Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps.
Six months before the movie was released, though, Whitney died at age 48 after reuniting with Davis at rehearsals for his famous pre-Grammy Awards party. One day later, Jennifer Hudson paid tribute to the late singer with a performance of “I Will Always Love You.”
Eight years later, Alicia Keys inducted Whitney into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Cissy accepting the honor on her daughter’s behalf. “Whitney Houston is one of one,” the “No One” singer told the crowd. “There is no one like her and there never will be.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at Houston’s biggest ups and downs over the years:
A legendary life cut short. Whitney Houston‘s vocals were so powerful that producer Clive Davis famously called her “The Voice” — and her fellow singers agreed she more than deserved the title.
“Whitney wasn’t just a singer with a beautiful voice. She was a true musician,” Faith Evans — who collaborated with Houston on the 1998 track “Heartbreak Hotel” — told Vibe in January 2015. “Her voice was an instrument and she knew how to use it. Whitney mastered the use of her voice. From every run to every crescendo she was in tune with what she could do with her voice, and it’s not something simple for a singer — even a very talented one — to achieve.”
Born in Newark, New Jersey, the “How Will I Know” songstress began singing in her church choir when she was just 5 years old. Her mother, Cissy Houston, helped her with vocal training, and by the time she was a teenager, Whitney was singing backup for Cissy — a successful gospel artist — and other musicians.
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The Bodyguard actress grew up surrounded by music thanks to her mother, cousin Dionne Warwick, godmother Darlene Love and close family friend Aretha Franklin. At age 19, Whitney signed her first record contract after blowing Davis away with her performance. She went on to become one of the bestselling artists of all time, releasing seven studio albums over the course of her career. The 1992 soundtrack for The Bodyguard, featuring six songs performed by Whitney, remains the bestselling soundtrack album of all time.
As the Grammy winner racked up accolades in her professional life, however, her personal life was often marked by periods of turmoil. Her tumultuous marriage to fellow singer Bobby Brown made headlines over the years, as did her struggles with drug abuse.
During a 2009 comeback, Whitney said her romance with the New Edition member was one of the reasons for her addiction battles. “He was my drug,” she said in a tell-all interview. “I didn’t do anything without him. I wasn’t getting high by myself. It was me and him together, and we were partners, and that’s what my high was —him. He and I being together, and whatever we did, we did it together. No matter what, we did it together.”
The couple, who shared daughter Bobbi Kristina, split in 2006. Before Whitney’s 2012 death, she seemed to be in the midst of another comeback, producing and starring in the film Sparkle alongside Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps.
Six months before the movie was released, though, Whitney died at age 48 after reuniting with Davis at rehearsals for his famous pre-Grammy Awards party. One day later, Jennifer Hudson paid tribute to the late singer with a performance of “I Will Always Love You.”
Eight years later, Alicia Keys inducted Whitney into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Cissy accepting the honor on her daughter’s behalf. “Whitney Houston is one of one,” the “No One” singer told the crowd. “There is no one like her and there never will be.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at Houston’s biggest ups and downs over the years:
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February 1985
The Emmy winner released her debut album, Whitney Houston, which spawned the No. 1 singles “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love of All” and “Saving All My Love for You.” At the Grammys the following year, she took home the trophy for best pop vocal performance for “Saving All My Love for You.”
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June 1987
The Waiting to Exhale star released her second album, Whitney. The LP spawned four No. 1 hits — “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” — making her the first female artist to earn four chart-toppers from one album.
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January 1991
Whitney sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV shortly after the Persian Gulf War began, in what is widely considered to be one of the greatest performances of the American national anthem. Davis’ label, Arista Records, released the track as a single after his office was flooded with calls from people who wanted to buy it.
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July 1992
The “My Love Is Your Love” singer married Brown after three years of dating.
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November 1992
Whitney made her film debut in The Bodyguard, playing a pop star who hires a security guard (played by Kevin Costner) after receiving death threats. At her 2012 funeral, the Yellowstone actor delivered an emotional eulogy for his former costar.
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March 1993
Brown and Whitney welcomed their only child, daughter Bobbi Kristina.
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December 1995
Whitney starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon in her second film, Waiting to Exhale. Her performance earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, but she lost to Bassett.
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December 1996
The New Jersey native acted in her first Christmas movie, The Preacher’s Wife, with Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance. The soundtrack, which also featured Cissy and Brown, quickly became the bestselling gospel album ever.
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November 1997
Whitney played the fairy godmother in a made-for-TV adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella that starred Brandy as the titular princess. The film was considered groundbreaking at the time because of its diverse cast, which also included Whoopi Goldberg and Paolo Montalbán.
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November 1998
The pop star released My Love Is Your Love, her first solo album in eight years. The critically acclaimed LP included “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and “When You Believe,” a duet with Mariah Carey that won Best Original Song at the Oscars in 1999.
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January 2000
Whitney was stopped at an airport in Hawaii and charged with marijuana possession. More than one year later, the charges against her were dropped.
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November 2002
To promote her album Just Whitney, the singer sat down for a now-infamous interview with Diane Sawyer where she denied doing crack and addressed rumors she had an eating disorder. “Crack is cheap,” Whitney declared. “I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let’s get that straight, OK? We don’t do crack. We don’t do that. Crack is whack.”
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December 2003
Brown was charged with battery after allegedly hitting and bruising Whitney. After turning himself in to authorities in July 2004, he was released on $2,000 bond.
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June 2005
The embattled couple appeared in the Bravo reality series Being Bobby Brown, which lasted just 11 episodes.
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October 2006
Whitney filed for divorce from Brown after 14 years of marriage. The duo finalized their split in April 2007.
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August 2009
The “I Have Nothing” singer released her final studio album, I Look to You.
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September 2009
During a tell-all interview, Whitney admitted to using drugs during her marriage to Brown, confessing that she did use crack cocaine as well as marijuana. “I had so much money and so much access to what I wanted,” she recalled. “I didn’t think about the singing part anymore. I was looking for my young womanhood.”
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February 2012
Whitney was pronounced dead after being found in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office later determined that her death was caused by drowning and the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.”
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August 2012
Sparkle, which featured Whitney in her final acting role, debuted in theaters.
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July 2015
Brown and Whitney’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, died at age 22 after being found unconscious in a bathtub at her home six months earlier. “Krissy was and is an angel,” Brown said in a statement at the time. “I am completely numb at this time. My family must find a way to live with her in spirit and honor her memory. Our loss is unimaginable.”
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June 2019
Producer Kygo released a new version of Whitney’s cover of the Steve Winwood song “Higher Love,” which was originally included on the Japanese edition of her album I’m Your Baby Tonight. In the U.K., the song became Whitney’s first posthumous track to crack the top 10.
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December 2022
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a biopic starring Naomi Ackie as the singer, hit theaters. The cast also includes Stanley Tucci as Davis, Tamara Tunie as Cissy and Ashton Sanders as Brown.