Whitney Houston dead at 48!

[Angela]

The following is an excerpt of the Whitney Houston cover story in the March 15th, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone, on stands March 2nd.

Diligent professional one moment, wild child the next: Those were the opposing sides of Houston in her last days – and, it turns out, much of her life. Blessed with a peerless combination of bravura lung power, model-perfect looks, and an image that was both warm and regal, Houston was that pop rarity: a genuine crossover star, juggling music and film, ­audiences young and old, black and white. "Because of her cousin Dionne [Warwick], she understood all those pretty-ass melodies from Burt Bacharach," says Narada Michael Walden, one of Houston's many producers. "But because she was young and from the era of Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna, she had soul in her too – those rhythms. She had both sides. Plus, she was so damn gorgeous. You couldn't say no to her."

But after she peaked with her 1991 version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and 1992's The Bodyguard, her fans watched as, year by year, Houston's demons were revealed to the world: Her voice grew huskier, her looks hardened. Her records, when they appeared, didn't sell as well as they once had; her live performances revealed a performer physically and vocally rusty.

People who worked with her still find it hard to comprehend her dark side. "A lot of us talked about that, and no one could come up with an answer," says Gerry Griffith, the A&R man who brought Houston to Clive Davis' attention around 1982. "Where is that rebellion coming from? It didn't come out for a while." When it did, it came out in force, nearly destroying her personal life, career and music.

From the start, Whitney Houston was a child of both the church and the charts. Her mother, Cissy, was a Newark, New Jersey-born soprano powerhouse who sang backup on classic records by Franklin ("Ain't No Way," "Chain of Fools") and Van Morrison ("Brown Eyed Girl"), and toured with Elvis Presley (when she was a member of the Sweet Inspirations). Her cousin Warwick had crossed over to pop in the Sixties and Seventies with hits like "Walk On By" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" Whitney, born in 1963, inherited her voice from her mother, and her elegant good looks and strong will from her father, John Houston, who worked variously as a truck driver and for the city of Newark, and who would later manage his daughter's career.

When Whitney was four, her parents moved her and her two brothers to suburban East Orange, New Jersey, where many black families relocated after the Newark riots. Houston was a shy kid; her grade-school principal recalls Houston standing in line, tightly holding her classmates' hands, her head down. When Houston's godmother, singer Darlene Love, would stay at the family's home while on tour, she shared a bed with "Nippy," as Whitney was called. "I was pregnant at the time and she'd go, 'What do you want, what do you want?' " Love recalls. "There was a store on the corner where she'd run down the street and buy fruit for me. So charming from Day One."

To read the rest of this cover story, pick up the March 15th, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone, available on stands and in Rolling Stone All Access March 2nd.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/cover-story-excerpt-whitney-houston-20120229

[SFK]

Thanks for sharing this! LOL at "pretty-ass melodies".

The other nigjt I watched the The Greatest Love of All video and broke down crying.

[Jonathan]

That's weak.

[SFK]

Have you ever seen that video with Cissy looking on adoringly?? It's heartbreaking now!

And yes, I had been drinking.

[Chris B]

I've found myself listening more to her uptempo songs. I find Step By Step particularly touching in light of recent events. The performances of it are almost unwatchable it's so sad.

[SFK]

I had forgotten how much we used to rock the Preacher's Wife soundtrack in the car. I've never actually seen the movie. I do remember seeing a bts show and Whitney and the choir started getting happy for real while singing a selection and you see director Penny Marshall scrambling telling the cameramen to keep filming.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p2FnunslP1E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I just had to. No one did Whitney better than Debra Wilson.

[alphanguy74]

Oh this is funny as hell:

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Edited March 3, 2012 by alphanguy74

[Angela]

Oprah Scores (an interview with Whitney's daughter that is)...

http://losangeles.cb...ughter-for-own/

[Cheap21]

I don't like that and wish Oprah would leave it alone

[Angela]

It's kind of early in the process but it's not like Oprah's forcing the kid to do an interview. Nor do I think Oprah would pay for an interview although OWN is a sinking ship.

Can't fault any news personality for wanting these types of interviews as soon as they can get it either.

[SFK]

Dang, now I really gotta get OWN'd. I don't think BK is ready for this though. At least a year.

I'm glad we'll also hear from Gury and Pat. Would love to hear from Cissy and I think O is the right choice for giving her a sensitive, properly respectful interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8GyNKVAXWQ

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I never thought Oprah was the classiest woman, but she couldn't wait at least 6 months?

I guess anything to bring attention to the disaster that is OWN...

Fact is Oprah's Next Chapter is the highest rated show on OWN, and last month's Whitney special (which was a re-broadcast of the 2009 interview with Whitney) was OWN's biggest success last month. This is so not a coincidence.

It's a blatant appeal on Oprah's part for ratings, which her network basically needs.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Chris B]

There's no way Bobbi Kristina is ready for an interview. No way in hell. On the music front, I've been listening more to Just Whitney and it makes me sad thinking how successful that album could've been. Her last two albums were both pretty amazing follow ups to My Love Is Your Love (which transformed her sound), but the single choices were just abysmal. Her team should be ashamed of themselves. I think Whitney's legacy could've been so much more had those albums been handled better.

[ReddFoxx]

Bobbi Kristina agreed to interview, so I don't see how Oprah is doing anything that is wrong here. Perhaps she needs to talk about things in order to start recovering from the loss, everyone deals with grief differently.