A look back at the highs and lows of Whitney Houston: The Legacy of an Icon

More than 10 years after the sudden death of musical powerhouse Whitney Houston, the iconic artist is still remembered for her dramatic highs and tragic lows.

With Fox Nation’s new docuseries “Whitney!” And the release of Houston’s new biopic “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” fans will get an inside look at the six-time Grammy winner’s life in the spotlight, as well as what was going on behind closed doors.

Houston died on February 11, 2012, the evening of the 54th Grammy Awards, at the age of 48. She was found dead in the bathtub of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The coroner would later rule that the singer Died from accidental drowning and that “the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine abuse” directly led to her death.

Despite the way she died, Houston will always be remembered for her contributions to the entertainment industry, as well as her legacy as “The Voice.”

Whitney Houston Producer Clive Davis Excited About New Movie: ‘Nobody Has Touched The Real Person Of Whitney’

Here’s a look back at Houston’s ups and downs.

early days

Houston started singing in church as a child. Her early career included singing backup for her mother, Emily “Sissy” Houston, Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson, and others, as well as modeling.

However, things really took off for the young singer in 1983 when producer Clive Davis discovered and signed her. Davis was the founder of Arista Records, which has since been bought by Sony Music Entertainment. He would remain a frequent collaborator with Houston.

In 1985, her first album, titled “Whitney Houston”, was released. By the following year, the album had become the best-selling record by a solo artist at the time. Houston eventually won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her song “Saving All My Love for You”.

In 1987, her next album, ‘Whitney’, was also a huge success. It spawned one of her most famous songs of all time, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, which also earned her a Grammy Award. Her first two albums have been certified Diamond.

One of Houston’s most memorable performances came during Super Bowl XXV in 1991. She gave an electrifying performance of the “Star Spangled Banner”.

Bobbi Brown Era

In 1989, after dating other high-profile celebrities, Houston became engaged to fellow musician Bobby Brown. They married in 1992 and had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.

Their relationship was filled with many tumultuous and highly publicized events, as showcased on Brown’s reality TV show, ‘Being Bobby Brown’.

The couple divorced in 2007, but Brown has often been blamed for introducing Houston to hard drugs and changing the positive course of her career. In May 2022, Brown spoke about his relationship with Houston on an A&E project titled “The Autobiography: Bobby Brown”.

“That was very cruel,” Brown said of the novel. “Not a lot of people knew what was happening. Not a lot of people knew how [those accusations] It affected me. Not many people knew what they were talking about. They were not living, breathing, or waking with us. They took it to the outer limits to express what they thought was going on. But the truth is, they really didn’t know what was going on.”

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“Bodyguard”

In 1992, Houston dipped her toe into the acting pool, starring alongside Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard.

It was Houston’s first movie role, and the chemistry between the two stars was palpable. She starred as Rachel Maron, a rising star. Costner, who took on the role of Frank Farmer, was the bodyguard assigned to protect her.

The movie returned to theaters last November to mark the 30th anniversary of its premiere. Costner shared the news on his Instagram along with a photo of him and Houston in the movie.

He wrote, “I couldn’t be more excited that we are all re-experiencing this movie and the magic that happened when Whitney stood in front of the camera.”

“I hope you’ll join us in celebrating this film and its legacy,” Costner added.

The film’s soundtrack was responsible for Houston’s massive hit, “I Will Always Love You,” which stayed number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for 14 weeks.

Not only did Houston win a Grammy Award for Recording of the Year with the song, but she also holds the title of the best-selling single of all time by any female artist.

Huston went on to star in other successful films, including 1995’s Waiting to Exhale and 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife.

Last few years

Success continued in Houston, and in 2001 the singer signed a new recording contract with Arista Records for $100 million.

The following year, while interviewing Diane Sawyer, Houston addressed her slim frame, as well as rumors that she had an eating disorder and drug addiction.

Her then-husband Brown was next to her in the now infamous interview. “The biggest demon is me,” Houston told Sawyer. “I am either my best friend or my worst enemy.”

This was also the interview when Houston uttered a well-known line, “Crack is a friend,” when she went into depth about allegations that she went to “crack rehab,” as the tabloid’s Sawyer described it.

I told Sawyer: “First of all, let’s get one thing straight. Crack is cheap. I make a lot of money smoking crack. Let’s get it straight. Okay? We don’t crack. We don’t. Crack is a friend.”

Seven years passed before Huston sat down for another in-depth interview. In 2009, she had an open conversation with Oprah Winfrey. By then, Houston’s reputation as a reliable professional artist within the industry had waned.

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In her discussion with Winfrey, Houston revealed that by the time “The Preacher’s Wife” was released in 1996, “(drug use) was an everyday thing… I would do my job, but after I got my job done, a whole year or two, it was all Day… I wasn’t happy at that moment. I was losing myself.”

Houston also admitted that she went through a 30-day treatment program to get her clean.

She eventually returned to rehab in 2011, before her death the following year.

impact today

Houston has wowed audiences for years with effortlessly powerful songs.

Her seventh and final studio album, “I Look to You,” was released in August 2009 and rose to number one on the Billboard 200 charts. However, it was her music in the 1980s and into the late 1990s that catapulted her to superstardom.

Houston is considered one of the best American singers of all time with over 200 million records sold worldwide.

She has influenced a generation of singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey. A day after the news of Houston’s death was announced, Carey tweeted, “Sorrow and weep over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Mrs. Whitney Houston.”

In an effort to get a sense of the depth of her character, Davis became determined to tell the authentic story of Whitney Houston.

“So far, no one has touched the real Whitney person,” he told Fox News Digital about projects about the music icon in the past.

Davis is an executive producer on the new biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, which follows a young Whitney to the height of her fame.

On December 23, Davis said of the film, “I’m looking forward to a wonderful film that’s multidimensional, one that’s a celebration of an amazing artist and her music, but tells the real story of struggles, aspirations, or hopes.”