Whitney Houston Born into the family of religious singer Cissy Houston. Singer and TV presenter Dionne Warwick was her aunt, and she was baptized by the queen of soul music, Aretha Franklin. Rotation in such an environment greatly contributes to the development of talent, and the singer’s own debut took place when Whitney Houston was 11 years old - at a performance in a Baptist church.
It seemed as if God himself was patronizing her talent: the singer’s first album “ Whitney Houston” (1985) brought the singer her first award - a Grammy in the category “Best Female Pop Vocal”, and the Guinness Book of Records calls Whitney Houston“performer with the most big amount awards."
World fame and superstar status came to Whitney Houston in 1992 thanks to the film, the song from which “I Will Always Love You” [“I will love you forever”] instantly became famous. The role of the bodyguard in this film was played by Oscar winner actor Kevin Costner. This song spent 14 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts and is still considered the most commercially successful female pop single in history. The album has been certified twice platinum since 2009. Whitney Houston“I Look To You.”
Whitney Houston can safely be called a “plowman” of music - during her more than 30-year career, the artist has released more than 170 million discs, her discography includes 53 singles, 6 studio albums, 5 collections and 3 soundtracks, and filmography - 5 films, filming in three TV series, producing 5 films. The singer traveled six times Earth with a world tour.
It seems that life Whitney Houston- work, work and more work, however, a singer of this magnitude had enough time for her personal life: Whitney Houston She was married to Bobby Brown, singer of the R&B group New Edition. In 1993, the couple had a daughter, Christina Houston-Brown (died in 2015).
Whitney was not only beautiful in face, but also slim: height Houston was 1 m 73 cm, and weight - 64 kg.
The singer's excessive drug use is widely known. What led the owner of a luxurious voice of five octaves to drug use, no one can really know. It is known that the singer had to face such a problem in life as disappointment in a failed marriage. The very same Houston said that “the biggest problem in my life is myself.”
In 2013 Whitney Houston would have celebrated her 50th birthday, but she died on February 11, 2012 in a room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. What happened to her? The owner of the beautiful voice in the soul genre on the planet...mixed alcohol with antidepressants. Biography Whitney Houston counted so many conquered peaks of success, and her life ended so prosaically...
It turns out that God’s gift for a person can turn out to be an unbearable burden?..
One of the most famous hits Whitney Houston- "I Will Always Love You"
And iTunes. This rise in sales cannot be called a surprise; rather, it is a natural consequence of the rising wave of interest in the singer’s work.
In 1987, Houston received her first Grammy award for the song Saving All My Love For You, and her superstar status was cemented after the release of the 1992 film “The Bodyguard,” in which she played one of the main roles and performed the song “I Will Always Love You.” " (I will always love you). This composition, which became a worldwide hit, opened on Sunday. Whitney Houston also went down in music history as a performer who has won a record number of major music awards.
I Will Always Love You
The last song that Houston performed in public was “Yes, Jesus Loves Me,” the singer’s spontaneous performance took place at the Tru club in Hollywood on the evening of February 9, two days before the tragedy. A voice of incredible range and purity, the appearance of a top model and the charm of the girl next door made Whitney an idol of millions, and her marriage to rapper Bobby Brown made her a tabloid heroine.
The relationship between Brown and Houston, constantly accompanied by trips to rehab centers, rumors of infidelity and problems with the law, simply got out of control in the fall of 2005. “They fought like cats and dogs. They could argue over what to eat for lunch and who would wash the dishes. Over all sorts of stupid things. But always with screams,” acquaintances of the couple told the press.
Since the 2000s, the singer’s name has increasingly appeared in the press, primarily in connection with drug use rather than musical activity.
"Yellow press" for a long time relished stories about the singer’s addiction to drugs, as well as gossip about her difficult family life, beatings she received from her husband. In 2005, they starred together in the controversial TV show Being Bobby Brown, which ended with Whitney leaving her husband.
