Celebreties @ Celeb-spot.com

Britney Spears
Buy Britney Spears

Mariah Carey
Buy Mariah Carey

Avril Lavigne
Buy Avril Lavigne

Jennifer Lopez
Buy Jennifer Lopez

Christina Aguilera
Buy Christina Aguilera

Jessica Simpson
Buy Jessica Simpson

Lindsay Lohan
Buy Lindsay Lohan

Raise Your Voice
Buy Raise Your Voice

Whitney Houston
Buy Whitney Houston

Allposters.com

Featured Celebrity: Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963, Newark, New Jersey) is an American pop, R&B and soul singer and actress. She was one of the most popular and successful singers of the 1980s and 1990s.

Early Years
Houston is a singer who grew up in a musical family: Her mother is Grammy award winning gospel/R&B singer Cissy Houston, and her cousin is Grammy Award winning singer Dionne Warwick. By age 11, Houston was performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist church in Newark. As a teenager, she began accompanying her mother in concert (as well as on her 1978 album Think It Over).

Whitney Houston
Buy this Poster at AllPosters.com

She was a backing singer with established acts, such as Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and Lou Rawls, as well as the lead vocalist on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's A Party".

Somewhat bizarrely, Houston's first recording as a featured vocalist was with Bill Laswell's experimental jazz-funk ensemble Material; their 1982 album One Down placed Houston alongside such avant-gardists as Luther Vandross, Archie Shepp and Fred Frith. She also appeared as a model in various magazines, appearing on the cover of Seventeen magazine. (Steve Huey, All Music Guide)

The Greatest Hits
In 2000, Houston got into trouble as she was found with marijuana at an airport in Hawaii and she skipped out on a performance at the Oscars (Faith Hill was a last minute replacement for Houston). Nevertheless, in 2000, Arista released, Whitney: The Greatest Hits, a two CD compilation of Houston's biggest hits. Disc One- Cool Down featured a collection of her ballads as well as two new tracks, "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (a duet with Enrique Iglesias) and "Same Script, Different Cast" (a duet with Deborah Cox). Both songs received considerable airplay in the U.S. Disc Two- Throw Down, is a collection of her dance songs and remixes. It also featured two new songs, "Fine" and "If I Told You That" (a duet with George Michael). Neither song made a splash in the U.S., however they were hits internationally.

The Greatest Hits has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. In 2001, Houston and Arista Records agreed to re-release her version of the Star Spangled Banner to benefit the families of police officers and firefighters killed during the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It sold more than 300,000 copies, raised more than $1 million, and earned Whitney yet another Top 10 single as it peaked at #6.

Controversy and A New Beginning
In the year 2000 Houston's public image became tarnished when it was revealed that she had been battling spousal abuse with her husband. Additionally she had clearly lost a great deal of weight and this, coupled with shaky (if not cancelled) public performances gave way to rumours of cocaine addiction. Many thought that her vocals sounded strained and that her voice was wearing down on her.

2001 brought Houston her first major producing assignment: the hit teen Disney comedy The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. She also produced two other major assignments for Disney company: the 2003 TV movie The Cheetah Girls, about the tribulations of an all-girl pop group starring Raven-Symone, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). Although these efforts were successful, Houston was criticized by her fans for producing "bubble-gum pop-ish" material.

In 2002, Houston admitted in a television interview to abusing cocaine, marijuana, and various other drugs. She claimed to have stopped using illegal drugs, but was seemingly making this admission to address the rumours circulating about her lifestyle. During said interview, Houston's comment about having never used crack cocaine because it was "for poor people," caused a new uproar. In March of 2004, Houston entered a drug rehab program in California. Over the spring and summer of 2004 Houston performed at a few concerts in Europe (the Soul Divas Tour with Natalie Cole) and her own concert tour in Asia. In September of 2004 she made a surprise appearance at the World Music Awards to sing for Clive Davis. They announced that they would soon commence working on a new album for Houston to be released in 2005, in which a duet with Alicia Keys is rumored to be featured. In March of 2005, Whitney's chances at a comeback appeared slim when she entered rehab for the second time. However, Whitney finished rehab in May of 2005. In an interview with Access Hollywood, mogul music producer Clive Davis announced that he was returning to the studio with Whitney to finish the album they had begun before Whitney entered rehab.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia Article: Whitney Houston