[whiTNey hOUston]

perhaps the world's most famous born and bred pop superstar, whitney houston began her illustrious career as a member of the hope baptist junior choir in newark, new jersey, where her mother served as minister of music. her early training, however, was not limited to her participation in the church choir; with famed gospel and session singer cissy houston for her mother, whitney houston was also privy to the behind-the-scenes world of the recording sessions of some of the industry's biggest names—aretha franklin, dionne warwick, linda ronstadt, bette midler and many others. by the age of eleven, whitney was performing as the church's featured soloist and flourishing under her mother's careful tutelage. "when whitney was a kid," her father relates, "she used to go down to the basement of the house wearing her mother's stage outfits and start singing, and her mother would be doing the dishes in the kitchen, shouting down to whitney, 'you're not hitting the notes, come on, a little higher. that's it, that's the one, baby'." the young houston also found willing vocal and performance coaches in family friend aretha franklin and cousin dionne warwick. by her mid-teens, it was whitney herself who was working with industry superstars like chaka khan and lou rawls, as well as performing with her mother and as a soloist in new york's thriving club scene. simultaneously pursuing a career in modeling, whitney's big break came when she partnered with teddy pendegrass on the 1984 single "hold me".

having received such incredible training from such a young age surely paid off when whitney houston wowed arista president and music industry midas, clive davis. davis dreamed of creating a legendary diva in the fashion of those who had glided through the motown studios some twenty years before. though the days of studio charm schools had long since passed and the 1980s had seen a bizarre resurgence of glam rock (fueled by the success of cyndi lauper and boy george), davis was determined to fashion a diana ross-like idol with heretofore unimagined talent. of course, whitney houston was a perfect candidate, already possessing the poise and skill that would rocket her to international recognition.

for her first release, houston was paired with some of the industry's most respected producers. narada michael walden, michael masser, clive davis and other's helped to ensure that whitney houston—both the album and the entertainer—would be a sucess. her eponymous debut album has sold more than eighteen million copies and held the number one spot on the chart for fourteen weeks, establishing the then twenty-two year-old ms. houston as a vocal force with which to be reckoned. houston continued her meteoric rise to the top with her sophomore release, whitney, in 1987. the first album by a female artist to ever enter the charts at number one, whitney's string of chart-topping singles—"i wanna dance with somebody", "so emotional", etc.—resulted in her being the first artist to have seven consecutive number one singles. a duet with queen of soul, aretha franklin, further established houston as music's newest diva, but not everybody was convinced that whitney was the real deal.

having received criticism from both the media and the public for a persona that was perceived to insufficiently represent her african-american heritage, whitney attempted to quell nay-sayers by charting a course that was slightly more street-wise. sassy dance grooves packaged in worn jeans and a t-shirt helped to bring whitney down from the carefully-constructed pedastal on which she'd been placed, making her more accesible to a wider audience. dynamic vocals and a street-smart image were a recipe for success that was repeated on the 1990 i'm your baby tonight. with the title track, "my name is not susan" and "all the man that i need" receiving critical acclaim and success on the charts, it seemed that houston could do no wrong.

between recording sessions and video shoots, whitney made time to give back to the community which had helped to make her into the international superstar that she had become. having established the whitney houston foundation for children in 1989, houston also lent her considerable heart and talent to a number of other projects. focused primarily on caring for children in need, whitney allied herself with the united negro college fund, st. jude's children's hospital and the children's diabetes fund. evidence of her combined compassion and talent can also be heard on an hbo special honoring the troops of desert storm and the memorial tribute to princess diana.

focused on her booming career, whitney could not have expected that love would come knocking on her door, but that's exactly what happened when she met rapper/singer bobby brown at an awards ceremony. the two were drawn together and their courtship resulted in the 1992 duet "something in common" and marriage. having been romatically linked with everybody from eddie murphy to jermaine jackson, houston might have thought that settling down would have bought her a repreive from the constant scrutiny of her private life by the media, but that was not the case. rather, tabloid journalist hounded the friends and family of the two, producing questionable stories alleging everything from lesbiansim and physical abuse to drug addiction and eating disorders. the couple also suffered undue publicity when a troubled pregnancy led to the birth of their daughter, bobbi kristina. through it all, whitney's dignity has been unwavering. though the pressure of contstant media attention has caused her to insulate herself with trusted friends and family, she has addressed the media's accusations that her marriage to brown is being torn appart by his occasional run-ins with the law and alleged wantonness.

established as an internationally-recognized performer, whitney endeavored to maker her star shine even brighter, as she tried her hand at acting. her acting debut, opposite kevin costner in the 1992 film the bodyguard, more than acheived that goal. with the album's soundtrack (performed, in large part, by the actress, herself) selling more than sixteen million copies and the movie grossing more than $400 million whitney crossed over to acting with a bang. the chart-topping single from the soundtrack, "i will always love you" broke records with it's chart run, and was followed by such hits as "qeen of the night" and "i'm every woman". whitney followed up her film/soundtrack one-two with 1995's waiting to exhale. though the soundtrack include only three tracks by houston, the all-star line-up arranged by producer/songwriter kenneth "babyface" edmonds propelled the album, and whitney, back into the spotlight. additionally, waiting to exhale, based on the best-selling novel by terri mcmillan, was viewed by critics as a more serious acting role and helped to establish houston as a serious actress. whitney continued on with acting/singing roles in 1996's the preacher's wife (which earned houston award nominations is a category more associated with her days singing in the hope baptist junior choir…gospel) and rodgers and hammerstein's cinderella, opposite diva-in-training brandy.

in 1998, houston came back strong with her fourth non-soundtrack album, my love is your love, which produced the hits "heartbreak hotel" (featuring kelly price and faith evans), "my love is your love", "it's not right, but it's okay" and "i learned from the best". as if the singer's strongest r&b to date weren't enough to garner international attention, the duet "when you believe", which was featured on the disney's prince of egypt soundtrack, was designed to squash rumours that houston and fellow diva mariah carey engaged in a rivalry of legendary proportions. 1999 saw houston teamed with fellow entertainers tina turner, mary j. blige, cher and former co-star, brandy. by the time the got around to releasing a well-deserved greatest hits collection, in 2002, arista realized that no less than a two-cd set would suffice to capture houston's impressive body of work. including houston classics such as "saving all my love for you", i have nothing", "you give good love" and "exhale (shoop shoop), and new remixes of favourites like "i wanna dance with somebody (who loves me)", "how will i know" and "if i told you that" (featuring george michael), houston set a new standard for music anthologies and established herself, once again, as the reigning queen of pop music.

while the first few years of the new millenium have found ms. houston, once again embroiled in controversy, this time focusing on a run- with airport authorities in hawaii for possession of maijuana and a run of erratic behaviour that left industry pundits wondering if clive davis' platinum princess was finally showing signs of cracking under the pressure, a new release waiting in the wings suggests that she is ready to take care of business in true diva fashion. as if being a successful wife, mother and career woman were not enough, whitney houston has made immeasurable contributions to the world of entertainment as a singer and actor. her talent has set a standard to which younger performers continue to try—more often than not, with only marginal success—while her style and class have reclaimed, for the industry, a sense of dignity long since forgotten. while critics continue to argue that houston's fame is the result of her upbringing in show business or the influence of music giant clive davis, there is no denying the fact that whitney houston's name will forever by synonomous with the word "diva".