Then followed a long and painful divorce(Houston and Brown have been officially divorced since 2007). Whitney apparently was never able to fully recover from the consequences of this divorce. Last May, the media reported that Whitney Houston was undergoing outpatient treatment.
The singer's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, is taking her mother's death very hard. On Sunday morning, she left the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where Whitney Houston died on Saturday, due to the effects of severe stress.
Bobby Brown learned of his ex-wife's death on Saturday before his concert, and, going on stage, said: "I love you Whitney. The hardest thing for me was getting on that stage." Later, the rapper told the media that he was very saddened by Whitney's death: "At this moment, I ask that you do not disturb us, especially my daughter, Bobbi Kristina. I appreciate all the condolences sent to me and my family at this difficult time."
In August 2012, the last film with Whitney Houston is due to be released - the musical drama Sparkle, where she plays the role of the mother of three sisters participating in the successful music group forced to deal with the consequences of fame and drug addiction. Whitney Houston also served as the film's producer and contributed several songs to the soundtrack.
No words! Just tears
The singer wrote on her blog: "No words! Just tears" - "No words! Just tears."
the field must not be empty From the moment Whitney Houston first opened her mouth to sing, it was clear that she was simply made for vocals. The daughter of Sizzy Houston, a fairly well-known supporting singer in her rhythm and blues circles, young Whitney grew up in musical environment. She was a regular participant in church children's choir, dreaming of working as a backup singer, like her mother. However, by the time she was eleven years old, it became clear that vegetating “as a singer” was not what fate had in store for her. When Whitney took the stage one day to perform a solo part, the power and expressiveness of her singing brought tears to many in the congregation. Despite her shyness, the successful combination of her exceptional natural beauty and her unusually pleasant modulated soprano predetermined her success. solo career Whitney. Houston first began performing professionally as a supporting vocalist for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls. At the same time, Houston worked as a model in teen magazines, appearing on the covers of publications such as Seventeen and Glamor. She continued to study dance and acting, appeared several times on television and occasionally took part in concerts. But these performances were only the first tests of strength before the start brilliant career, Whitney's destined fate. She herself and her immediate circle understood this. A few weeks after she turned eighteen, Houston signed a contract with renowned manager Gene Harvey. Under his guidance, Houston continued her modeling career, increased her acting and dancing classes, and intensified her voice work. After a couple of years, which were devoted to developing her vocal skills and establishing contacts in musical world, Houston was already ready for a big job. In 1985 she signed a contract with record company Arista Records. The firm's president, Clive Davis, had a reputation for being patient in selecting the best repertoire for his performers, not to mention giving them plenty of time to perfect their craft. Two years passed before Whitney released her first LP (long-playing record). She advertised herself by speaking in front of bosses music business, appeared in television shows, helped her consultants in selecting the repertoire and, of course, worked on her voice. Houston's first self-titled album yielded three top singles: "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "The Greatest Love of All". With 13 million copies sold, Whitney set the record for the highest-selling debut album for a solo artist. (It was beaten by Alanis Morissette's 1996 album Jagged Little Pill.) "Saving All My Love for You" earned Houston her first Grammy Award (by just this moment there are five), and she spent the next two years touring supporting the album. More greater success awaited her next album, Whitney, released in 1987. Not only did it become the first album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the charts, but it also made Houston the first female artist in history to have songs hit the top seven spots on the charts, surpassing the previous record held by the Beatles and the Bee Gees. Dance and acting lessons also paid off, giving her the opportunity to create dynamic music videos for MTV. To promote Whitney, Houston went on tour again, and in 1990, I'm Your Baby Tonight was released, a more danceable, technically advanced album. Meanwhile, Whitney began to feel tired. Five years of continuous touring began to take their toll. Houston decides to take a vacation and finally get acquainted with his acquisition - an 11 