Whitney Houston - Goddess of Pristine Vocals

First published on Monday, Feb 13th 2012
http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/features/13346-whitney-houston-goddess-of-pristine-vocals.html

By Leslie Tripathy

Music world reels in shock after another untimely death of the six time Grammy award winning Legendary Pop Icon, Whitney Houston. She was found dead in the bath tub of her California hotel.

Every music lover loved and admired Whitney Houston’s sultry-plush voice. Her life was an exemplary tale of heroic rise and Shakespearean fall. She was admired for her ravishing beauty, spectacular plush voice and vivacity.

Whitney is so far one of the best selling artistes with a record of has 175 million albums, singles, videos sold worldwide. She has wowed music lovers with her effortless, powerful and matchless voice that had roots in the black church.

On Saturday afternoon Houston was found in a bath tub in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Prescription drugs had been found in the Beverly Hills Hilton hotel room where Houston's lifeless body was discovered just hours before a huge Grammy party she was to attend. Police discovered a half dozen bottles of medication in Houston's room. Her family members said Houston had been taking the prescription drug Xanax, which is often used to treat anxiety. When combined with alcohol, Xanax can cause drowsiness. Houston was reportedly found in her bathtub, her head was underwater, and could not be revived by paramedics after being removed from the tub. No alcohol was found in the initial sweep of Houston's room, but there were multiple reports that Houston had been drinking with friends the night before at the hotel.

The Icon’s journey

Whitney started her musical journey at the age of 11, when she started singing in the church. Houston’s mother, the gospel singer Cissy Houston, and her cousin, the singer Dionne Warwick, also sang in the church. Houston also performed with her mother at night clubs. When media mogul Clive Davis heard Whitney croon, he decided she had the fire in her voice which could be a boon to the music world, thus thrusting her into the glamorous world of music. She hit jackpot in 1985 with her debut album “Whitney Houston”. In 1986, she won her first Grammy for the song “Saving All My Love for You”. Thus begun her journey of musical heights, awards and popularity and for a decade she ruled the music roost. She released her second album “Whitney” in 1987 and it was described as the first album by a woman to enter the Billboard charts at No. 1, and it included four No. 1 singles.

In her successful musical career, she also tried rhythm and blues for her third album “I'll Be Your Baby Tonight” in 1990 and boasted of three more No. 1 singles.

Her talent was such that her albums were million-sellers, and two have sold more than 10 million copies in the US alone - her 1985 debut album and the 1992 soundtrack “The Bodyguard,” which includes “I Will Always Love You”.

But Whitney’s talent was not limited to music. She went on to star in hits like in hit movies like “The Bodyguard” , “Waiting to Exhale” in 1995 and “The Preacher's Wife” in 1996 - which gave her the occasion to make a gospel album - Houston returned to pop with "My Love Is Your Love" in 1998.

Whitney’s addiction

Born on Aug, 9, 1963, Whitney, was the golden girl of the music world from mid 80’s to late 90’s. She created a Guinness world record by winning 415 honours in her career.

Houston’s marriage in 1992 to bad boy of R&B Bobby Brown led to joy, chaos and complexities in her life, which started to reflect in her songs and public appearances. Houston in an interview to Oprah Winfrey had said, “He was my drug, I didn’t do anything without him”. The marriage was marred by professional jealousy from her hubby’s not so illustrious career, as she weakened herself only to make him feel stronger. Later, Houston confessed that her tempestuous marriage to Brown, was one of the biggest mistakes of her life which lasted for 15 years. The world has been helplessly chronicling the life of the undisputed Queen of 80’s. The austere Whitney Houston’s rise, good girl image and regal voice gradually were tarnished with her dishevelled, bizarre and wild public appearances. She acknowledged her erratic behaviour, and once immaculate voice getting ravaged as a result of years of drug abuse. “The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy,” Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

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.

But the comeback hype went sour when a concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and raspy. 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. By the time Oprah Winfrey interviewed her in 2009, she was forthcoming and self-aware, but still not quite steady. In 2004 she went to rehab in a bid to make a comeback on the music trail. But hereafter she had been putting on a bold fight to regain her composer, sober her act and appease her fans.

Like Don Quixote, Whitney Houston had been trying hard to fight her inner demons to give the world a renewed taste of the vivacious Pop Goddess who had serenaded Earthlings with her magical voice and exuberance. Every true blue music lover will lament and miss the royal presence of the Pristine Queen of Pop whose unstable and painful addictions eroded her life and voice. But nevertheless, we will always love her.