Houston, Whitney Elizabeth
1963-2012 · Contribution: 1985-1998
Known as “The Voice,” became the best-selling female recording artist of the 1980s and 1990s, scored a record seven consecutive number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, and starred in The Bodyguard (1992), whose soundtrack remains the best-selling album by a female artist and the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time
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Impact on the world
Trained in gospel by her mother, singer Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's 1985 self-titled debut album became the best-selling debut album by a solo artist in history, producing three number-one singles including her signature song “Greatest Love of All”; her second album, Whitney, made her the first woman to debut an album at number one on the Billboard chart. Her 1992 acting debut in The Bodyguard paired her with a soundtrack that sold more than 45 million copies worldwide, anchored by her rendition of Dolly Parton's “I Will Always Love You,” which became, and remains, the best-selling physical single by a female artist in music history and won Grammys for Record of the Year and Album of the Year; the achievement made her the first Black woman to win a Grammy as both artist and producer. In 2020 Houston became the first Black artist in history to achieve three RIAA Diamond-certified albums and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which credited her fusion of pop, R&B, and gospel with subverting genre boundaries and influencing nearly every vocalist who followed her.
Life & background
Born Whitney Elizabeth Houston on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, to gospel singer Cissy Houston, she began singing in church as a child and signed with Arista Records at age 19 in 1983. She recorded seven studio albums and starred in five feature films over a career spanning nearly three decades, and died in Beverly Hills, California, on February 11, 2012, at age 48, from accidental drowning with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Library of Congress (National Recording Registry, 2019)
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