million dollar villa in New Jersey, and also get his personal life in order. After brief affairs with J. Jackson, Eddie Murphy and Randall Cunningham, Houston became seriously interested in the notorious rhythm and blues performer Bobby Brown. In 1992, their wedding took place in the presence of eight hundred guests. Many of those present were skeptical, but could not help. By the time of the marriage, Brown already had some baggage: three illegitimate children from two women. However, despite many public scandals almost from the first day of the wedding, Houston continues to love her husband. She recently spoke about him this way: “He a real man. He cares about me. Now I don’t have to be afraid of anything, because I know he’ll give anyone a good kick... just try to hurt him, and you’ll have problems.” Brown's constant love affairs and hooligan antics, not to mention periodic conflicts with the law, make Houston, in the eyes of some observers, worthy of pity and sympathy. Others note that she herself is a woman with whom it is quite difficult to get along. Whitney has a reputation as a capricious diva. Suffice it to recall the unpleasant episode when Houston showed up two hours late at dinner party at the White House in honor of Nelson Mandela, saying in his defense only: “Oh, I just returned from tour,” - although last concert I visited her four days ago. Since 1990, Houston has managed to continuously maintain her popularity, although she has significantly reduced the number of public appearances. It cannot be said that Whitney spends her time in idleness: constantly overcoming the difficulties that haunt her in personal life, the singer managed to become a mother, giving birth to a girl named Christina, and conquer the world of cinema. Her first film, “The Bodyguard,” brought its creators $400 million and the most successful soundtrack ever released. The number of copies sold reached 33 million, thanks in large part to Houston's unusual interpretation classic theme Dolly Parton "I Will Always Love You." In 1995, the singer continued her acquaintance with cinema, starring in the drama Waiting To Exhale, a film about a successful black woman looking for a life partner. Third and bye last movie with Houston's participation became "The Preacher's Wife". This picture did not become a box office champion, but its soundtrack demonstrated that the pop diva had not yet lost touch with her roots, which rested deep in gospel music. Houston makes a major contribution to the charitable movement and participates in various foundations and organizations. The singer also established her own children's foundation, the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. non-profit organization, whose activities include helping homeless children and children with cancer or AIDS. On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. The singer was found unconscious in the bathroom of her hotel room by her aunt Mary Jones. They tried to bring her back to life using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but to no avail - death was registered at 15:55 US Pacific Coast time. Police rule out a violent nature of death. The 54th Grammy Awards was dedicated to Houston.Whitney Houston(August 9, 1963 - February 11, 2012) went down in history as one of the world's best singers. According to many, she became in the best voice America from ever born. Houston's two-decade career was marked by the recording of iconic singles with virtuosic performances that will forever be woven into the fabric of American and world culture. That's why when the singer was found dead in her Beverly Hilton hotel room on February 11, 2012, the public outcry was so great. Such talents appear too rarely and the feeling that we will never hear her voice live has become too painful.
Below are ten interesting facts from the life of the Queen of Soul, owner of a unique 5-octave voice, Whitney Houston.
Drugs
In 2002, Whitney Houston admitted in a television interview with Oprah Winfie that she uses drugs, alcohol and psychotropic drugs. Soon the singer called this addiction a great “stupidity.” In the spring of 2011, Whitney was included in a rehabilitation program.
Houston fan
In 1993, in London, an ardent Houston fan, 20-year-old Helen Stevens, was jailed for a week for a week because she haunted her neighbors with the song “I Will Always Love You” played loudly, bothering them even through the soundproofing.
Hymn
In 2002, Saddam Hussein made “I Will Always Love You” his campaign anthem.
It is curious that after reading the script for the film “The Bodyguard” for the first time, Houston categorically refused to act in it, saying that the heroine of the film was “hysterical” and that she would never behave like that. Kevin Costner, the director and producer of the film, had great difficulty persuading Whitney to play this role.
Choir soloist
At age 11, Whitney became a soloist in the church choir. After which people began to come to church not so much to attend the service as to listen young talent.
