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January 08, 2008
Whitney still every woman
By: Joseph Cunningham
She said, "I'm every woman", and for many years, Whitney Houston has proved in no uncertain way that she is more than a "nine to five" girl. What? Am I to spell it out? Her struggles have been well documented.
However, we hear that she has been doing well, and an album is in the
works. Thank God.
Well, let me cut to the chase, and say that my reason for writing this
article is to refresh our memory of how successful Whitney Houston has been; maybe the details will make wonderer's understand why we cheer for Whitney in spite of her shortcomings.
To begin with, Whitney Houston holds the Guinness World Record for being the "Most Awarded Female Artist of All Time." She is an American Pop and R&B singer, songwriter, actress, film producer and former fashion model. In 1992, the soundtrack album, "The Bodyguard" became one of the best selling albums of all time, and the best selling soundtrack of all time.
The album featured the song, "I Will Always Love You," that to date is still the best selling single by a female artist. The soundtrack single sold in excess of 10 million units.
Whitney is also the only female artist to have two albums in the list of the Top 35 best selling albums in the US, and the only artist to have a record seven consecutive Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit singles.
Well-known for her powerful dramatic soprano vocals, melismatic vocal
inflections, and expansive vocal range, Whitney is considered one of the 100 most fascinating black women of the 20th century according to Ebony magazine.
Born in a rough neighborhood in the projects of Newark, New Jersey, she is the third and youngest child of John and gospel singer Cissy Houston. Her mother, along with cousin Dionne Warwick and Godmother Aretha Franklin are all notable figures in the gospel, rhythm and blues, and soul genre. No doubt, Whitney would have been musically involved.
After successful rehabilitation from substance abuse in 2006, Houston
began recuperating her career in the public eye by attending the Carousel of Hope Ball in October 2006 and Clive Davis's Pre-Grammy Party in February 2007. She recorded the song "Family First" with Dionne Warwick and Cissy Houston for the soundtrack, "Daddy's Little Girls."
Houston has also divorced Bobby Brown and gained full parental custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina. In July 2007 it was reported that Houston performed her classic duet 'Count On Me' with CeCe Winans at one of Winans' gigs. Houston also made a guest appearance at Swarovski's Fashion Rocks in London. Her comeback album release date and title are yet to be determined. Reported producers include will.i.am, Ne-Yo, R.Kelly, and John Legend among others.
On October 29th 2007, Arista released The Ultimate Collection, which included for the first time, all of Houston's hit singles on one CD. It debuted at number 5 in the UK, with sales of 37,228. It climbed to number 3 in its second week on the chart. On November 5th 2007 this compilation was also released in France with bonus DVD of Houston's music videos including the previously unreleased video, "When You Believe" – a duet with Mariah Carey.
Houston performed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 1st to a positive reception. At this concert she performed many of her previous hits including "I Will Always Love You," "Exhale" and "My Love Is Your Love," for a crowd of 10,000 people. Many critics have praised the performance and indicated that Houston's voice is recovering well after her previous drug use.
It is already rumored that she will perform in the coming Grammy Awards with Alicia Keys, word going around is that both Alicia and Whitney's people are working hard behind the scenes to make the duet happen, although it was stated that Whitney is not that keen in sharing the stage with the piano songstress.