Whitney Houston, 48, Dies: A Look at Some of Her “Greatest Hits”

Whitney Houston, the former reigning Queen of Pop music, has died at the age of 48. Her publicist, Kristen Foster, confirmed on Saturday, February 11, that the singer had died. The cause and location of her death were not yet confirmed.

This news came shortly after The Huffington Post reported that Houston had been approached to become a new judge on FOX’s “The X Factor.” Houston was also slated to return to the big screen in August in TriStar Picture’s remake of the musical drama “Sparkle,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The 80’s Will Always Love Whitney

Houston was at her peak throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. Known as the “Queen of Pop” and “The Voice” among her fans, she stole the hearts of international music listeners with hits such as “Saving All My Love for You” and “I Will Always Love You.” She made history as one of the first Black female artists to be featured on MTV in the 1980s. Her self-titled debut album produced three number-one hits: “Saving All My Love for You”, “How Will I Know”, and the timeless classic “Greatest Love of All”. According to Billboard, Houston was the first female artist to achieve this feat, and hers was the first debut album to achieve the same accomplishment.

(Body)Guarding a Legacy into the 90’s

Houston’s astonishing career spanned more than just the music industry. She also crossed into the film industry with the hit film “The Bodyguard”, in which she starred alongside Kevin Costner. This 1992 classic was notable for its fearless inclusion of an interracial couple, and added more credits to Houston’s place in the musical cannon with her timeless recording of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”, a song that has long been recorded one of her signature songs, if not the signature song of her career.

That same year, Houston was married to Bobby Brown after a three year courtship. Their marriage was filled with much turmoil and controversy, including drug charges in 2000 and a short-lived reality television series, “Being Bobby Brown”. Houston and Brown separated in 2006. Their divorce was finalized in April of 2007, though court dealings between the two would continue.

Houston Exhales and Makes Magic

In the mid-1990s, Houston starred in three feature films that helped to define her career as well. 1995 saw her alongside seasoned actresses like Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine in the film Waiting to Exhale. The film was accompanied by two more major hits of Houston’s career, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” and “Count On Me”. The next year, Houston starred alongside Denzel Washington and Courtney Vance in the Christmas classic “The Preacher’s Wife”. Her classic “I Believe in You and Me” was another highlight of her career. In 1997, she produced the made-for-television remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”. Houston starred as the Fairy Godmother alongside Brandy as Cinderella. The film also featured Jason Alexander, Bernadette Peters, Victor Garber, and Whoopi Goldberg in a notably multi-racial cast that provided a generation of young girls with the “first” Black Disney princess.

An Enduring Legacy

Whitney Houston’s career spanned over two decades and provided endless inspiration for generations of young singers, including Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and many others. Despite the tragic costs of drug use and a dwindling career marked by a number of bizarre public appearances, Houston remains one of the greatest musical icons of all time, and her legacy will endure as generations of fans remember the “Greatest Love of All” that they found in her astonishing voice.

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