Whitney Houston's super hit I Will Always Love You, which gave her lifelong fame, was written by country singer Dolly Parton in 1974. Elvis Presley intended to re-record this song, wanting to buy half of the rights, but Parton refused him. After the hit was performed by Whitney Houston in the film Bodyguard, Parton earned $6 million from the rights alone. This soundtrack became the best-selling soundtrack of all, with 43 million copies.
WHFC Charitable Foundation
In 1989, Houston created her charitable foundation, WHFC. Using the funds raised by the organization, city parks and playgrounds were built, and Christmas parties were held every year. When she got married in 1992, the singer asked all her guests to make a donation to WHFC in lieu of gifts.
First album
Her first album was released in 1985 and became the most successful debut album by a woman in the history of music - in just a year in America it sold 13 million copies and stayed at the top of the prestigious chart for 14 weeks in a row.6 1
The words "Whitney Houston has died" appeared on the screen of my BlackBerry.
Like many of us living in an era digital technologies, I learned about the death of the pop diva from SMS. The news sent by my 25-year-old daughter shocked me, and soon stirred up precious memories of the days when she and I younger sister chanted Houston's latest hit on the radio. They unleashed their voices in that gleeful, full-throated, uninhibited manner that only teenage girls could. (Imagine "and I-eee-I-eee-I will always love you" at a ridiculously deafening volume).
Some high notes were, of course, not easily accessible to my girls in their spontaneous interpretation. But they were passionate about emulating Houston no matter what.
I've heard about many problems in Houston throughout the week. But despite her struggles with drugs and alcohol, many people still have good memories of her and her songs.
Houston had perfect vibrato. This effect was enhanced by its deceptively effortless diaphragm support. Houston infant in a powerful voice scalded chorus after chorus on hit after hit, demonstrating iron control over this part of her singing arsenal. And the amazing reserves of strength to achieve this aspect of the singer's skill separate the wannabes from the Real McCoy.
You've never noticed this, have you? That's because she was so good at it.
Houston was famous for its wide range. Some of her songs cover quite a lot of vocal territory - from alto to the highest soprano. What was outstanding was that she almost never “wriggled out” by switching to falsetto: you know, that kind of loud, heady sound that men make when they poorly imitate female opera singing.
Houston seemed to have no natural breaks between the high and low registers of her instrument. This unique quality stood out because when she switched to the "head voice", she presented it as a subtle decoration, a precious design element in the phrase.
Her impeccable intonation is one of the reasons why her version of the American anthem "Star-Spangled Banner" became epic - it instills "confidence" in listeners. When every note is sung perfectly clean, as it was in Houston's classic performance, we relax and surrender true beauty music.
She was more than just gifted with the instrument. Houston's musicianship combines an uncanny ability to handle the material she's given with such experience and attention to detail that the song becomes hers and hers alone.
Her sense of musical balance allows her to get the frequency of key passages in a song just right before moving on to the next structural part of the song. And although her work became more melismatic as her career grew, she never overused the technique like some of its countless imitators. She mostly performed them in intricate turns at the end of phrases or casually inserted them between simply delivered melodic expressions. This allowed many of us to sing along with her full voice, for example, in a car. (And of course we all did it)
And she made us feel.
Through musical structure and powerful delivery, Houston could bring emotion to a song whether it was a long live version or a four-minute recording. Her subtle beauty coupled with her come here/don't take another step or you'll regret it in front of the camera intrigued us.
What charisma she had! Of course, this infectious combination of beauty and talent was at least one of the reasons why my youngest daughter - now an aspiring opera collatura soprano - chose life path long dresses and tall notes. Miss Whitney's omnipresence in the media made it a dream come true for many of the young women she mesmerized.
Houston became a pop star the old way - not through men's videos on YouTube or being on "American Idol."
They discovered her talent, gave her a recording contract, provided her with material, and the rest was hard, endless work. Now that she's gone, there's nothing we can do except remember that she and "The Voice" seemed like two different entities. Remember how she presented that voice; how she allowed us to witness what she obviously enjoyed herself.
